More is more...

This card came about from one of my failed printing attempts for my last post. Annoyingly my printer was only printing part of the image on some of the cards.  On this one it printed the whole rose image but no sentiment.

Preview

My 'rescue' job was very simple...I've added a Craftwork Cards sentiment circle which I've coloured and glittered on the edge, and a length of chiffon ribbon.  The image is coloured with chalks as in my last post, and the scallops on the card blank also picked up with chalks.

I've got something in mind for another half-printed card in the next day or two - watch this space!

Less is more...

that's the name of a this brand new challenge blog and I'm looking forward to playing along regularly as I definitely prefer the clean and simple look.

The first challenge is a colour challenge, using pink, black and white and there are lots of fabulous entries already, there are obviously a lot of clean and simple folk about...

My card mainly uses items I got in one of my bargain £5 Craftwork Cards goody bags, with a few gems from my stash.  The ribbons was 'recycled at source' - I stole it from the packaging of a Christmas gift I bought for a niece.  She'd have just thrown it in the bin...!

I've just noticed that 1 of my layers is a bit skew-whiff on this pic but don't have time to take another photo tonight - please forgive me!

As well as the Less is More challenge I'm also going to enter this into the Totally Papercrafts Challenge - Clean and Simple

Forever Friends

This is the first card I've made from the Forever Friends Black and Gold CD-Rom bought from Create and Craft.

Annoyingly the CD-Rom won't install on my laptop so I had to dust off the desktop PC to make the card. Its a very simple card as I wanted to see the quality of the printed images before spending too much time on 'designing' with the CD. The main image was printed as a single layer from one of the background papers (I think!) and the sentiment and corners cut out separately. The card base is a 6" square scalloped card from Craftwork Cards.

I'm entering this into the Forever Friends Challenge, where the theme is 'Stars'.

Handbag Mark II...

Well, version 1 went down so well I thought I'd have another go

very similar to the first but I used a linen effect paper (not sure if that was wise, it didn't cut cleanly with the robo) and added a bit of bling. I designed the key myself on the robo  (I know some people still like keys on 18th/21st birthday cards so thought this was a very discreet way to use it!)

Time for tea?

Isn't she a little cutie?

I've finally taken the plunge and bought my first Lili of the Valley stamps - looking back now I can't understand why I waited so long....

And to celebrate I thought it was time I also entered my very first challenge, this one at the Lili of the Valley challenge blog. It's a sketch challenge, and this is also the first time I've worked to a sketch but I'm quite pleased with the result...

 image is 'Tea Party' from Lili of the Valley

stamped with Memento Inkpad onto Clarity Stamps postcard

coloured with Promarkers

Martha Stewart border punch

Nellie's die-cut frame

backing papers from Forever Friends, Papermania Honey and Hugs and a Pink Petticoat download

sentiment from Craftwork Cards and think the flowers are Prima, held together with a Dovecraft brad

Inspired by...

...well I hardly think I need say any more - the cute little scottie dog says it all! I bought a pack of the scotties at Harrogate in March with a card for one of my sisters in mind - she's a collector of a certain designer handbag range and my budget doesn't run to the actual thing...

Anyway there I was sat trying to decide what to do for the 50th birthday card I'd been asked to make, with the brief of 'girly' and cast my mind back to the conversation where I'd been told that part of the gift for the birthday girl was a you-know-who bag...

...and voila!

Papers are Pink Petticoat, handbag shape traced from a Craftwork Cards blank then layered with 'panels' cut on the robo. I cut a pocket into the front of the bag to slot the scottie into. The '50' charm was also cut on the robo - I cut 3 layers and stuck them together for strength, and the brad used for the closure was from Dovecraft I think.  Some assorted flowers and thin strips of black vinyl and we're good to go :-)

As has become the habit with my 8 x 8" cards I made a matching box instead of an envelope and I think it turned out pretty well, after completely mis-measuring last night - the 1st attempt wasn't even square lol!

Of course I'm my own worst critic and worried that it wasn't up to scratch but my friend loved it, and I think I'll be making a very similar one for a 21st birthday card she needs too...

Oh yes, and not forgetting my sister's card!

Hang In There...

After all of the 'big card' fuss last weekend, I've been able to get back to something that's a bit more 'me'. What do you think?

The image is a freebie digi-stamp from Sassy Cheryl's over at Paper Craft Planet - here's a close up version

He's coloured with Promarkers (of course!), as is the cardstock used for matting, and the card candy - the perfect way to get an exact colour match.  The pink backing paper was in my goody bag from Craftwork Cards. Finished off with a computer-generated sentiment (printed directly on to the card before assembly).

Just a quick update on that wedding card though - I managed to make a box and a matching insert for the card just in time to take it to our tea-party! I wasn't entirely happy with the box but was told that I was being over-fussy and everyone else loved it...

Still Recovering...

...from a nasty tummy bug last week, and from a full 6 hours at the GNPE in Harrogate last Sunday. Well that's 6 hours excluding the dash to Sainsburys to get some more cash out of the hole in the wall...which also gave me an opportunity to stash what I'd already bought into the car to free up my hands and arms for more buying...
Sunday evening was like some form of torture - I stayed overnight in Harrogate but hadn't had the forethought to take a basic craft kit with me, so had to make do with lots of 'stroking' of new goodies...

I came back with a boot full of crafting goodies supplemented with the purchases made in Harrogate town centre on the Monday morning...oops!

Of course since I've been feeling poorly too I haven't really had much of a chance to create but have managed these 2 cards...

This one is made almost entirely from a Craftwork Cards goody bag - the middle flower stem was diecut and foiled and I just used the 'waste' either side to make the other stems.  The leaves were cut from waste at the corners of the same sheet. I used an apple green Promarker to colour them.  The mesh behind the flowers was originally plain white and also coloured with a PM (moss green I think)

This is the first card I made from my new stash and I think I managed to use 5 new products to make it.  The only things that weren't new were the rub-on sentiment and the black paper used for matting and layering.
Image is Indentz 'Funky Tree' embossing folder run through the Cuttlebug using Whitewash core-dinations cardstock. Card candy and backing paper from (another) Craftwork Cards goody bag, and of course the lace is a Martha Stewart punch.  The card itself measures about 8x8 inches and is made from an A3 sheet of pearlised card also bought at the GNPE. If I add in the envelopes and polybags bought separately that makes 7 of my weekend buys used for 1 card!

Off now for some crafting of a slightly different nature - I'm holding an Easter/Spring crafts session for children on Monday at the library where I work.  Watch this space...