Clouds

I was getting things together for my daughter to enter into several challenges and then I just had to have a go myself. The challenge that got me going is Little Miss Muffet - Clouds! The thing is I've just been watching a Clarity Stamps bit on TV about inking a cloud background and I just had to try it out. Not only was it simple but I love the effect! All you do is cut out some bumps on a piece of paper and then you use this as a template to ink over the edges and keep moving the bumps around! How cool!

Anyway, I'm entering this card into:

Little Miss Muffet Challenge #21 Clouds

Emily's crafting

Well, my daughters have both now got the challenge bug and since I think my youngest is too young for her own blog, here are her cards to enter into the polka dot challenges!

Entered for:

Jen's Digistamps Challenge #7 Polka Dots

La La Land Crafts 4 Kids Contest #6 Polka Dots

Card for a beautiful redhead

I made this card for a lovely girl I know, she has beautiful red hair
and so I wanted to celebrate it!
I'd like to play along with Karen's Doodles challenge#87- Quote Inspiration. Closes Mon 7th
Here's my quote:
-- "You'd find it easier to be bad than good if you had red hair," said Anne reproachfully. "People who haven't red hair don't know what trouble is."
(by character Anne Shirley speaking to her guardian Marilla in book 'Anne of Green Gables')

Inspiration

I love going through different people's blog and being inspired by other people's designs. I made this card based on a design by Fae at Fae's Follies, I just loved the idea of coloured squares on the black and white base. I've used a gorgeous digi stamp by TiddlyInks.

Get Well Soon

I just love this stamp from Lili of the Valley! I've coloured it with promarkers and used an embosing folder for the sentiment.

I'd like to enter this card to the following:

Chrarisma Cardz Challenge#43 : Anything Goes

Digi Doodle Shop Challenge 80 : Anything Goes

Autumn Colours

I've been looking around at lots of really cool blogs and decided it's time I got back into the whole blogging thing and the best way for me to give that a go is to join in with some challenges so here goes. I used the 'Tomboy-Sonny' digistamp from Pollycraft and patterned papers from a freebie Betsy Tuma digi kit from Two Peas in a Bucket.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Belli Challenge : 1234 : 1 image, 2 stars, 3 patterned papers & 4 leaves. Closes Wed 9th Nov

Shelley's Images : Tic Tac Toe : Fall Colours, Free (patterned papers), Digi

Creative Craft : Fancy edges. Closes Tues 8th Nov

Fetch a sketch Challenge 10 : Closes Mon 14th Nov

Hannah's ATC party

We have a bit of a tradition in our house for doing 'different' birthday parties, something you wouldn't necessarily get from your local sports centre . We've done fairies, mermaids & teddy bear parties but my eldest daughter is growing up and decided this year she wanted an ATC party - great idea! Only problem is my wonderful creative daughter kept on having great ideas:  

I know, lets make the invitation an ATC! Yes, it could open out and have all the details in the middle!

Let's have different challenges in gold envelopes with different stash for each envelope 

and books to decorate and keep all our ATC's in!

Oh and by the way can I have an ATC birthday cake with edible glitter on it?!

Of course I could have said no at any point but I'm not sure that's in my vocabulary when it comes to my girls!! Anyway, it was great fun even if it was a lot of work!!

ATC's & a new blog

I've been making the ATC's for this months Ali's Swap - Spooked. I was looking around Ali's site and found Jo and her blog http://mycraftingcorner-jo.blogspot.com/. It's a great blog and she also craft's with her daughter which I think is cool! She also has some amazing blog candy!!

A cat, some pirates and something new!

Although I havem't posted anything for a while I've still been making cards, I also made a really lovely birthday book but forgot to photograph it!!

So here are just a few to show, the cat was from a template freebie card from a magazine and the pirates were for a boy having a pirate themed party. The 90th birthday card is for my dear neighbour who is 90 on Sunday, it's the first time I've tried parchment craft and the first easel card I've made, I'm rather pleased with it!

Meep Meep and a sketch

I created a sketch before putting this card together and am offering the sketch as a Tip for Top Tip Tuesday. I love the Meep Meep digistamp from Little Musings and her blog is great.

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

http://toptiptuesday.blogspot.com/2011/04/top-tip-31-easy-envelope-box-squares.html Top Tip #31 - Squares Challenge

http://cutecardthursday.blogspot.com/2011/04/challenge-162-sketch.html Challenge 162 - Sketch

http://ilovepromarkers.blogspot.com/2011/04/challenge-63-no-designer-papers.html Challenge #63 - No Designer Papers

http://digidoodleshopsbest.blogspot.com/2011/04/challenge-56-anything-goes.html Challenge 56 - Anything Goes

Tagxedo

I like to look at other people's blog's for ideas, inspiration and I guess just because I'm nosy but my very favourite blog is http://itsallfiddlefart.blogspot.com/. I get most of my best ideas from there and the thing I like most is the ideas are mostly simple as well as creative. Anyway while I was looking at that blog this morning I decided to look to see where Helen gets her inspiration from so I started to look at the blogs she follows. This lead me to http://creativeflourishes.blogspot.com/ which was full of exciting things but in particular www.tagxedo.com here you can create pictures out of words! The above dove is made from words from this blog - I just think that awesome! It would make a lovely card, I'll be experimenting and looking up poems I can use!

Bird-day card

I made this card for my neighbour, I made it to match with the tealights in the previous post and I'm pleased with most of it, the layout, the colours and the flowers but the colouring of the bird seemed to go very wrong. Still you can't win them all right!

Birthday Tealights

I'm trying another of the Paper Planet 3d challenges and this time I'm hopefully not too late! I love the idea http://www.papercraftplanet.com/group/3dchallengegroup/forum/topics/3d110tearrific-tealights. You decorate a circle of tissue paper and then melt the wax around it - cool!

New Beginnings ATCs

Last month I started an ATC swap with Ali http://alisatcswapstop.blogspot.com/ Each month she picks a different theme, you make four ATCs and send them to her. She then sends you four different ones by other people. It's great and I loved the ones I received for her 'Wild Thing' theme!

Anyway, this month Hannah and I worked together to produce these ATCs that we're calling Talk of New Beginnings.

Easter Peek-A-Boo Suitcase

I had a go at another Paper Planet challenge http://www.papercraftplanet.com/profiles/blogs/peekaboo-challenge-3 I didn't finish it in time to enter, but I had fun making it and may make a few more for Easter presents.

Easter Cards

I haven't posted anything for a while, I seem to be making things at the last minute and then sending them without thinking to photograph them first! Ah well, here's a couple of Easter cards that I've remembered to record.

Another new thing - ATCs

My daughter has got the ATC bug, big time and I have just found a swap blog. The plan is that each month my daughter and I will work together to produce 4 ATCs set by Ali on her blog http://alisatcswapstop.blogspot.com/. We'll then send them in for swaps. Because we joined very late this month Hannah hasn't had much of chance to get involved so these ATCs are mine (although she did help with the idea!). The photos used for these ATCs are photos I took for one of CJs photography courses, we were doing silhouettes and the weather wasn't great so I used some of the kids plastic safari animals and drew pretty sunset skies on the computer screen and then took these photos. For the ATCs I've just added a Lily of the Valley stamp and some distressing inks. It was good fun and I'm looking forward to next month's theme.

Paper Craft Planet

I signed up to a new web site / crafting community yesterday called Paper Craft Planet. I'm really impressed so far, I've already been inspired to join in the 3d Challenge 106 making a gift card envelope. http://papercraftplanet.net/2011/03/23/3d-challenge-106-gift-card-holder/

In fact, my daughter (aged 10) and I, did one each. Hers is for a clothes shop gift card where as mine is to hold letters for my daughter to take into school for her class teacher.

LOTV 40 card

I went to the Farnborough Make It craft show last week and loved it! I spent far too much money but bought some lovely things including this wonderful Lily of the Valley stamp. I also bought a Hougie board and used it to make this, my first stepper card. I'm really quite pleased with it. Of course I bought some extra ProMarkers whilst there and even some cases to put them in.

I'm entering this into the Passion for ProMarkers Week 89 Sugar Rush challenge at http://promarkerchallenge.blogspot.com/.

Happy Birthday Grandad

It's I love Promarkers birthday this week and it's also Grandad's birthday so I've combined the two! I wanted to try a 'shaped' card just as something different and was really impressed with Kate's use of card candy in her border (hope you don't mind Kate I used your idea!). The stamps were from a set in my stash, I used buttons and mini mosaics for the borders and my beloved Sakura white soufle pen for the doodling.

I've done the I love ProMarkers blog hop and am entering this card to their challenge: http://ilovepromarkers.blogspot.com/

Valentine's gothic style

This is my slightly gothic valentines card, I've made it for the Fairdoodler's fortnightly freebies challenge: http://fairydoodler-fairydoodlersden.blogspot.com/p/fairydoodlers-friday-freebie-challenge.html. I used my fiskars border punch and my pomarkers. I had a go at doodling the frame and background.

My mum asked me to make this card for my uncle who's 60 this week. I know it's not your usual 60th birthday card but my uncle has always young at heart and somehow I think it works for him!

I'm entering this into the I love ProMarkers challenge which this week is anything goes! http://ilovepromarkers.blogspot.com/2011/02/challenge-51-anything-goes.html

I made this card for the 'I Love Promarkers' Lavendar & Lace challenge http://ilovepromarkers.blogspot.com/. I used a freebie image from a Papercraft Inspirations magazine (obviously coloured with Promarkers!), a doily that I inked in several colours to try and get a match and the Friend topper from KPertiet Defining Moments Love.

This is one of a batch of Christening Invites I've made. I used the 9 square pattern from Helen over at http://itsallfiddlefart.blogspot.com/search/label/9%20Square%20Template%20Card. I get a lot of ideas from Its all Fiddle Fart, I think Helen's great!

This card came from a Papercraft Inspirations article from about 2008. I do like going back over past issues! I've created the stripes & dots using the computer and also printed the star and sentiment. This is the first time I've done stitching on a card. I pre-punched the holes using a needle (I printed out a light grey dashed star to give me a guide to follow) and I used some gold thread from my sewing kit. I'm really happy with the overall effect. What's even better is how simple it was to make AND I've still got all the template for next time!

A New Start!

I've decided to start using this blog to record some of the crafty things I make, either cards are scrapbook pages or stuff with the kids. It remains to be seen if I can keep it up.