Wow, long time no blog!

And it's not that I haven't been making cards, I just haven't blogged any of them for months. It seems I can only really concentrate properly on 1 project at a time, which since May last year has been my weight loss. I went back to WeightWatchers meetings back in May, and most of my free time on the laptop has been spent 'tracking' online, and keeping up with the message forums for hints, tips and support. With only half a stone to go now I'm hoping I can wean myself off the WW message boards and get some cards shared with my (slowly) growing number of followers before you all delete me!

So my first card of the year to share is this one, which I made with the Willow Sketchie Challenge in mind. To be honest I'm not sure I've followed the sketch closely enough, but maybe they'll turn a blind eye since I've used a digi stamp from the new Polly Pickleberry CD.

I've used a combination of Promarkers and Flexmarkers to colour the image - I love the very subtle colours available in the Flexmarkers. And then I used my Glacier Blue Flexmarker to colour the background of the Pink Petticoat backing paper too.

The sentiment uses an embossing folder that I think came in a Docrafts Goody Bag, and the embossing folder used on the backing strips was a magazine freebie.

The hyper-critical me doesn't love this card, so I might have another go at the sketch with a different image if I have the time.

Thanks for looking!

Lesley x

Thank You Card - Less is More Week 13

This week's theme over at Less Is More is Thank You or Congratulations and this is my entry...

The image and sentiment are a digi from Pink Petticoat, with a faux-stitched border added on the PC before printing the whole thing as a 12cm square card. I've coloured with chalks and added a couple of buttons and a bit of ribbon, very simple really.

Lesley x

Happy Easter....Part 1...

I don't usually 'do' Easter cards, but there are so many cute Easter images around that this year I couldn't resist making just a few.

This trio were made for my sister's 3 girls and I was pleasantly surprised to find that they loved them - they're all aged 6 and under so I thought they might be a little bit too 'grown-up', but at least I wasn't worried that they'd turn their noses up at handmade - we've had a few crafty sessions together and I take craft supplies with me most times I visit.

The cards are all made from papers and images from the Creative Cardmaking special Pink Petticoat edition, coloured with Promakers (of course!) and measure a dinky 12cm square.

The first one I made was the one at the bottom of the shot, then I worried that the little ones wouldn't 'get' the buttons (added to hide a smudge in the bottom corner of the image!). I made the other two without any embellishments, then of course thought they looked too bare for little girls, so raided my stash for the little flower and (quite hideous) butterfly.

A last minute panic when I realised that I'd spot-glittered 2 of the cards and not the 3rd one, then they were safely delivered to their recipients this morning!

Vintage Heart

I don't really 'do' Valentines cards but there are a lot of love and heart-related posts out there in blogland right now...

But hearts don't just have to be Valentines, right?

I've used  Pink Petticoat Vintage Rose papers, on a Craftwork Cards scalloped card blank.  The scalloped heart was cut using my Craft Robo Lite, and the edges 'inked' with a Promarker.

I'm entering this for the Shabby Tea Room challenge - I know, no blogging for 2 months and I enter 2 challenges in 2 days...get me!

Mirror, mirror on the wall...

another of those projects that evolved as I went along. I had the basic idea for a decorated mirror in my head but originally was going to do a faux-mosaic look with pink papers. After fiddling about for a while trying to work out the best size for the squares and the spacing I considered covering the whole of the front of the frame with the paper.  Eventually I came up with this design...

The dangly ribbons are to clip hair-slides etc on to keep them tidy.  I've seen lots of similar things in blogland but liked the idea of using them with a mirror.  The flowers at the ends of the ribbons are cut from fleece using the same Hello Kitty Sizzix flower die as I've used for those on the mirror.  I've weighted them with pennies to help them hang properly.  The lettering was cut with my Craft Robo Lite and the paper is a Pink Petticoat download.  

The mirror incidentally was bought from Ikea over 10 years ago and never used (it was pine but I've painted lightly with white acrylic), and I've just checked the website and they still sell them!  Think I'll pick up a few more next time I go...

Fabulous Shoes

Another commission, this time from my work colleagues for our manager who has taken early retirement.  The only real brief was 'she loves shoes'.  As she's seen most of the work I've done lately I wanted to try something a little different and remembered I had a freebie digi of a shop-front somewhere. Unfortunately I can't remember who this one was from, will have to have a search of the web.

The brickwork and other aqua items were coloured with Promarkers and the green polka dot and pink stripe papers are downloads from Pink Petticoat. It doesn't show in the picture but I put acetate in the windows.

This is the view from another angle to show the dimension - the awning is popped up with a couple of generous dollops of pinflair glue gel. If I do a similar card again I probably won't cut around the doorway as there was only a very narrow strip left to attach to the base card

The card measures a massive 7 x 9 inches but I think it would've been too fiddly in a smaller size.


Edited to add - have found the website for the freebie, Crafty Boutique by GTC

Bubbling over...

...with fun and birthday wishes.

This is one of my favourite cards of the year, using my favourite Pink Petticoat Vintage Rose papers for the background and digital paper-piecing on the image, which is also from Pink Petticoat, from a set called Lola Rose - You Make Me Feel Bubbly.

The frame is hand-doodled and the skin and hair coloured with Promarkers. Fonts used are Auburn and Hiccups.

Too busy crafting...

to get round to blogging!


But, here's a quick peek of one of today's creations - I'm trying to stock up for the craft fair I'm doing on Sunday 29th August - not long now, eek!

The card is very similar to the box I made for the 21st birthday card last week.  I'm not happy with the proportions of this one (5" x 7", cut down from a 10" x 7" card so the fold is on the short side), will try it on an 8 x 8 square card next time.  A very simple card though, shapes cut on Craft Robo Lite - teacups were a free download from UK Scrappers website, the bunting I managed to 'design' myself! The papers are a selection from the Pink Petticoat Vintage Rose collection - think these are my favourite PP papers of all time...the 2 fonts used are called Auburn and Hiccups both from Kevin & Amanda, I think they complement each other really well...Edges were 'inked' with a Blush Promarker and teacups trimmed with a little bit of paper lace.

Teapot Mark II

It seems it's not just me who loves the Union flag teapot design... My favourite customer brought more work my way, this time a commission from her daughter for a 21st birthday card for someone who loves drinking tea...

she wanted one of my 8 inch square cards with matching box, and I have to say I love this box as much as the card - may just have to reproduce as a smaller scale card...

what do you think of the little handmade paper teabag peeking out of the cup...?

Papers are a mix of Pink Petticoat and My Minds Eye, cut on Craft Robo Lite. Self-adhesive paper lace made by Creatability, and rub-ons made myself with special rub-on transfer paper from Grafix (bought at Hobbycraft, about £10 for 4 A4 sheets so will be using it sparingly!)

As British as....

this is my take on a card featured in a magazine this month. I made it for my best friend's birthday.

Papers are a combination of Pink Petticoat 'Daisy Bouquet' and a My Minds Eye magazine freebie (I loved the papers so much I bought 2 copies of the mag!)

This photo is a better one to show its an easel card

as you can see I've glued on a row of buttons to act as the stopper for the easel part. Not much else on the card apart from some self-adhesive paper lace and a bit of stickles...

And a quick peek at the inside too...

I've a feeling I'll be using a similar design more than once (but if I do another easel card I'll cover the back part of the easel too)!

21st birthday card

My first stepper card - a commission for a 21st birthday card for a 'girly girl'.  This was for the daughter of the recipient of the 50th birthday card I made a few weeks ago so I couldn't use the handbag this time!

I cut the card base with the craft robo, after running it through the printer to add polka dots to both sides (as the 'wrong' side is visible from the front of the card).  I can't remember where the shoe image came from but I digitally paper-pieced it to coordinate with the rest of the card.  The paper designs are all from Pink Petticoat, although I had to use a bit of jiggery-pokery to change the colourway to suit.

As ever I had to make a matching box as the card was way too deep for an envelope, so designed a basic template for the craft robo and cut it from printed card.  The words 'twenty one' and 'Heather' were also cut with the robo, as were the large flowers.  The trim on the box is of course made with a Martha Stewart punch.


I'm pleased to report that my customer loved the finished card - I must learn not to worry so much, lol!

Back in my comfort zone...

with a much simpler card, although it is another challenge entry (I know, 2 in 1 day, lol!)...

This one is for the Pollycraft Monday Challenge - Let's have a sing-song where the theme is 'inspired by a song'. I think my entry speaks for itself, no explanation needed, lol! This has been one of my favourite songs for years so thank you to Glee and of course Joe McElderry for bringing it back!

Image is the Lilybean Fairy Clover Butterfly Wishes digistamp from Pollycraft

coloured (badly!) with Promarkers

backing paper 'Ice Cream Curls' from Pink Petticoat

and the little butterfly in the top left is a dimensional sticker from Anita's (strategically placed to hide the black mark left by my printer - silly me coloured and trimmed the image before running back through the printer to add the sentiment!)

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!

Lisa's special RAK event for her sister

I can't believe how long its been since my last post - how do people manage to find time to blog every day??? Actually if I did more blogging and less reading of other blogs then I might get somewhere, lol!

My card today is for a very special RAK which you can find here.  Lisa's sister is terminally ill with lung cancer and she has asked us to send her sister cards to make her smile, preferably including a frog.  Paula from Pollycraft has very kindly donated a freebie digi image to use.

This was my first effort, I love how the red (which is actually 'hot pink' Promarker) goes with the green.  For once the card came together almost exactly how I'd pictured it in my head...

I designed the sentiment circle myself using wordart - the flower in the centre is cropped from the main image to co-ordinate perfectly. Once I'd scanned the card however I had another look at Lisa's post and saw the request for funny cards and thought I needed a funnier sentiment so eventually came up with this one...

Again the frog's head in the centre is cropped from the main image (and to save making the card all over again I just stuck the new sentiment on top of the old one!)

The backing paper is a pink petticoat download which I only bought last night (how's that for speed?), printed at half size, and everything else is coloured with Promarkers.  Now I'm just wondering whether to add googly eyes if I can find them amongst all of my clutter lovely stash....

Off to colour in some more frogs while watching the footie now x