Peace

It's been a very busy week going up the hospital twice a day to see Mum. She seemed quite a bit better again yesterday but healing 2 broken ribs and a punctured lung is going to take some time.

In-between times I have been working on this card for my very first challenge. I hope to submit it on Craftbubble today as I used the sketchie challenge layout which also has a little twist of 'wings'. I wanted a distressed look and have tried out the Tim Holtz distressing tool which worked well, the stamp is one from my stash and I used the nesties labels to make the frame. The flowers were made from ordinary photocopy paper and aged mahogany and antique linen distress inks. Papers have been edged with gold stickles and vintage photo distress stickles. It's another different style for me - I am learning so much and enjoying all the experimentation. Thanks for looking. Bx

Free digistamp

This is just an adorable free digi stamp available from http://motivet.com/blog/?p=1724 . Have a look and save to use later on if you can't use it right now.

A Bookmark

Hope you're having a super Sunday. Today's post is of a bookmark and the idea came from an American friend of mine. Last year she suggested this was something I could make and I haven't got round to trying it out until this week. I think it's really cute and I have put her name on it and will send it to her for her birthday - so Joni if you reads this you know what will be winging it's way to you in the post.

                                   

 I have kept the embellishments flat so the bookmark will fit easily between the pages without marking them.

I hope you like the designs and colour pallettes. Enjoy the rest of the weekend. Bx

My little work of art.

It's the weekend, another week gone and a whole week since I started the blog. My son Ben is in Newquay with a group of friends on Matt's stag weekend and they have just come out of the sea having had a surfing lesson. Apparently it was warmer in the water than out, but a great time had by all.
The card I am posting today has taken me all week to finish, admittedly I have been doing other things in-between, but it has taken a great deal of thinking time as well as time given to the details. I am really quite pleased with it now that it's completed.

I guess this type of card will have a name, but I needed a way of making the card larger than a straight A4 piece of card would allow for and this is what I came up with. I took time to decorate the inside as well.

I used a stamp I already had and having inked it up I then masked it to complete the distressed background. I have used the Nestabilities for the message (Justrite Stampers) and the mount for the stamped image. The papers are from sets I have already bought and from a CD by Papercraft World. On the creamy flowers I have used gold Stickles and Adirondack Espresso, the smaller centres I made and then put it all together with a red brad. The green flower I made using flower shapes cut on the Cricut, distressing with the Espresso and misting with Cosmic Shimmer Mist, Lava Red. The leaves have been punched and misted with Golden Mint Cosmic Shimmer Mist. The hearts were cut on the Cricut and I used Aqua Cosmic Twinkles and Baby Pink Pearlidoodle. I used silver liquid pearls round the edge of the paper. I really enjoyed making and putting this card together and feel that it truly is a piece of art.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Take care. Bx

Quick card for today

Good evening. Life certainly can take a turn so quickly can't it. Suffice to say I was almost ready to post a new card yesterday and then had to deal with a family emergency. As you can see from todays card it was Mum who needed some help having had a fall, so here is the card I made for her today.

My lovely daughter Maddie, who studied design at university, has already critiqued it and told me there are several different styles in there. However I needed a main picture quickly, and these flowers has already been done, really I should have used a different patterned paper for the main mount but I had already chosen it for Mum as I thought she would like the roses. I have used the Cricut and nesties, my new Justrite stampers and embellished with Stickles and Cosmic Twinkles. The front is actually cut shorter than the back so that when flat you can see the Mum border at the side.

Hope you like it. Have a great weekend. B xx

They've arrived.

I can't believe it, my Justrite Stamper kits arrived today and now I am going to play, what fun. I must say I am very impressed with Craftbox for getting the order out so quickly, I only confirmed it yesterday morning on the phone and here they are, thanks everyone.

What inspiration I am getting at 'Cards by Kim', I just love her work. I am not a stamper and I very rarely colour in and Kim does, but how she puts her designs together, the distressing and embellishing and colour themes are amazing, her cards are so scrummy, go have a look http://kimpiggott.blogspot.com/ . I am hoping the cards I produce will now change and improve using the influence of Kim's creativity to enhance my own. This is a very apt quote.

 "Get over the idea that only children should spend their time in study.

Be a student so long as you still have something to learn,

and this will mean all your life."

Henry L Doherty.

I want to continue to learn new things and for me that's about looking to see what others do, not to copy, but to adapt and apply to my own style. We'll see what happens over the coming weeks.

My card today is one I finished yesterday. It is simple and provided me with an opportunity to think about how to put elements together. This is not a 'star' card but is one that has enabled me to think about how I put a design together and at the moment that seems to be taking me the most time. I do not seem to be able to see a finished creation in my head from the beginning, I start to put something together and it changes and goes through a metamorphosis, ending up to be something quite different. This one started with four circles and the quote in the middle of them, but look at it now, no circles, it has been put together in a completely different way. Even today I added more bling.

Can you see the difference between the two photos from one day to the next?

Hope you like it.

Thankyou for stopping by.

Take care. Bx

P.S.  I have just found Tabby Craft Designs as well, more gorgeous cards, oh so much inspiration out there. I spend more time looking than creating at the moment. Hey ho never mind, I am taking in sooooo much. Bx

A stamped notelet

Hi on this damp Tuesday morning. I have been working on a set of notelets over the past week and finally got them finished on Sunday night. The stamp is a new one I bought recently from my local craft shop, I just love the delicate head of the flower. Does anyone know what type of flower it might be?

I stamped it onto pearlised card using black Stazon then used my new Promarkers to colour it in, it was fun blending the greens together on the leaves. The ribbon is a reel I've had for ages and it fitted in well with both the design and the colours I chose. There are now 15 in my collection and I have numbered them on the back, I think it makes them seem like a limited edition set!! If I make some envelopes for them (as they are not a standard size) I could give them as a little present to my friends.

Vintage theme

Happy February, one month gone already, I can't believe it. Just as we thought we had got rid of the snow we awoke this morning to find we had half an inch covering everywhere. It was a glorious bright morning , and the sunshine was beautiful reflecting on the white snow, but it didn't last, it soon melted away. My son Ben, though, has gone to Poland today and it is -8 degrees, so he will feel the chill.

I just can't wait for my birthday and I have ordered some Justrite Stampers, so I shall be watching for the postman every day waiting for them to arrive. I hope you like the card I have uploaded today, I got home from work and wanted to get into making something with a vintage feel, so here it is. I love the distressed look and I think this goes a long way to achieving it. I also wanted to use my new borderabilities and nestabilites. Enjoy. Bx

Hummingbirds No:2

Here we are then, the second of my hummingbirds and fern stamps, this time made into an easel card. I haven't put on a greeting as I've left it blank to add something when I want to use it. I love the colours, the purple with an olive green, they go together well. The easel part of the card is held up with 3 buttons and this gives it stability. The patterned paper has been edged with Tim Holtz distress ink called 'Pine Needles'. My first easel card, hope you like it. Bx

Snow days and new creations

Due to the amount of snow we have had this month, I found myself at home with more time to get back into crafting. This has resulted in my re-newed enthusiasm and all my family birthday cards (and more) made for the year. I have taken photos of them today and started to tidy them up in Photoshop Elements. So over the coming weeks I will be able to show you what I have been doing.
Today you can see one of five cards I have started to make using the same stamp but printed in different colours and made into different style cards. We are mostly girls in our family, so pink is a very predominant colour and this one fits in well. I am just waiting for my birthday in March and will be asking for some Justrite stamps so that I can make up sentiments and use names on my cards. These are Clarity stamps of hummingbirds and fern and I saw Barbara Gray demonstrate how to use them in this design. I think they work really well. The scroll in the top right corner and the fern at the bottom have been heat embossed in silver. I have just bought some borderabilities and used one for the edging on the silver mount. I used the masking technique to sponge on the pink ink (which is actually Aged Mahogany in the Rangers distressed range). Bx