#ThrowbackThursday :: Up and Away :)

Hello :)

I'm back with the second in my as-and-when series of #ThrowbackThursday, or #tbt posts and I have another card using Clearly Besotted Stamps goodies, made at about the same time as my last #tbt card, so around 18 months ago...

Simple but effective, with a negative diecut aperture and some lovely clouds to set the scene for this fab hot air balloon... I made this one for my Grandad's birthday and he loved it (don't Grandparents make the best and most receptive of audiences!! lol)... I still rather like it myself!! ;)

The panel with the aperture has some inked clouds, which I made using a stencil I created with a negative of some of the same CBS cloud dies and some white pearlescent ink :)

This pic shows the lovely effect of using different heights of 3D foam to stick down all the different bits and pieces... much more interesting than everything being all one level ;)

{The List}

Cardstock - Papermill Direct - Sky Blue, White Linen; Craftwork Cards - Digital Cardstock (for the balloon)

Stamps - Clearly Besotted Stamps - Going Places; Woodware Clear Magic - Retro Words

Dies - Clearly Besotted Stamps - Going Places, Sky's the Limit, Tag Along; Spellbinders - Nestabilities Circles

Colouring Medium - ProMarkers (sorry, no colour list as it was so long ago!)

Inks - Memento - London Fog; Brilliance - Moonlight White

Tools - Cuttlebug, Ranger Blending Foam

Finishing Touches - Sakura Stardust Pen - Clear

Challenges I'd like to enter: Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - Let's Get Sentimental ; CASology - Shape

Thanks for stopping by today, I hope you've enjoyed another detour into the depths of my computer's Pictures folder!! :) Have a great week everyone!! :)

#ThrowbackThursday :: Cute & Cuddly :)

Hello :)

Long time, no blog again... health stuff... life stuff... etc., etc.... I won't bore you all with the details or excuses again!! ;) I'm glad to be back, anyway, and thought I'd get things going again with an idea I had a while ago whilst going through the mountains of photos on my computer... I realised I have a huge number of photos of cards, jewellery and other crafty things from quite a while back which I have never got around to posting and, since I am finding myself with less energy for crafting (cardmaking in particular) at the moment, I thought I would start a little as-and-when series of throwback posts... which I will post on a Thursday and tag with the well known #ThrowbackThursday or #tbt hashtag :) I will still be posting new cards when I can, of course, but I'm hoping this may help me to fill the gaps of time a little ;) 

So... up first in my #tbt series, a little CBS Baby card from about 18 months ago...

It was for my cousin to celebrate the birth of her little girl... I kept it simple as I was having trouble with the old mojo at the time but I ended up loving it :)

A stamped, diecut and watercoloured giraffe, along with an assortment of stamped hearts on the notebook page and two sentiments, all from CBS, and then a sprinkling of diecut hearts and gems was all there was to it... of course, we crafters know nothing is ever as 'simple' as that at the time but, looking back on it now, it seems like should have been!! ;)

I also stamped a few of the hearts on the inside lining papers to prettify it all a little... excuse the slightly grey area between the two hearts on the inside front in the photo above- I stamped the baby's name and birthdate in that gap but blanked it out for my post :)

{The List}

Cardstock - PaperMill Direct - Baby Pink, White Linen and assorted scraps for the hearts

Stamps - Clearly Besotted Stamps - Cute & Cuddly, Baby Love, Many Thanks, Many Messages and Just A Note

Dies - Clearly Besotted Stamps - Cute & Cuddly; Simon Says Stamp - Holiday Shapes and Large Holiday Shapes; MFT - Notebook Edge

Inks - Memento - Rose Bud, Lulu Lavender, Angel Pink and Lilac Posies

Colouring Medium - Watercolour with Brilliance Pearlescent Purple and Pearlescent Orchid

Embossing - Versamark Ink and Crafter's Companion White Embossing Powder

Tools - Heat Gun

Embellishments - Docrafts Anita's - 3mm and 2mm gems

Finishing Touches - Sakura Stardust Pen - Clear

Challenges I'd like to enter: Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Anything Goes ; Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes ; Addicted to Stamps and More - Make Your Mark :)

I thought I would also share a pic of the felt heart decoration I made to send with the card with the little one's initial on it... this was my first felt decoration and, while not perfect by any means, I was pretty pleased with how it came out :) I did go on a search for a more solid felt after this though, as this wool/acrylic blend really wasn't very strong for sewing and stuffing... it is lovely and soft though and will get used for less demanding purposes :)

Okay, that's all from me today... I'll hopefully be back before *too* long, though, and will maybe share a few pics from my amazing outing to see the Cherry Blossoms at out local park last week, something that has been a dream through years of living housebound!! :) :) :)

Wonderful Watercolour...

Hello :)

I'm back with a card today- I've not been well enough to make many cards at all since before Christmas but this last week I've managed to make four... most of them very simple but I'm very happy!! :) 

If any of you follow my little blog over on Facebook or Instagram, you may have already seen a sneak of this card as I was simply so excited I had to share it straight away...

... but I have since taken some better pictures on my proper camera so please keep reading!! ;)

Last week saw yet another fabulous release from Stephanie at Clearly Besotted... I seem to say this almost every time but I really think this may be my favourite release so far!! :) I couldn't wait to play with this particular set as it is just stunning... so I just had to drag myself to my desk the evening they arrived despite not really feeling too well... and I am so glad I did as I love what I made!! :)

Having seen so many of the fabulous DT creating gorgeous samples from this set with watercolour, I decided it was time I gave it another go... and for once, it actually came out looking the way I wanted it to!! :) If I had had the energy, I would have danced for joy!! ;D ;D I used the 'Wet on Wet' technique, which is truly wonderful with a heat embossed image as the embossing pools the paint so beautifully :) I also added some ink splatters... my technique with this needs some serious practise as I ended up being a little (okay, a lot!) heavy handed when trying to get a *few* *slightly* larger splatters :/ lol 

{The List}

Cardstock - Papermill Direct - Smooth Cream

Stamps - Clearly Besotted Stamps - Friends Forever

Inks - Versamark

Tools - Heat Tool

Embossing Powder - WOW! Metallic Brass

Colouring Medium - Distress Inks - Tattered Rose, Spun Sugar, Picked Raspberry, Wild Honey, Forest Moss, Peeled Paint, Weathered Wood, Pumice Stone

Finishing Touches - Shimmer Sprays - Perfect Pearls Perfect Pearl, Tattered Angels Antique Gold, Wink of Stella Clear

{Challenges}

Simon Says Stamp - All Things Bright and Beautiful

And I'll leave you with another quick pic from my Instagram of my messy desk... believe it or not I had already done some of the tidying away at this point!! ;)

Thanks for reading, I'll hopefully see you soon!! :) Have a good week folks!! :)

Brrrr... it's cold!! I can help with that...

Hello!! :)

Long time no post again- same old reasons, I'm afraid... my health and life in general have had other plans for me than blogging no matter how much I'd have liked to post!! ;) Anyway, I have still been crafting in my absence, though I have had less time well enough to be at my desk so have been doing a lot of crocheting in bed to keep myself out of mischief... and that's what I thought I'd share with you today...

This piece of soft, snuggly, yarny gorgeousness is the Christmas present I made for Jen this year... a cowl to keep her nice and warm through this horrible winter :)

I taught Jen to crochet earlier this year so it has become yet another shared crafty love to add to the list and when I saw this yarn just after she sent me a Pin of a gorgeous cowl she'd found on Pinterest, I knew I had her Christmas present sorted!! :) The yarn is Stylecraft Weekender in Duck Egg, which I bought from Wool Warehouse, and I used the pattern on the Pin Jen found as a starting point to get the length of my chain right, then just winged the rest of it having been soaking in simple cowl pattern ideas from all around the web for weeks, doing 'half-trebles in the back loop only' to get the ribbed effect til it looked the right size ;) Aside from being super soft and beautifully coloured, this yarn is also Super Chunky so it didn't take too long to work up with my lovely new 10mm hook- these Knit Pro Waves hooks are so comfy and let my hands crochet for longer before the pain forces me to stop (thank you so much to Mel for sending me my first one!!)... I have almost every size now and I love them!! :)

As a little finishing touch, I added a hand stamped tag using one of mine and Jen's favourite metal stamps (another new craft we both became obsessed with last year... I shall share some of my pieces soon-ish, I hope!! ;D) as this was something we had been chatting about :)

I also got my mum to take a quick pic of the cowl on before I wrapped it up as you really can't tell what it looks like folded on my desk!! lol

Well, I hope you liked seeing something different on my blog today... I hope I will be back with more before too long but I really can't say when as I am having a bit of a hard time with headaches and eyestrain/pain at the moment, which is making editing pics and writing posts on the computer tricky :/ I have enjoyed writing this one though, so fingers crossed I can find a way!! :)

Thanks for reading and I hope you are all well and enjoying 2015 so far!! :)