Have a merry Christmas, everyone, and a happy New Year! Off to Germany tomorrow - see you in 2008!

Candy Stripes

Quick post only: I've made my card for Saffa's candy stripe dare over at DCM, and the birdies are just not leaving me alone, lol! But these are the last ones I've cut, so I should be able to move on...

I've used my beloved BG Color Me Silly papers again - the colours are just so bright and fun, just what I'm in the mood for right now after all the Christmassy colours. I'm not sure about my doodling efforts, but there it is now, it can't be changed.

Now I'm away to sit, knit doll's clothes and nurse my cold - youngest daughter is away to her friend's for lunch, so I've got the afternoon free until school comes out. Bliss! Thanks for stopping by!

And another one...

I couldn't resist the birdies, so I've done another one. Everything on the card is hand-drawn and cut and it's based on a little felt heart that I made back in the spring (inspired by Shimelle). So, first the card, and second the heart that inspired it (apologies for the poor picture).

The poor little felt heart is looking a bit worn - it spent all summer on the bag that I carried around. Might have to make a new one for next year. As for the card, I really enjoyed working with bright, non-Christmassy colours, and I'm pleased with the result. Thanks for stopping by!

PS: Not sure if this card qualifies for the little extra over at DCM - it's only got buttons, but no bows...

Tweet Tweet

It seems I can't stay away - caught the blogging bug again! However, I have a poorly husband at home and my youngest brought a friend home for lunch today, so I'll have to keep this short. Here's my first effort for the birdie challenge over at DCM - I hadn't used my dove on my Christmas cards yet this year, so this was a good opportunity.


I've also used my Cuttlebug embossing folder, Sizzlits round-a-bout alphabet dies and a couple of brads from my stash. However, I'm not entirely thrilled with the result. So the blogging bug is back, but crafty inspiration is still recovering :) Oh well, I'm planning on doing another one anyway... Hoping to be back later today, see you then.

Oh well...

... seems like I'm back after all :) Just had to put the previous post on, and things have calmed down a little bit. I have decided not to run myself ragged with the nursery Christmas Fair, so am feeling kind of relieved!
The craft fair on Saturday wasn't a huge success for me. It was busy for the first hour or so and then it suddenly tailed off. My friend sold quite a few cards (and rightly so, her stuff is gorgeous!), but while I'm happy for her, I'm starting to doubt myself. I think, if I'm doing fairs again next year, I'll probably have to branch out a bit. We'll see... On the plus side, I don't have to make any more Christmas cards to give and send (apart from special ones), since I've got so much stock left, lol! I'll take a photo of some of my favourites and post it tomorrow. I'm also very tempted by the latest DCM challenge, the birdie cards are lovely! Good night for now!

PAY IT FORWARD

''PAY IT FORWARD : handcrafted gifts :) I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this Pay it forward exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog. So basically, if you comment, I’ll send you something crafty that I’ll make! Once you sign up, copy and paste the above paragraph on your blog, and three other lucky people will be recipients of your handmade work. I found this on Helen's blog and really like the idea.''

Just to show...

... that I'm not twiddling my thumbs doing nothing these days, here are a few cards I made with my BG Figgy Pudding papers. The top two are based on one of Beate's sketches and I can see myself making a few more like them to send out this year.
Somehow, I've not really been in the mood for cardmaking much lately - I've still "got to" make cards for the nursery's Christmas Fayre (not very rewarding this year, very few people are helping and the ones who are, regularly get moaned at that not enough people are helping - takes the fun right out of it), plus I've started making other bits and pieces for Christmas, like a granny-square doll's blanket for my youngest, and I'll be knitting doll's clothes for her as well. I also just finished a fluffy scarf for my friend's daughter as a wee thank you for the bundles of clothes she passed down to us, and I knitted a hat and scarf for my youngest, too - might share that if I get a decent photo of them. So I have been busy and inspired, just not with cards... And I have a feeling I'll not be blogging any more regularly between now and the new year, especially considering I've still got heaps of Christmas shopping to do! I'm just not very organised, let's face it! But I always get there in the end!
So, in case I'm not back before the holidays, I hope you will all have a wonderful Christmas and thoroughly enjoy the festive seasons!!!

Golden Baubles

I've not been a very good blogger lately - not sure why really... I think I'll blame lack of inspiration due to very dull, grey, wet weather! However, I've had a go at the latest DCM challenges and thought I would combine the two into one.

So, my golden highlights are the baubles, the star and the strings, and then for Santas Little Extra Helper, there are the (embossed, no less!) baubles and red ribbon bows. The photo is pretty poor, since it was taken tonight in the kitchen, but I daren't wait for daylight - it might never materialize if today was anything to go by... It's the first time in ages I've used mulberry paper on a card, and I'm not sure I still like it. In fact, I'm not sure about the whole card suddenly, it reminds me too much of what I used to do several years ago, and I thought I'd moved on... Oh well, no time or inspiration to make another, desperately need to get back to making a few more cards for the next fair and then some (well, quite a few actually) to give and send. I liked Rhi's idea of keeping it simple, using one layout more or less and making it different with different papers and stamps - I may well be attempting a similar approach. I'll share if I'm happy with the result... Bye for now, thanks for stopping by!

Getting Corrugated...

The challenge over at the Daring Cardmakers this week is to use corrugated card. Now, while this was a staple of my cardmaking many many moons ago, I haven't used it at all lately. I've still got sheets in varying, bold colours in my drawers, but that's where they usually stay. And I struggled with the challenge! I attempted a Christmas card at first, but that went horribly wrong and was never finished. Then I tried a birthday card for my Mum and eventually came up with something that I quite like now:

The corrugated bit is the red flower, background paper is BG, brads are PM, greeting is stamped with MM magnetic letter stamps, ribbon is from Ribbon Oasis and button is from stash. I rounded some corners and finally inked with brown ink around everything. Hope my mum will like it.

Oh, and I also made this:

It's a felt corsage/brooch - I've seen them around a fair bit lately, but they can be pricey to buy. I had a few sheets of felt, got out my Sizzix daisies die, some embroidery thread and a button and a very short time later, it was finished. Quite pleased with it, although I might try a more freehand approach the next time, especially for the green "leaves"... Now, how to wear this...

Thanks for stopping by!

Snowmen and Snowflakes plus Bling

Just finished my card for the DCM's Santa's Little Extra Helper no 3 which asked us to use snowmen and snowflakes on our cards. I must admit, I stayed right in my comfort zone with my trusty old DCWV papers (haven't touched my new BG ones yet...), but I did use my new scallop circle punch, which I like a lot!

I also used a Doodlebug Paperfrill, a handcut paper ricrac with a paper string bow, Cuttlebug snowman, and a few tiny clear gems. This means my card also qualifies for the Arty Girlz challenge #8, which calls for "Bling" - wow, I don't often manage to enter more than one challenge!

Apologies for the shadows in the photo, but I didn't want to wait for daylight, lol. Apologies also to everybody that I haven't been leaving comments lately - too much going on at the moment, I have to limit myself to quick glimpses of my favourite blogs. Thanks for stopping by!

and CUT! - DCM Challenge

Well, I've tried it now, and handcutting is not for me! Yes, it may make my cards individual, even unique, but I just don't like the results I get. This challenge by the DCM reminded me why I got die-cutting machines in the first place, lol! Here's my effort:



Apart from the pink spotty background paper, all paper bits are handcut with scissors. The scallops were done freehand and then embossed, the flower was stamped on the back and cut out, the leaves were drawn freehand and cut out, too. Even the tag was handcut, but carefully measured first... The greeting was made with a Dymo labeller, ribbon, buttons and papers are from my stash.

I'm pretty late with this again, but it's been a busy old weekend. After I'd spent most nights last week making card after card after card, the Saturday of the craft fairs arrived! My friend and I set up at the first one, then she went away after a couple of hours to the second one. We did okay at both, but it could have been better. As the lady next to me said (a little snippy, I felt): "Well, everybody makes cards these days..." - kinda like it's our own fault... We did have fun, though, and we even signed up to do another one in 4 weeks' time. Gluttons for punishment, methinks.

Saturday night, we went to our friends for a fireworks party, which was great fun! Lots of good food, good company, a couple of glasses of wine, children playing happily, watching fireworks, getting home after midnight.... I couldn't believe it, even my 3-year-old was still going strong at that point! She only started crying because she didn't want to leave! She woke up at her normal time on Sunday and was right as rain. Middle daughter didn't cope so well: she had a long lie on Sunday, but was completely out of sorts for the rest of the day. And then this morning she woke up at 5.45, and now I'm a bit out of sorts!

Tonight (Monday) is the first time I've sat down to make cards since Thursday evening - I was starting to get withdrawal symptoms! But a bit of family time was definitely in order after last week. And my house is needing a touch of TLC as well... Thanks for looking!

Run, run, as fast as you can...

Meet the gingerbread man! I've had this Sizzix die for ages and never really used it. Wanted to, but just didn't know what to do with it. He's been in the back of my mind, though, so to speak, and when I came across this paper in my stash, by Bella Press, called Gingerbread Polka Dots, I thought I'd give in another go. Here's the result - quite a cheerful chappie, I think :)

Had a great Halloween yesterday, hubby took the girls out trick-or-treating, and I stayed home to answer the door. Most of the street stopped by, and some of the naff jokes told by the kids were actually quite funny! My girls had a whale of a time, and even youngest daughter (who was scared out of her wits last year!) went round with the others and loved getting all those sweeties! And boy, did they get sweeties! They will have to be carefully rationed out, or the girls would be on sugar highs for all of next week! Hope everybody else had fun on Halloween, and thanks for stopping by!

Tagged by Deb!

I got tagged by the lovely, talented Deb on Friday! Now I've got 5 questions to answer:

1. If you could have 100.00 worth of scrapbook paper or assorted embellishments, which would you choose? This is tricky! I do like papers a lot and I tend to buy papers before anything else, but if somebody were to give me that money, maybe that would be the perfect time to expand my stash of embellishments… No – papers! Then I can always use them to make my own embellishments.

2. If you had to choose between using only stamps or rubons, which would you choose? This isn’t hard: I’ve never been much of a stamper, and try as I might, me and stamps just don’t get on. So it would be rubons – I’ve been using them a little bit more lately and really like them (although, I suppose the adopted Scot in me should choose the stamps, they’re so much more economical, lol).

3. If you knew how to do both awesome cards and layouts but could only do one for a whole year...which would you do? Cards, without a doubt! I do like scrapbooking, and I’ve started several albums for my girls and the family, but I never get very far, because there’s always another card that needs to be made.

4. Would you rather own a scrapbooking store or have your own scrapping room at home...(can't have both he he he) I have not got a mind for business, so it would be my own scrapping room, definitely! I dream about having one, all nice and organised :)

5. And last but not least, what is your CURRENT cardmaking or scrapping style....Now this can be tough to nail down! I’ve always liked clean lines and a fairly uncluttered look on my cards. I’ve been experimenting with a slightly less regimented look and more embellishments, but keep coming back to the “less is more” approach. However, I do love lots of embellishments and a more free-style approach on other people’s cards! Just can’t seem to pull it of myself.

Now for the hardest part, to pick only 5 people to tag! I have choosen, in no particular order:

My Paper World
Leann at Leann’s Crafty Ramblings
Dawn at All Pink Girl
Jo at We Don’t Do Duvets
Andrea at Geordie Girl

Had a wonderful day in Glasgow yesterday at the Hobbycrafts Show, spent lots of money :) Finally got myself some scallop punches, so I'm looking forward to having a play with them. Also stocked up on some more ribbon, some chipboard, got BG Figgy Pudding papers in a 6x6 stack and a couple more assorted pieces of paper and cardstock.
Didn't really enjoy how busy it was - it's funny, but some people seem to leave their good manners at the door when they come to these events. There is so much pushing and shoving, sneaking in ahead of others etc. My friend heard somebody say she was going to develop "Craftrage" due to people's lack of consideration. Still, we had fun :)

Wrap it in Ribbon for Christmas

After I missed the Little Extra this week, I thought I'd better join in with the Daring Cardmakers Friday challenge :) And today, we were asked to make a Christmas card with ribbon on it. I've got two to share - one that I had already started when the challenge came along, and one specially for the challenge. Number one I like, number two I'm not so keen on.

One:

This uses DCWV paper scraps, some silver ribbon, and Dovecraft brads. The greeting was printed by computer. Same idea as a previous card, just different colours.

Two:

This uses Dovecraft paper, cardstock scraps, QK stockings which are hung from green ricrac (hope this qualifies as ribbon), QK greeting (I'll never do that again, every letter individually cut and adhered - far too time-consuming and fiddly. I don't do fiddly.) and a red ribbon thingy.

Right, back to the craft table, still plenty more to make! Bye for now, thanks for looking.

Anniversary Card

Another quick update only, not getting round to any challenges at all, as people are putting in special orders on short notice and I'm still preparing for the craft fairs.

Here's the anniversary card I made for one of my neighbours, using my Cuttlebug embossing folder again, some of my new ribbon, silver pearlescent cardstock and plain black and red cardstock. Oh, and some tiny gems I got from WHSmith some time ago.

My neighbour was pleased, and I hope her husband likes it, too :) Thanks for stopping by!

Circle of Friends

Finally got round to making a card for the Daring Cardmakers first anniversary challenge! The theme is "Our Amazing Circle of Friends", so the card had to incorporate circles and something to do with friends or friendship. I've been thinking about this since Friday, but still wasn't sure what to do when I finally got to sit down at my table last night. In the end, I came up with this:

I cut the circles with my Sizzix circles die and then cut the apertures out again with a smaller circle. They're not entirely central, but I don't think that matters too much. The message was done with a Dymo labeller and the background paper is Basic Grey (Color me Silly, I think). I enjoyed doing this, it's a bit different.

So, happy anniversary again, Daring Cardmakers, and thank you for inspiring me!

More Xmas Cards

I'm just quickly updating with a couple of cards I made on Friday. One is for Di Hickman's October sketch #3 and the second is another one for the box:

Had fun making these! My stocks are looking healthier, but boy, there is still a long way to go! Still, I'm really enjoying my cardmaking these days, not least thanks to blogworld!

Got to dash now, having a busy weekend: yesterday was eldest daughter's ninth birthday, complete with a party for 5 of her friends. I always forget how loud and wild girls can be - the noise levels were quite amazing at times! But they had fun, and all we did was good old-fashioned games and some food. Just goes to show, they don't really need these fancy organized parties - yes, those are fun, too, but definitely not the be-all-and-end-all.

Today, we've already been to support my friend who was doing a sponsored abseil off the Forth Rail Bridge! She absolutely adores the bridge and said it was just wonderful being up there. Good turnout, lots of worthy causes! And now we're off to the in-laws for Sunday dinner and some more presents for eldest daughter. Just as well, her main present from us is still caught up in the postal strike backlog somewhere... Bye for now, thanks for looking!

Smiles!

Wow, I've been given an award! The lovely Ying Pang presented me with this:

Thank you very much! Now I get to nominate ten people, whose blogs inspire me and make me smile. I compiled my list last night, so I hope everybody hasn't been nominated in the meantime! If you have - well, that's a good thing, you make lots of people smile :) So here are the 10 whose blogs I like to visit for inspiration and entertainment:

1. Kathy


2. Adele


3. Sarah


4. paper-and-string


5. Dawn


6. Leigh


7. Louly


8. Samm


9. Deb


10. Cheryl

So, you now all get to nominate 10 people who inspire you and make you smile :)

Here are a couple more cards to fit in with the Xmas tree challenge, and to boost my stock:

Thanks for stopping by!

DCM Santa's Little Extra Helper no 2

Not getting an awful lot of crafting done this week: the kids are off school and hubby has taken the week off, too. So we're out and about a lot, taking day trips and doing family things. We thought about going away, but then decided that there's so much to see and do round about, we might as well save our pennies, especially since we've booked our trip to the US for next spring!

Anyway, I did make a card for DCM's Santa's Little Extra Helper no 2, which asked us to make a card with Christmas trees:

I'm using up scraps of paper again, this time Doodlebug, added Dovecraft brads for baubles and inked around pretty much everything.

Had a lovely time visiting castle ruins today, the weather was cold but beautiful, the views were breathtaking, and best of all, kids go free this October at Historic Scotland sites! The girls had a blast, too, they like nothing better than exploring old ruins and trying to picture what it might once have looked like. They also got to do a quiz today and received a badge at the end as a reward. Happy children :)

Monarch of the Glen and Everything Pink

Took some time out to craft this morning while the kids were messing up the playroom and the living room - I think it's called "playing", but how do they do it? I mean, those two rooms looked as if bombs had dropped, the carpet was barely visible! But they had fun, and I got to make cards, so that can only be good!

First of all, here's my card for the latest DCM challenge, entitled "Where the Wild Things Are".

Boy, did I struggle! I drew a complete blank at first: I don't have any animal print papers, animal dies or animal stamps! Don't know why, but I just don't. So that made the challenge a lot harder... Then I suddenly remembered photos my husband had taken during our spring holiday in the north of Scotland: we'd been lucky enough to see this stag right by the road side, and there was a passing place just shortly after, so hubby got out and snapped away for the best part of half an hour. Well, stags are wild animals, so this should qualify for the challenge. I used some Costco paper for the background, brown velvet ribbon, a couple of prima flowers, and QK die cut greeting. Quite a simple card, but the photo needs to take centre stage, I think.

I also made a couple of cards using Di Hickman's latest sketch. These were fun to make, it's a sketch I'll probably be using a lot.

First, another Christmas card using my Dovecraft papers, Sizzix tree and circles, Cuttlebug embossing, some sheer PM ribbon and some bling.

And secondly, a birthday card, using more of those Costco papers I've had for ages, a large punched flower, some prima flowers, assorted buttons, John Lewis ricrac and QK greeting - simple, but fresh.

Had fun today :) Now it's time to get the children in, hose them off and give them their dinner. See you later, thanks for stopping by!

DCM - Santa's Little Extra Helper no.1

The Daring Cardmakers are very kindly helping us with our Christmas card making by giving their Little Extras on a Tuesday a Christmas theme. This week it's Christmas words - good timing for me, as that's exactly what I had been planning on doing anyway! I'd already got letters cut for my words and looked out the papers, so these came together very quickly. Plus, they are based on a layout I did before for the "Big Softie" challenge some weeks back.

I used Dovecraft papers, cardstock from the Papermill Shop, Sizzlits round-a-bout alphabet dies, Sizzix star die and a Cuttlebug snowflake die. The patterned paper and purple card have got a touch of ink around the edges. Thanks for the challenge and spurring me into action again!

Now I'm off to work on eldest daughter's pirate costume - they've been working on a pirate theme for the last few weeks at school, including a massive paper mache pirate ship along one wall, treasure maps, stories about themselves as pirate captains, and now they're going to put all this into a kind of show for some of the younger children. Sounds good fun! So there's sleeves and hems needing frayed, sashes and head scarves needing looked out, and hopefully I can persuade youngest daughter to part with the eye patch and hook. She's been wearing them constantly for the last two days and giving everybody her best pirate growls - very funny and very cute :) Bye for now!

DCM Answers on a Postcard

This week's challenge at the Daring Cardmakers was to create a postcard and actually post it, too! Again, I found this rather, well - challenging! I was really worried about putting anything on that might get damaged in the post. So I kept it all very simple and very flat. I didn't seem to be able to avoid using inky stuff, however, so I'm really hoping it won't get exposed to rain... Ahhh, one can but dream! Anyway, here it is:

I used varoius scraps of paper for the inked squares border, a Sizzix cut daisy and MM magnetic stamps for the greeting - which says "Greetings from Scotland" in German, and I'm going to post this to my parents. We talk on the phone so much, that I hardly ever send them any letters or cards now, so I thought this would be a nice thing to do. Have to say though, that I'll probably end up cheating and pop this card in an envelope after all... Just for the card's safety...

Well, I'm just about to pop into town to see what the local craft shop has to offer, I'm feeling the need... Having a lazy weekend and enjoying it :) Thanks for stopping by!

Post Haste - DCM Little Extra

There's nothing like doing things at the last minute, is there? I must admit, I really struggled with this DCM challenge. I had my stamps all ready on Tuesday (they were the only ones I had handy, from a letter I've been meaning to answer for months...), and then I just couldn't think of what to do with them. I finally sat down again today and just started. But I still struggled matching cardstock and papers with the stamps. In the end, I gave up on patterned paper and resorted to my lovely new embossing folders :) I also used some of my gorgeous new ribbon :)) So here is my attempt:

This was a great challenge and really got me thinking! I do like these floral postage stamps - look familiar, Rhi?

Ordered some ribbon...

I decided that it happened far too often that I didn't have the right colour of ribbon to hand, so it was time to order some. I may have gotten a little carried away - it was quite a substantial bundle I received this morning (and I'd only ordered yesterday lunchtime, how's that for fast service!). But I'm very happy with everything I ordered, the colours are beautiful - I was a little worried, because on-screen colours aren't always true to the real thing, but no, everything is just as vibrant and luscious as I hoped (big grin).

Oh, and I received my last embossing folder yesterday, so I'm definitely very happy. Lots of good post days lately!

Another Wee Card

Been wanting to post this since Friday, but then the weekend got in the way :)

Made a card for Di Hickman's September sketch #4:

This card uses some SEI paper I have had for absolute ages. It's double-sided, so the red tag-thingy uses the reverse side. I wasn't sure what to put on said tag-thingy and in the end, handcut the blue heart to make a flower like the ones in the paper. I think it works. Ribbon is Papermania, as is the flower brad, and the rub-on greeting came with a magazine. Must get myself some more rub-ons, I'm liking them a lot just now.

Well, we went to the curling rink yesterday, but I ended up not going on. I suppose I could have had a shot, but someone had to watch youngest daughter, so I volunteered. Hubby got a lesson, and the older two girls and their friend got some coaching, too. They all enjoyed themselves hugely and didn't land on the ice nearly as often as I feared. Middle daughter was the most excited about it all, but unfortunately, she is still too young to start learning properly (they take them from 8, and she is only 6), so she was rather disappointed.

Signed up for another craft fair today, so my friend and I will be having stalls at 3 different events now. Two are happening on the same day, so we'll have to split up, but we're not really wanting to miss the opportunity. Not that they are huge money-spinners, it just feels nice when people actually buy your cards. And we always have a laugh! Got to get busy now - really busy!!!

In the Frame

Happy Friday! It's definitely been a happy post day, because first of all, the postie brought my little blog candy package from Kathy, yay! Inside, I found a lovely card and a maze book, decorated in one of my favourite colour combos at the moment, orange and purple! It's beautiful, full of all sorts of detail, I just need to find photos to put in it now. So I'm only posting a shot of the front cover just now, and will post the whole book once it has been filled. Thank you, Kathy!

Later in the day, I also received a parcel with my latest order. I couldn't resist any longer and ordered some Cuttlebug embossing folders, and while I was there, I ordered a few sheets of DB papers. I've been quite restrained though, don't you think? I'm still waiting for one more folder though, it's out of stock at the mo.

And now onto today's DCM challenge of incorporating a frame on our cards. Well, I had to have a play with my embossing folders, and that's why there's not a scrap of patterned paper in sight. Frame came out of a Lakeland pack that I've had for years and really gone off, but it's been resurrected to good effect. Cardstock is Paper Mill Shop, ribbon John Lewis, nothing fancy.

Love the embossing folders, they're so easy to use! You'll probably see a lot of embossing on my cards from now on...

Have had a good morning as well, youngest daughter's nursery was taking part in the Macmillan Coffee Morning, and about a dozen of us sat, chatted and had tea and cakes. The remaining cakes (yes, we did leave some, lol) were sold at the end of the day, so hopefully we raised a nice little sum for the charity.

Wish me luck for tomorrow, I might be slipping and sliding along a curling rink for the first time! My friend's husband is a curler, and he's offered to take us, along with his family, to a taster session. It'll be great to get a shot, but there is also great embarrassment potential! And the kids will either love it or be in tears constantly because they're falling on the ice. Nothing like looking on the bright side... I'm looking forward to it - honest!

Charity Begins at Home

Wow, I'm never on the computer this early! But hubby has got the day off today and is taking the kids to school, and that means I have a little bit of time to spare and can post my latest creation. So I've made a card for the DCM dare of using a charity shop find on our cards. This was definitely a challenge, and I've actually quite enjoyed it! Not the trip to the charity shop, however. There wasn't much there, really, and I wasn't going to pay £5.00 either for a new necklace or other piece of jewellery. So I ended up buying a child's t-shirt and this is what I took off:

5 bits of lace and three little buttons, all for £1.50... And when I remembered some vintage-feel papers that came with my trusty magazine once, the whole thing came together quite quickly:

I think the paper is Melissa Frances, cardstock is DCWV, and the hearts and sentiment have been cut with QK dies.

It's been a good weekend, we actually took our trip to the beach on Saturday. It was sunny and warm-ish for most of the time, but there was definitely a stiff breeze! The kids had a blast, running in and out of the water, building sandcastles, finding these huge shells and some crabs, exploring the rock pools - all the stuff you do at the beach, and it was good! It was fun to watch some kite surfers, too, I'd never seen them before! Not sure I'd want to do it, but it looked cool! Sunday was spent catching up and the kids played outside with their friends for ages. Made good use of two beautiful days, since the weather actually got it right this time: sunshine at the weekend, grey skies and wet ground this morning!

Well, better get on with some housework now. Thanks for stopping by!

Beate's WSC #20

Here is the card I made for Beate's latest challenge on Fresh & Fun. I'm no stamper, but I still like to see if I can use the sketches she provides. I've used some DCWV cardstock and patterned paper, Sizzix flower die, QK Shortkutz phrase die and Doodlebug paper frill, plus a wee flower punch and a button from an assortment I've had for a while.
Now I'm going to go and see if I can come up with something for the DCM Charity Shop challenge. I've been and bought something, but it was really out of desperation to get anything, the choice wasn't great... Hoping to have it ready for tomorrow...

Bits and Bobs

Well, Friday is normally my day for the DCM challenge, but that will have to wait this time. The dare is to go to a charity shop and buy something there to use on a card. I'm planning on going tomorrow morning. Don't usually go to charity shops and the few times I have, I never found anything, so this will be interesting! But I sort of feel honour-bound to complete this challenge, especially since I chickened out of the Little Extra this week... See, gold is so not my colour! I don't like gold jewellery much, and you won't find a lot of gold on my cards, even at Xmas time - silver, yes, gold, not so much.

I did, however, try my hands at a CPS challenge for the first time and made Christmas card for sketch #31.

It's pretty simple, but still quite fun, I think. Used my Sizzix circle die, chopped two circles in half, and decorated the middle one with my trusty Cuttlebug trees. Paper is Doodlebug, ricrac from John Lewis, cardstock from the Paper Mill Shop.

I also made these, in an effort to increase my stock of cards - I'm going to a couple of local craft fairs/fundraisers to sell my cards at the beginning of November, and it's getting worryingly close. Some are variations on a theme, others are experiments - here goes:

Oh yes, I nearly forgot: I won! Remember the card below I made for Kathy's birthday challenge? Well, my name got pulled out of the hat! I'm so excited, I don't usually win stuff! No idea yet what I'm getting, but everything that Kathy uses and makes is scrummy, so I know I'm in for a wee treat. Thanks again, Kathy!
That's it for today, but I hope to be back at some point over the weekend. However, we do have trips to the beach (weather permitting) and the bowling alley planned, so family fun will take priority over crafting fun. Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Birthday!

Well, I'm trying to branch out with my challenges and today have completed two in one: firstly, the latest Di Hickman sketch challenge, and secondly, Kathy's challenge to make her a birthday card! So, happy birthday, Kathy, sorry it's late, but it was just too dark last night when I finished the card to take a picture. Having said that, today is not much better as it's pouring outside and the light is anything but great... I'm hoping it's the thought that counts...



I had fun doing this, but it was quite a tricky one. The sketch looked fairly straightforward, but it wasn't that easy to make it look interesting, and Kathy's recipe of 3 flowers, 3 ribbons and 3 papers, well, that's pushing me right outside my comfort zone. Thank goodness for magazines and taster packs of coordinating papers! Papers are Junkitz, flowers are Prima, brads and yellow ribbon are Dovecraft, ricrac is John Lewis, blue ribbon is Papermania and the rub-on came with a magazine.

On a different note, isn't it typical that the rain has come on now that the kids have two days off from school? They went back only 4 weeks ago, and they're off already! And we won't be able to go outside, if it continues to pour like this. I think some crafting activities will be in order, and maybe a trip to the local (very crowded, I daresay) softplay centre. And a long lie in the morning will be nice - yes, I'm lucky enough to have kids who like to sleep in a little. However, they'll probably be up bright and early, now that I've said this... Little horrors :)

In a Word

Well, I must be feeling sunny today :) I thought about making another Christmas card for the latest DCM challenge, but suddenly felt in the mood for something warm, sunny and friendly. Hence my orange creation below:

The challenge was to use a word as the main focal point of the card, and I like that idea. I've made many a card with "Mum" or "Dad" on it, or names, so today, I tried to steer clear of that and try something different. I'm also trying to mix patterned papers more - some people just have a knack for that and no matter what they throw together, it looks good. Me, not so much... I'm sticking with coordinating papers right now from stacks or pads, and that's fine, I'm pretty happy with the results. Whether I will ever graduate to mixing and matching papers that weren't designed to go together, I don't know. I have to say though, doing these challenges for the last few weeks has already pushed me beyond what I "normally" do, and I'm trying just that little bit harder to be more creative and try something new. So thank you, Daring Cardmakers, and Beate, too!

Big and Little

Another challenge completed, again for the DCM, where the Little Extra this week asked us to items in pairs of Big and Little. In an effort to keep Xmas card production going (admittedly, at a snail's pace, but it's going), I made a Xmas card and then I also made a birthday card, just because... And here are my efforts:





On the Christmas card, I used big and little Sizzix die cut stars, all inked in dark blue, and the patterned papers are DCWV. Greeting is computer printed and sits on a Doodlebug paper frill.
On the birthday card, I used big and little flowers from a Lakeland bumper pack, with button centres. Gingham papers are from a Costco pack, "happy" was cut with a QK die, "birthday" is a Dymo label.
Thanks for looking, till next time!

Another Challenge!

Yay, I've done two challenges in one day! This time I got my skates on and made a card for Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge #18, so I can actually enter it! I did like the sketch and had lots of fun with the bright papers I used, but in the end I had to give up on the circle and use a square instead. I'm not very good with my Fiskars shape cutter, and I don't have any circle dies/punches big enough... Let's just hope I'm allowed off... Here goes:

I used Junkitz paper that came with a magazine, Sizzix cupcake die, a piece of pink ribbon, and MM magnetic letter stamps for the sentiment. Plus a good helping of pink ink round all the edges. Tomorrow this card will be winging its way to Pennsylvania, hopefully to arrive in time for my friend's daughter's birthday next week.

I had fun today, but now must go and cook dinner - how dull! To more productive crafting days, and thanks everybody, for looking.

Tearing Purple Holes for Christmas

Wow, it's Friday again, somehow the weeks seem to be flying in! Friday has always been my favourite day, because I'm a very lucky girl: most Fridays, my 3 darling daughters go to visit my lovely in-laws! For the whole afternoon!!! I am so grateful! Dedicated me-time, which I used to spend shopping, watching telly, lazing about, but for some time now it's become craft time. And now it's craft time with a purpose, because there's a challenge to take part in. And without further ado, here's my effort for today's challenge by the DCM.

We were asked to make a Christmas card using the colour purple, some torn paper and a hole. Quite a combination, but I had fun playing with some new paper and dies. So the card blank is purple, and there is some purple in the pp. PP itself is Dovecraft and has a torn edge, and the holes are punched snowflakes along the bottom edge, which in real life are nicely set off by the white insert. Apologies for the poor photograph: methinks I need to practise a little more, and I need to find the right place to take my piccies in. The light just never seems to be right when I try to take photos of my cards.

Well, so much for now, I might be back later, as I've still got a birthday card to make. If I'm not, I'll be enjoying a glass of wine with friends. Aaaahhh, the life!