Jubilee Jewels...

Hey there everyone!! :)

Happy Bank Holiday to you all- hope you’re all well and enjoying the weekend’s Jubilee festivities one way or another... my mum’s church had a ‘street party’ on the church path yesterday afternoon and I’m just so glad for them that it has been such a lovely day after she’d been dreading more of Sunday’s rain!! :) Mum made some displays for the event and of course raided my stash and equipment to help her along the way... also my actual help last week as she was running out of time to get things done, so that has been taking a lot of my crafty energy... but... I do have another Jubilee-themed project of my own which I thought I should try and share with you before all the celebrations are forgotten...

I discovered this fab blog a month or so ago after a bit of a browse on Pinterest and was very intrigued by the glass tile jewellery posts... I have never tried this kind of thing before but it seemed simpler than I thought it would be {I didn’t end up doing it the way she suggests as I didn’t read it all through and instead followed the instructions on the site where I got my supplies, which takes longer but might be more sturdy... will have to experiment!} so I popped off to Google to find some supplies...

And then promptly got rather carried away!!lol It’s not as bad as it looks, I do seem to have a couple more necklaces than my mum and I need but all the little round ones in this pic have been made into pins and are already with their new owners... when mum saw my first (okay, first successful, but more on that in a mo’!!) necklace she asked if I could make some little pins for the people at her church to wear :)

The Union Jack flags I used are a graphic I created earlier this year when I couldn't find papers I wanted for my cards- spent ages getting the proportions right!!lol- and then printed out sized to suit my various glass shapes... and therein lies the story, as I had a couple of botched attempts at first while I was finding my feet... they looked great when I made them and I was v pleased with myself... but by morning they were a blobby mess... yup, I’d used too much glaze to glue them into the metal pendant trays, and been too eager to see the finished results, so not let all the layers of sealant and the glaze to stick the image to the glass dry properly first... and the inkjet ink had run... too much even to call it an intentional style choice!!lol But I got there in the end thanks to some advice from the lady I bought my supplies from... if you want to know more about making these then pop to her blog as she has some Tutorial posts :) 

This pic is of a slightly different style- an epoxy sticker on a metal dog tag, which was a free gift with my order but surprisingly nice so I got some more!! :) The others are glass with the images glued on and then either set into a tray or with a bail added to the back. But the glass seemed to play up with my camera/ lamp and this shot through the sticker was the best one to show the pattern on the flag, which is a simple overlay of a photo of a jacquard fabric added over the block colours of my finished basic flag in my graphics program. The darker image just has another ‘burnout’ type overlay on top of that for a more distressed vintage effect :)

I thought I should try a different image so this is made with a piece of Bo Bunny Gabrielle paper... this particular piece is a bit busy for my tastes and I’ve always wondered if I would ever use it... very nice to be able to say yes, just not on a card!! :) It just needs a charm to sit over the top right corner when I find something that suits :)

I also made my mum a quick little pin with a couple of my crocheted flowers and a teeny Portobello Road button- love these!! :) – all stuck together with Pinflair!! :)

So, that’s what’s been keeping me busy this last couple of weeks- aside from helping my mum!! I hope you like them... I’m really excited by the possibilities of even more personalisation and creativity in my jewellery that this technique gives- so glad I took the energy to search out the supplies and figure it out so I’m sure I’ll be making more!! :) Right now, though, I really do need to reclaim my desk from all the different jewellery findings and glues, etc. so I can get to making some cards... June is a *veeeerrry* busy month for cards and I haven’t even started on account of not really having my head around the idea that it was going to be June so soon!! Ooops!!:S lol Best get going... well, maybe in the morning!!

Ooh- as a little extra, here is a of pic of the mini Victoria Sandwich cakes my mum and I made this afternoon... mmmm!! :) Can you tell I just love my Union Jack mug, btw...and the napkins even match!?!!lol

Happy Hallowe'en :D :D

Hello all!! :D

Now, I know I said I was going to take a break from posting for a few days but I just had to share my first ever pumpkin with you on Hallowe'en... meet Dracula...

mmwahahaha!!lol

I don't normally get very excited about Hallowe'en but I seem to have got the bug this year and I have to say I had a great time having a go at carving this fella, especially as, after needing to borrow some elbow grease (thanks mum!!lol) to dig out his insides, I actually managed to carve the face myself!! Hands don't like me much now so might not manage any colouring tonight but never mind!!lol

Hope you're all having a fab and spooky night (or at least not getting driven mad by trick or treaters if it's not your thing!!lol)!! ;D ;D

Happy Hallowe'en!!! :D

Simply Stylish :)

Hey everyone!! :)

I’m still trying to play catch up with the cards I made but didn’t manage to get posted while I was either not well or too frazzled with ‘real life’ stuff over the summer so thought I’d make a quick post to share this little card I made for my beautiful and clever little sister to celebrate her GCSE results at the end of August- she did so well and I’m sooo proud of her!! :)

Anyways, she told me a while ago that she has a poster of Audrey Hepburn on her bedroom wall (I’ve never seen her room as I’ve not been well enough to visit them in their new house) which she told me was mainly black, white and pink and then I found a font online with head shots of loads of movie stars including the ever glamorous Audrey, so I’ve wanted to do something like this for her ever since :) 

I kept it pretty simple, partly from a style choice perspective as the bold, graphic look to the image needed a simple but bold layout around it, but also as I didn’t have much time or energy and it was the first time I’d managed to get to my desk or do anything crafty in weeks so was feeling a bit rusty!! :) I just matted and layered on some hot pink glittery paper and added some pearls and gems- the only thing I really went to town on was the ribbon!! :) I didn't worry about a greeting as I thought it would be better on my sis' wall (where I suspected she'd put it and sure enough, I was right!!lol) if it didn't have one on it :)

The font is called Famous Folks and I got it free here - I just printed it out nice and big then added the pearls in place of her earrings :)

I made a lovely big ‘flat’ bow with some gorgeous black satin striped ribbon- this shape of bow is so useful when you want to stick with clean lines or don’t have space for ribbon ends to be sticking out over the rest of the design- and I love the way it looks!! :) So, I took a couple more pics...!!lol

The list:

• 6” Sq. White card blank
• Image printed from PC
• Hot Pink pearlescent, glittery paper (came in an unlabelled package from C&C but looks just like the Paper Cellar stuff to me- just gorgeous!! :) )
• White paper coloured with Black PM for matting
• Hot Pink Pearls and gems
• Black ribbon

And that’s it- nice and simple!! :)

My hands are hurting from typing for some reason so I’m not going to worry about challenges for now- if they feel better later then I might add it to some then :)

Right, off to give my hands a break then- but before I go I just have to add my ‘Can you believe this weather?!’ cry to the national chorus!!lol It’s sooo hot here right now- maybe even as hot as the heat wave we had in April!!lol So nice to have the sun shining, though, and I’m making the most ‘cos I don’t think it’s gonna last and I keep hearing rumours of a bad winter to come... not thinking about that right now, though- thinking about Chocolate Brownie Ben & Jerry’s instead!! Mmmm!! :D Hope you’re all able to enjoy it over the weekend, anyway!! :)

Chocolate- my other obsession!!lol

Hello everyone!! :)

Just a quick little post today to share the packaging I made to liven up my Easter gift to my Dad, Step-mum and little (16 and taller than me by far!!lol) sister :) Very simple really... the hardest part was not eating all the mini-eggs before they made it into the bag!!lol I LOVE mini-eggs and the smell drove me mad when I was doing this... especially as I’m trying to be good and eat less choccy/biscuits/cake etc. (all the fun stuff really :{ ) at the mo.!! :S

 It’s nothing that original but it’s the first time I’ve tried doing this and I quite liked the result so thought I’d share :) I used a Grand Nestie Labels 1 die to cut the main piece from a card blank I’ve had for years (remember those huge sets you could get from the place with the catalogue as big as a house!?! Well, I have loads of them and I just don’t use coloured base cards vey often anymore, plus the quality got worse the longer they were available and most of them aren’t even scored straight... so trying to find other uses cos they're taking up to much precious space not to use!!  :S ).

 The stamped bear, greeting and patterned paper are from the Forever Friends Springtime collection and the image is coloured with PMs: Ivory (which is running out...OMG!! :S ), Oatmeal and Vanilla plus assorted extras for the cakes :)

And this pic is just because, as I may have mentioned, I am as addicted to chocolate as I am to crafting... and I like the colours in the eggs!!lol

I’d like to enter this in the following Easter-themed Challenges: Dream Valley :) ; Craft Your Days Away :) ; The Pink Elephant #97 :) ; Pollycraft #88:) ; Bows and Berries :) ;  and Fun With Shapes and More – Animals :)

Off to link up then :) Hope you’re all well enjoying the lovely weather again, it’s beautiful here!! :) I’ve just spent a lovely couple of hours with my dad and sis so no energy left to go outside but I’m a happy (if tired!!) bunny anyway!! :) Hopefully a rest will fix the tired part somewhat as I've not made any Easter cards yet so need to get going later... ooops- how does it happen when I started colouring images when I got my stamps in February!!lol

hugs,

Gorjuss In Green...

Hey!! :)

I’m back with the card I mentioned in my last post which will be my first ever entry into the Sugar Bowl Challenge :) You wouldn’t know it from a look through my blog but, until last year I’d hardly ever made any ‘character cards’- it was mostly butterflies and flowers ‘til then- and I’m not sure I’d even heard of Sugar Nellie before I started blogging last year but I am sooo happy that’s been put right now!! :) This is actually my first Gorjuss Girl card, too- I’ve coloured a couple of the images before from a stamp of my own and some sent to me by a kind and very lovely crafting friend but, what with the madness of Xmas etc., none have made it onto cards ‘til now!! :S This is one of the new ones I treated myself to with the very last of my pressie money when Funky Kits had them reduced the weekend before last and I love it!! :)

I water-coloured the image with Distress Inks and was really only messing about as, after a pretty disastrous attempt before Xmas, I thought I’d need to get myself some proper water-colour paper to be able to produce anything even halfway decent... but, while far from perfect, it happily turned out usable even on the 160gsm Staples card I use most of the time for my PMs :) I'll still get some proper paper at some stage but I’m happy to play with what I’ve got for now- it’s been so long since I used a brush and water rather than a waterbrush (college art class almost 10 years ago kind of long, I’m ashamed to say!! ;) ) that I’d almost forgotten how but I read a great tutorial on Rachel’s blog as well as the one on Hanna’s, which Rachel links to, and they got me back on the right track!! :) My effort is nowhere near as good as either of their's but I'll keep practicing ...shame no tutorial can help with the M.E.-induced clumsiness that is the reason I’ve avoided open pots of water for so long, but no disasters so far- touch wood!! :S lol

It’s quite a different card from my usual, I think- the colours for a start but also the amount of pattern in the paper. I really like the cards I see others make with patterned papers and want to make them myself which is why I got myself some Pads of paper so at least the colours all co-ordinated but I’m a bit of a scardey-cat when it comes to pattern (in clothes as well as craft!) and especially multi-coloured patterns, so I feel a bit out of my depth here-  I like it (I think?! :S lol) but I just hope I haven’t got it horribly wrong and that others will like it too?! :S

So, for this card I used:

•         Lovely image from Sugar Nellie, Gorjuss Girls – A Little Birdie Told Me stamped in VersaFine Onyx black  :) 
•          DIs: Bundled Sage and Milled Lavender - clothes; Antique Linen and Tattered Rose - skin; Antique Linen, Vintage Photo and Black Soot – hair; Pumice Stone and Stormy Sky – bird and background; little bit of Milled Lavender on bird 
•        Cut and Dry Nibs with DIs to add finishing touches to the colouring 
•          Papers from the Basic Grey Kioshi pad with scraps from Kioshi and Memory Box’s Gossamer padfor the flowers 
•          White paper with Henna and Cool Grey 3 Promarkers for matting and frame (I used the grey over the henna to tone it down as the brown just looked too warm for the papers but it actually produced a grainy kind of look that seemed like wood to me... happy accidents!! :) ) 
•          Brown Fineliner to draw on the woodgrain effect on the frame 
•          Greeting ('hello!'on bottom right of frame) from Woodware Clear Magic ‘Jane’s Script’ set 
•          Memento Rich Cocoa ink pad for greeting and to edge papers and flowers 
•          Baby Pink flat-backed pearls

 

I really love these lollipop flowers- it’s the first time I’ve tried them and they were so easy to make, too!! :) Plus, they’re almost flat which is one reason I don’t use the gorgeous 3d flowers much as most of my cards have to survive the post and I can’t afford to send everything in boxes!! ;)

This last one's mainly me playing with the focus on my camera again but I think you can kind of see the woodgrain-effect I was talking about getting with the PMs on a couple of these- it's honestly better irl, though!! :)

I’d like to enter this card in the following challenges: The Sugar Bowl – Maria Therese’s fab sketch :) ;  Totally Papercrafts – Friendship (I think the girl and bird look like friends and the card will be given to one of my friends, too) :) ; Sweet Stampin’ – Spring Flowers :) ; Sir Stampalot – All Creatures Great and Small (my bird) :) ; Paperplay – Stamp It Out :) ; Crafty Cardmakers Spotlight – Water :)

Right, I’ll pop off and get those linked up before I’m out of time then!! :) So, I hope you like and thank you so much for reading and for all the lovely comments on my last card!! :) Hope you’re having a good week!! :)

 

hugs,  

Take it easy...

Hello again!! :)

Hope you all had a good weekend and enjoyed the sunshine? Makes such a difference doesn’t it, even when it is still freezing!! :) This is going to have to be a pretty quick post as I really want to enter this card in Digistamp Boutique’s January competition and I don’t have much time!! I usually have to put my posts together in several stages as and when I’m feeling up to the different bits of typing/photo editing etc and planned to start/get this one mostly done yesterday but we had an unexpected visitor... so I got to meet a lovely friend of mum’s for the first time and have a good chat, but not much got done!!lol :)

So on to the card, which is quite similar to my last one as I thougt it suited male cards so well, and I’ll save the rest for my waffle for my next post!! This one was for my Grandad when he went in to hospital this past Friday to have a hip replacement- he’s doing okay now (though not loving hospital life, but then who does!?!) and hopefully he’ll be a lot happier for it when he’s fully recovered!! :)

All my 'Straight-on' pics came out more than a tad squiffy looking... good job I took a purposely squiffy one just incase then!!lol
I used:

• Perfect image- Snoozing Spike from Digistamp Boutique :D
• Promarkers and Prismacolor pencils to colour (sorry, don’t have a list of PMs this time :S )
• Nestie and Grand Nestie Labels 1
• Gorgeous leafy patterned paper from Forever Friends Pink Parfait pad
• Forest Moss DI on edges and brown fineliner for faux-stitching as I just felt it needed a bit extra definition
• Kraft card punched with my new MS Cherish border punch (another longed-for treat with some b’day money- I love it sooo much!! :D :D )
• Cuttlebug Distressed Stripes embossing folder (which I forgot to mention on my last post... ooops!! :S ) with more Forest Moss DI
• Natural Rafia from my Aunty again (reclaimed from a gift or flowers she was given, I think- for the recycling challenge) and comes in so useful for men’s cards

I chose this fab image as my grandad falls asleep under his newspaper on an almost nightly basis- the crumpling noise of the paper in his hands is always a dead giveaway!! ;)- so i thought it’d give both him and my gran a chuckle when they saw this!! :D I didn’t want to say get well soon as he’s not exactly ill, so opted for ‘take it easy...’ which I added in in my graphics programme after blocking out the ‘Zzzzz...’ on the original digi file as there wasn’t a lot of room in my layout for a separate sentiment.

I’d like to enter this in the following challenges: Digistamp Boutique – January Competition :) ; Allsorts – Saving Nature (with my recycled raffia again) :)

Right, I’ll go and link that up- hopefully I’ll be in time!!- please forgive any typos that I’ve missed in my haste!! :S

Must just say though- Thank you all so much for the lovely comments on my last card, I really appreciate every one!! :) And it feels sooo good to be back in the Land of Blog properly and posting as opposed to just peering in through the window, so to speak, as I have been while checking out all of your blogs all month!! :D :D Will hopefully be able to get back to leaving some comments on all your fab creations soon, too!! :)

hugs,

Gifts Galore!! :) And ‘Happy New Year!!!’ to you all!!! :)

Hello everyone!! :)

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!?! Mine went a bit pear-shaped (though I did still have a nice time in an odd sort of way!! :) ) and I’m still not feeling great so I hope you’ll forgive this being an incredibly short, not very informative post only I remembered I wanted to enter this in the Crafter’s Companion Challenge and need to do it –like, right now!! ;D

So, here’s a card I made the week before Xmas for a friend following the sketch at Crafter’s Companion- I loved working with this sketch sooo much, so simple but a joy to make!! :)

The fab LOTV image is coloured with PMs and the card is basically using the same items as my previous Xmas cards so please have a look below and forgive me for not being upto managing the detail at the mo’!! (Will come back and do it properly later if I can) :S The only things I’ve not used before are the Crafter’s Companion Spray and Sparkle in Sliver, which I used to get the gorgeous sparkle on the snowflakes, and the fab Chocolate Box Card Candy!! :)

 

A few close-ups :) Was really pleased with the way the light caught the Dew Drops!! :)

So, I’d like to enter this in these challenges: Crafter’s Companion – Fab Sketch :) ; LOTV – New Beginnings (this is the first time I’d used this stamp) :)

All that’s left is for me to wish you all a very, very happy and healthy 2011 for yourselves and all your loved ones!!! :) :)

hugs,

Let It Snow!! :)

Hello again!! :)

Wow- it got as ‘warm’ as -8oC here today!! I couldn’t believe it when I turned my computer on at midday and it said it was -10oC!! :{ I hope you’re all coping okay with it, anyway!! :)

Another Christmas card to share tonight- this one is for my 4 year old cousin- and my Uncle, his fiancé and her daughter but I must confess I made it with him in mind!! ;)

So it has a suitably fun and lively LOTV James Bear image and plenty of blue!! He’s remarkably appreciative of my efforts for a 4yr old boy so I’m pretty sure he’ll like it!! :)

I used:

• Gorgeous LOTV stamp: James Bear- Sledging :)
• Promarkers (and I can actually remember the colours!!) to colour: Cool Greys 1, 2, 3 & 4; Pastel and Denim Blues for the presents; Sandstone and Caramel for the sledge with Cool Grey 1 over the top to tone the brown in with the rest
• Nestie Labels 2, I drew round the outside of the one I used to die-cut the image to get the mat
• Two of my digi papers again, altered from the tealy blue version to be a bit more grey-blue
• TH Distressing Tool and Stormy Sky DI on edges of all the papers, image and mat layer
• Perfect Pearls Shimmer Spray on the snowflake paper :)
• One of my digi tickets for the sentiment
• Snowflakes from the Cricut again :)
• Dew Drops and Gems from stash
• Stickles in Stardust on the image and to fix the Dew Drops/Gems and Frosted Lace on the snowflakes

And a few close-ups :) You can even see the shimmer spray on the last couple- it's sooo pretty and perfect for Xmas cards, I'm so glad I treated myself to it this side of Xmas :)

I really enjoyed making this card and am really happy with the way all the colours worked together :) I’m also loving having so many sparkly and shimmery bits to play with...to think I didn’t really like the idea of glitter and gems when I started crafting- what I can have been thinking I really don’t know ‘cos I can’t get enough on a card now!! ;D

I’d like to enter this in the following challenges: Crafts & Me – Moody Blues :) ; Passion for Promarkers – Anything Goes :) ; Fussy and Fancy – Snow :) ; CES – Anything Goes :)

Right, off to link up- must admit I’m enjoying posting more cards, more often...not sure how long it’ll last though!! ;) I’ve managed to get another Xmas card done tonight, was hoping I might find just a little more energy to make a start on another but think that’ll have to wait ‘til tomorrow now... ah, also need to make one for my mum’s birthday on Wednesday, too... hmmm... wonder if mum’s got any of those shop bought Xmas cards still lying around... :S ;)

hugs,

Sixteenth for my Sister :)

Hello!! :)

Well, I’m finally getting around to showing you the card I made for my ‘baby’ sister’s 16th a fortnight or so ago!! :) I discovered the wonders of Sugar Nellie stamps a while ago after a friend told me she’d got a couple of Gorjuss Girls and was loving them... which of course meant I needed to go over to Funky Kits to have a nosey for myself!!! ;D I found the perfect stamp for my sis’ card in the Home Grown range called ‘Art from the Heart’ so got that as well as a GG and one other- I suspect it’ll be the first of many happy purchases somehow!! :) So, this is my first ever Sugar Nellie card:

I also treated myself to the gorgeous Gossamer paper by Memory Box while I was over at Crafty Emma’s stocking up flat-backed pearls and, as with my Gran’s card a couple of months ago, it was when I looked through the pad that this card started to come together in my head as one of the papers reminded me of a beautiful coloured sketch my sis did a while back :) The papers are so so pretty and the colours of the pack and design of the sheet I’ve used in the background with the tree coming on to the page from the right were just right :)

As soon as I saw it, I just knew I had to have this stamp for this card as my sis and I both love art and she’s always sketching (something I don’t do as much of as I should since getting into crafting in such a big way as I just never seem to have the spare energy/time between cards!!)- we’d been sitting with pencils and pens all over the place sketching together the last time she’d been over to visit!! :)

So, I used:

• Fabulous ‘Art From The Heart’ stamp from Sugar Nellie’s Home Grown range, stamped in Memento London Fog and coloured with Promarkers (can’t remember the colours I’m afraid as it was a while ago! Really should’ve written them down as getting her/our haircolour right was seriously tricky!! :S)
• Memory Box ‘Gossamer’ Paper Pad, all edges distressed with the Tim Holtz Paper Distressing Tool
• Oval Nesties
• Stickles in Frosted Lace to edge the ovals
• Brown Fineliner to handwrite sentiments
• Ivory Pearls from Crafty Emma’s (lots of them- love these things!! :) )

And a few close-ups- last one's just me messing about with my camera again!! ;D

It actually turned out to be a fairly simple card in terms the items used as I loved the beautiful papers so much I decided it didn’t really need that much to embellish it further...apart from me going a bit mad with the pearls that is!! ;) :)

So, I was pretty happy with it when it was done but still worried that my sis might find my efforts to emulate her manga style more amusing than good...but, she loved it too, I’m very happy to say!! :)

I’d like to enter this in the following challenges: CES – Anything But Christmas :) ; Craft Your Days Away – Punch It Out :) ; Passion For Promarkers – Anything Goes :) ; and Lexi's Creations - Glitter and Pearls :)

Woo-hoo- two posts in two days!!! :D What is the world coming to!?!lol And I’ve got plenty left still as the last of the orders for my friend are now done and photographed...just need to get some made for myself now!! :/ Hope you’re all well and warm and thank you for the lovely comments on my last few cards- sorry I’m not managing to leave many myself atm again but all of yours are very much appreciated!! :)

hugs,

A Gift...

Hi!! :)

I’ve got another quick little post today, as I’m still not feeling good, but just to keep things going... :) These earrings were the pressie I made for the same friend as the purple flower card in my last but one post...

I love making earrings- for myself, as they’re great fun, and as gifts, as you have no worries about getting them the right size, ect. as sometimes with bracelets/necklaces :)

For these I used some absolutely gorgeous butterfly charms- of which I have bought several sets, one each time I order from somewhere that stocks them, as I just love them!! :D- chain and some of my fav Czech Fire Polish Glass beads from a purple selection :) Beads- and particularly purple ones, for some reason! :S – are really quite hard to photograph with their true colours and they have more life and are far prettier in real life, especially as they have an Aurora Borealis coating which doesn’t show up well either!!

A close-up of the charms :)

And another... just ‘cause I was having fun playing with the Super-Macro mode on my camera again!!lol

I hope you like looking at my little jewellery projects and don’t mind the occasional deviation from papercraft too much!! :)

Hope you’re all well and warm and that the snow’s melting away to some degree wherever you are- ours is going slowly, just the horrid and dangerous thin layer that keeps refreezing every night left now :S I’m really hoping the weather forecasters are right about it getting warmer for the weekend in time for my birthday- it’ll be a lot nicer a day if I’m not aching from the cold the whole time!!lol Trying not to get my hopes up too much, though, considering they had the temperature here for last night at midnight as -3oC and it was actually -8oC!! :{ Still, crafty pressies (and money to spend on more crafty goodies!!) will make up for the weather quite well, anyway, I suspect!! :D I have quite a wishlist!! ;D

hugs,