The Other Side Of Me

Hello peeps, it's all go here, as usual! I didn't realise how many days had gone by since I last posted. I realised I'd completely forgotten to show you this little creation: I made it for Victoria Jefferies' birthday back in early April. She's one of the members of the card swap group I'm running, and a very talented crafter.  I don't think I've ever sat down at my desk and whipped something up so quickly (because I am an incompetant oaf who should have taken more notice of the date in the first place!) I literally finished making it and put it straight in the post so it's quite nice to revisit it again. Here are the deets: The card base is Baja (boo hoo!) Breeze, 5x7" Layer 1 is Basic Black cardstock. Layer 2 is just plain white cardstock, run through a 5x7 ef and trimmed to size. Layer 3 is So Saffron cut with the 3rd largest labels framelit Layer 4 A stamp from the Apothecary Art stamp set (luvs youuuuu!) which isn't colour...

I'm feeling pretty perky this morning as the time has come for my break from work quite quickly this time round.  I'm not back in work until Monday morning, which gives me plenty of time to craft and blog.  I really look forward to these times.  There's nothing nicer than spending an hour at your desk getting creative, is there? I have a few cards to catch up on with you, so we'd better start straight away: I don't even know where I got the inspiration for this card, I just went with the flow.  I'd spent a week looking through my stamps to find something suitable for a colleague at work who is only about twenty.  I did struggle as most of my stamps are geared to older women, until I unearthed this stamp from a set that was free with a magazine quite a while ago.  I used a kraft card base and a strip of So Saffron dsp, with a touch of Rose Red card stock.  This is such an awesome colour and I don't use nearly enough of it.  I stamped the lit...

Good morning crafty peeps!  At last we have some sunshine and I have a day off.  I have bought some new crafty goodies and am looking forward to doing some work with them later today, but in the meantime, here is a card I made recently: I saw a card like this on Pinterest and decided I really must have a go, as I obviously have this paper, from the Twitterpated set.  This set of dsp is actually quite diverse, isn't it?  Most of it is flowery, then this pops up.  This is the first time I've used any Basic Gray cardstock, too, which I really enjoyed.  I am fascinated by the yellow and grey combination, and want to explore this further, as one of the residents at work has a little box with grey and yellow flowers on, and every time I see it it makes me want to run home and start stamping! The original card doesn't have the section of embossed cardstock that I stuck down the front, but that's because I picked up the card as it was, and got grease on it!...

I've been following The Friday Mashup blog for ages and love the challenges they put on, different to your average sketch/colour blog.  I keep seeing starburst cards around and have been dying to have a go, without a clue how to do it, when suddenly, this is this week's Mashup challenge: Make a project with the "Sketch". Or Make a project with the "Starburst technique". Or "Mash it Up" and create a project using the "Sketch and Starburst Technique". I'm not sure if they'd say I've followed the sketch, as my circle is on the other side, but here is my card: I don't seem to have followed the tutorial most people have used, I've followed this brilliant video by Andrea Walford.  The video makes it really clear how to do it, and there's a template to download and cut out. I would say, if you're going to make it, give yourself plenty of time and spend most of it making the decision about what colour sch...

I decided to invest in a new stamped image for my second card for Lynne's other granddaughter.  I spent ages trawling through the LOTV inspirations blog for..., well, inspiration really.  There are some stunning fairy stamps on there.  In the end, this is what I made: I used my new framelits dies to cut a section out of some So Saffron card, which I then embossed with my new, large embossing folder.  I stamped the image on a piece of white card and coloured it with So Saffron, Old Olive and Early Espresso.  Have a closer look: How adorable is she?  Look at her little shoes and her wings.  As I said before, I'm not keen on fairies, but this stamp could change my mind.  The little extras are the punched out butterfly in Old Olive which I've run through my polka dot ef.  I printed the sentiment on the computer and put it at the bottom of the ribbon.  It's not SU ribbon but it's very similar to So Saffron.  Lynne was thrilled...

Hello all, what a hectic week I'm having.  I'm just getting used to my new job and trying to see how much time that leaves me for crafting, by the time I've done the housework as well - phew! So I'm very pleased to have got a card ready for this week's Dynamic Duos. Here are the colours for this week: Yes it's Pool Party again, but let's face it, we can't get enough of this gorgeous colour, can we?  And of course it's partnered with So Saffron, which I love. My dear friend Priscilla came to lunch on Saturday and asked me for a special card for her sister, who's baby is due in June.  They already know it's a girl and have decided to call her Eva, so when someone asks you for a special card and can supply you with all that information, you have to use it, don't you?  Oh, one more thing:  Although the card is for a baby girl, her mum doesn't like pink.  Great.  Cue Dynamic Duos!  Anyway, here's my card: Sorry the phot...

Hello there!  I hope you've managed to have a peaceful and relaxing Easter weekend, with family and friends.  We've been busy getting the house in shape, seeing to the horses and shopping, but I've finally managed to take a couple of pics of my new craftroom, so here we are: To anyone else, this would be a dining room, but in our case I'm afraid eating plays second fiddle to crafting! (You've got to get your priorities right, haven't you?!) It's quite an experience having a whole room to use.  You'll probably remember my desk from a previous post.  The printer is plugged in next to it, and to the left of that are my clear boxes full of embellishments.  Here's my old desk: I've put my little texture boutique on here and the front of those stacking baskets is full of all my embossing folders.  Much better than rummaging through a drawer every time I need one. I'd like to show you the cupboard in the window, which is holding all my papers...

Hello folks!  We have finally moved in and I am able to start blogging again.  I am thrilled to say I have a craft room, and will show you some photos as soon as it's a little more organised.  I've been playing creating in there this afternoon, and it's been fabulous. But that isn't why I've titled this post 'Blissful'.  It's because that's the title of the stamp I've used on this card: This was given to me by my dear friend Margaret , and it's such a sweet image (from Little Claire Designs).  I've coloured her in So Saffron to match the cardstock, but the dsp is Holly Berry Bouquet by Stampin Up!  It's part of the Christmas papers, but not all of them are very Christmassy, and this one is very versatile, with little bits of Real Red and Wild Wasabi thrown in.  It's so lovely to be able to craft again.  I didn't realise how much it had become an essential part of my life now. I've recently decided to start another bl...

Hello blog friends!  Is it still freezing where you are?  It's really cold here and we still have some snow, but hubby hasn't had any problems driving to work, which means I'll be able to get to craft group tonight, thank goodness.  Is it wrong to be so excited about something like that?! So let me tell you what happened last week.  Over on the Little Claire Designs blog, they've showcased their latest stamp release, and very nice they are too, all very 'summer in the garden' (something I think we're all looking forward to!) All you had to do was leave a comment on the stamp of the day to be in with a chance of being picked to win the stamp.  And guess what?  I won!  There were 61 comments on the day I was picked, so I was thrilled, as you can imagine. The moment the stamp arrived, I inked it up and had a play, then yesterday made what I am sure will be the first of many cards with this beautiful stamp: When I get a new stamp I stamp it into my ske...

I've been asked to make a Valentine for a friend of mine. And this is what I made: Sadly I can't claim this was my idea, I've cased it from the awesome Darlene here .  She has even provided a video tutorial, so you can follow it step by step.  I started with a plain white 5x7 card which I distressed with Tim Holtz Old Paper distress ink, then stamped over it in Crumb Cake with my Letter stamp from Penny Black which is quite a big background stamp.  I also have a post mark stamp so I stamped that on a couple of times.  Then I made the envelope from a 4" square of paper, which I scored across each centre line and folded to make the envelope, which is slightly different to the way you'll see in the video. The hearts are cut out using various dies and punches in Rose Red, Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze and So Saffron, and placed around the envelope, as if you've just opened it and all these hearts have flown out.  I spent a long time playing with these until I was...