Birthday Blues - not!!!

Has been full on day and a half at the 'day job' - busy, busy, busy!! Then rushing to pick up the car from the garage!! Is sooo nice to have my own car back - and it's all clean inside and out!! Can't remember when it looked so good!! has taken a little while to get used to it again though!!

  

Anyway,  yesterday was Tina's birthday!! Happy Birthday Tina!! This is the blue easel card I created just for her!!! 

The base of the Easel card is made from two 6x6 white cards. I printed this lovely blue Chocolate Box image from the Topper Companions of Crafter's Companion Halcyon Days CD (A5 size) onto Centura Pearl Hint of Silver. This was then mounted onto a piece of taupe coloured Bazzill card. For the rest of the card I used papers from the CD printed onto CC Silk Finish Paper, more of the taupe card, and some blue Bazzill. 

The stopper is cut using the smaller of the Crafter's Companion Die'sire Cameo Frame Dies, and the letters from the Die'sire 1" Alphabet set (both upper and lower case). A paper bow and bunting from the CD, along with a few pearls finished the whole thing off.

I would like to enter this into:
Crafty Bloggers Network - Bingo Board - Column A - Die Cut, Image, Patterned Paper

Finally, a welcome to my new followers on the various platforms. It's lovely to have your company here on my blog!! Enjoy!!

Cxxx

Sunshine - and Flowers!!

Good morning!! A what a fabulous one it is too!! The sun is shining - and I have lots to do today!! The garden is calling to me - there's still so much tidying up to do. I managed to finish weeding the veg patch yesterday, but there's a pile of top soil that needs spreading over some of it. And the leeks need planting out. And the border's at that point where some stuff has gone over and really needs sorting out. A gardener's job is never done!!

But It's going to have to wait as I have commissions to do!! I will, however, pop out at some point to pick some strawberries and raspberries. Have had a little bowlful every day for a while now - I just love growing my own stuff - stepping out the back door and picking fruit,  collecting a few salad leaves for lunch, or digging a few spuds and veggies for dinner!! Perfect!! 

Today's post is a card I made a while ago at a workshop with Dee Paramour, and never got round to blogging - and because of that I have forgotten the details of some of the items used - but never mind - you'll get the idea.

We started by embossing a piece of white card - I think I used the Sea Grass folder - and then used the direct to paper method to ink over the embossing. I used Mustard Seed (or it could have been Wild Honey). 

The flowers were also cut from white card - with Sue Wilson's Finishing Touches Classic Rose die - and inked with Shaded Lilac and Mustard Seed (?) The 'backing' flowers were cut from black card. The leaves are from the same set - inked with Bundled Sage.

For the sentiment banner, we squished the ink pads directly onto a craft mat, spritzed with water, and then smooshed (technical term !!) a piece of card in the ink!!  Having dried it with a heat gun, I then stamped a sentiment, and cut it to shape. It was fixed to the card with a little bend in it to give dimension. The finishing touch is a bow made from black seam binding. 

So, off to do busy things!! Hope you all have a great day!!

Cxxx

CCM&M #118 - Wooden It Be Loverly!!!

Good afternoon!! And what a gloriously sunny day it's been so far!! Hope you are all having a good one! I, for one, am feeling totally energised and will shortly be heading back out into the garden to do some more weeding - and of course soak up the sun!! 

But before I do, it's challenge time again over at Crafty Cardmakers and More. Suze is hosting this time around, and she would love to see something wood related on your project. The use of paper (obviously from trees!) is not enough - so a wooden embellishment, wood effect embossing, images of trees, a wooden fence etc. Your project could even be made of wood - box, frame etc

Our sponsors this time around are Crafty Sentiments Designs who are offering 3 digi images of the winner's choice. 

For my wood theme, I have used a image from our sponsors called 'Bird House', and coloured it with Spectrum Noirs: Bird Box - FS1, FS2, TN2, TN4; Flowers - PL2, PL3; Leaves - GT3, JG4; Bird - LY1, LY2, LY3.  I cut it out with a Spellbinders Oval, and matted this onto a green scalloped oval.

The purple background is cut and embossed using Crafter's Companion Enchanted Create-a-Card Die. I inked round the edges and over the embossing with Seedless Preserves DI. Around this I wrapped green satin, pale purple and dark purple ribbons. Behind the die cut, I placed more green, and then used glitter glue to highlight the flowers. 

On the base of the easel, I used more purple, embossed with Crafter's Companion Embossalicious 6x6 Floral Frenzy folder. On top of the green strip, I used the oval cut from the Create-a-Card, embossed it with Embossalicious A4 Dottie folder - and inked over with Seedless Preserves DI. 

To continue the wooden theme, three wooden buttons were used as the stopper, with two smaller ones on the ribbon. Little pearls on top finished off the embellishments.

Make sure you check out the rest of the Design Team inspiration over on the Crafty Cardmakers and More blog. There's some fab work there. 

I would like to enter this into:

Creative Knockouts: Embossing (with the Create-a-card die, and the embossing folders)
Red Rubber Inspirationals - Embossing 

Back soon,

Cxxxx

A busy day.

It was a really warm morning this morning - but a great turn out as ever for Race For Life. I struggled a little this year - and not just with the heat. I have been doing Race for Life for many years. I started walking with friends. Then jogged with a friend. Then jogged on and off on my own for a few years. Then two years ago, my eldest niece joined me. And last year, both my nieces and my sister were with me. This year I was back on my own due to other commitments that they had. And in among that huge group of women who had all turned out for the same good cause as me, I felt really lonely. It was really strange. At the mile mark, I was almost in tears - so many groups of people all encouraging each other - and I was on my own. It took another half a mile to snap out of it - and remember the reason why I (and everyone else) was there!! A big thanks to all who sponsored me for such a worthy cause.

After a quick snooze (whilst I was supposed to be watching the Grand Prix) I then spent a few hours tidying up the veg patch. Has been somewhat neglected - so is still only partially done!!

Onto today's card, which is another I made for my friend's twin sister. This one was for my friend's twins to give their auntie. 

T

The twins are almost three - and when asked what they would like on their card for Auntie Angie, one of them said 'sprinkles'. So I decided that we would go with a cupcake with sprinkles on. I used a free digi from Bird's Cards and paper pieced the icing with Papermania Ivory Creative Tones paper (this has been in my stash for a long time!!). 

The cupcake holder was coloured with Spectrum Noir pens - GB8 & 9, FS2, TN1, GB1, EB6 &8. I then used Glossy Accents to make it shiny. 

The card itself is made from a large sheet of Dark Chocolate Centura Pearl. I used more of the Papermania paper and Centura Pearl, along with some gold pearl card from my stash, to create the layers. These were cut with Spellbinders dies - circles, scalloped circles and Grand Decorative Circles. The hearts were cut with X Cut nesting dies, and the numbers with an old X Cut set. For the banner and name, I used my Craft Robo - with the Silhouette software.

i finished off with a piece of ribbon and a few beads for those all important sprinkles. And of course there had to be a matching box!!

I would like to enter this into:
Brown Sugar Challenges - Dots and/or Stripes (stripes on the cupcake case)

Crafts 4 Eternity - Food

Back soon,

Cxxx

... and the world's alright with me!!

Today I spent the day at Pickwell Farm on a workshop with the lovely Hels Sheridan. Driving back home afterwards, I realised that it's been quite a while since I've had a few days to do things just for myself - no school work, no DT work, no commissions, no birthdays to make stuff for. But it's kind of happened just by chance this weekend. Yesterday I had a fab day with SUP and gardening and a little sewing. And today I had all day just crafting for myself - not because I had commissions or projects to work on - but just for me!! And tomorrow I have Race for Life - and then maybe more gardening!! So - right now - the world's alright with me!! 

Anyway - here is what we were working on today. 

We started by painting the three panels (Tando Creatives Wall Art) with Docrafts Artiste paints. I used Conifer Green, Lagoon and Sea Spray. We then used paint through stencils - this one is Crafter's Workshop TCW359 - Microbial. A little flourish stamp with more paint completed the background.

This particular wall art comes with the pieces for the tree - so the next job was to paint those too. This time I used Mocha and Chocolate Brown for the tree, the same three colours as above for the flowers, and a combination of Sea Spray, Mocha and Burnt Umber for the butterflies. I did a little stamping onto the tree branches (sorry don't know what the stamp was) with the Burnt Umber to add some texture, and added a little Treasure Gold in Onyxite along the edges. I used a little more on the lighter coloured flowers.

We used a little greyboard to make the hinges - I painted mine to match the wall art, and then affixed the trees, flowers and butterflies. This allows the piece to bend slightly so that it will stand up - rather than hanging on a wall. 

There are a couple of mistakes - the panels are a bit too far apart, and the tree should sit at the bottom of the panel - but I am rather pleased with the result - and it already has a place in the living room!! A good day's work!!

Take care,

Cxxxx

What a totally chilled day!!!

I have had a really lovely day today. It started this morning with a great Wake Up Work Out paddleboarding session out in the harbour - with the sun shining down. Whilst I can usually stay upright when padding, I do struggle when we do the balancing excercises - especially turning round on the board. But today, I was much better and was able to turn 360 degrees without wobbling and falling off today!! Must be improving!! I then spent some time in the sun, tidying up my garden. And finished off with a great dinner of fresh mackerel caught by my OH. Just wonderful!!! 

Today's post is a card I made for a friend to give to her twin sister for her 40th birthday. she wanted bright colours - and a cocktail glass. So, I used Whimsie Doodles 'Margarita' digi stamp from the Summer Fun collection. 

I coloured the image with my Spectrum Noirs:

           Lime - LG5, JG1, JG5            Cherry - BP1, BP6, PP6          Cocktail Stick - BT4 

           Cocktail - HB3, LV2, LV3        Shading - IG1, IG2

The base card was made from Centura Pearl Snow White and it was then a case of matting and layering.The fuchsia card is also Centura Pearl, while the blue and green are Bazzill. The design papers are all from my stash. I think the green and purple are Papermania, the turquoise is from DCWV Luxury Card stack, and I have no idea about the pink. 

The two borders are cut from Centura Pearl with Spellbinders Classic Scallop Edgeability, and one of the inserts. I wrapped turquoise organza ribbon around them both. The numbers and letters are cut with Crafter's Companion 1" number and alphabet die sets. To finish off I added a little glitter glue to the top of the glass, some purple ric rac and a couple of sparklers (from The Works).

As ever, there is a matching box - using more of the card and papers. 

I would like to enter this into:
Charisma Cardz - Sparkle and Shine (glitter glue on glass - and sparklers)

Cuttin and Stampin - Birthdays

Am off to a workshop with the fabulous Hels Sheridan - so hopefully will have something to share from that in the next few days. 

Cxxx

Wedding Day!!

Today's post is a wedding card commissioned by a friend for her daughter's big day. It's based on a design I made for a previous commission - but in a completely different colour way. 

It's an 8x8 card made from a large sheet of Snow White Centura Pearl. The textured cream card is from my local market, and the pink paper and blue card used for layering is from my stash. i also used more of the Centura Pearl card.

To create the pink heart image, and the Congratulations sentiments, I mixed Dreamweaver Pearlescent paste with acrylic paints. Can't remember exactly what combination, as it was a bit of a trial and error to get the colour I needed. Quick tip - mix the paint first then add small amounts to the paste. The pearlescence does alter the colour - so it really is a case of playing around. And you don't want to add too much paint as the paste then becomes too runny. The stencils I used were both Dreamweaver - Rose Heart and Congratulations.

I used a combination of Spellbinders Circle, Scalloped Circle, Splendid Circle and Grand Decorative Circle dies to cut and mount the heart. For the sentiment I used my X Cut corner rounder, and a Long Scalloped Rectangle die.

Cream satin ribbon, a few pearls, and some decorative strands from the Wedding section of my local craft shop were used to finish off the card.

I decorated the top of the box lid in the same way as the card. For the inside of the lid and base I used more of the cream textured card, and a Centura Pearl Grand Decorative Circle embossed with Creative Expressions Cascading Hearts folder. The paper hearts are cut with X Cut Heart and Scalloped Heart dies, and the little pearl hearts are from my stash.

Here are the box and card together! I was pretty pleased with the result. 

I would like to enter this into:
The Sisterhood of Crafters - Wedding
Tuesday Throwdown - Celebrations (Wedding)
Dies R Us - Weddings

Take Care,
Cxxxx