It’s time for a wedding over at Dream Valley!! :)

Hey everyone :)

How are you all out there in blogland? Hope you’re all well and enjoyed the lovely sunshine we’ve been having... let’s hope it comes back soon!! :) So, a little post from me today to show I’m still alive... you’ve probably figured I’m still not feeling so great, and I’ve actually been taking a little break from cardmaking and blogging, but I had this card ready and waiting and wanted to join in the fun at Dream Valley this fortnight... it’s a bit of a special one as one of our lovely team, Mel, is getting married today and so our challenge theme this time is ‘Weddings/Love’ in her honour!! :) We are sponsored by OSCC :)

I made this card last year for some friends and really worked to get as many personal touches in as I could... I wasn’t able to go to their wedding as I can’t travel so the card was my way of sending love and happy wishes for their lives together :)

I knew they were having a vintagey theme with birdcages and that their bridesmaids were wearing deep red so I strayed from my usual safe wedding card combo (white and silver with a hint of the accent colour if I know it, usually pearlescent card and never any patterned DPs!!) and went for something completely different, looking around for a way to include all the aspects... and I was really pleased with the outcome... but you always wonder if you’ve got it right don’t you... so when I got a thank you card telling me how much they loved it and mentioning all the bits I’d managed to include, it made me so, so happy!! :)

I heat embossed the gorgeous LOTV image and painted it with Twinkling H2Os- three different shades of white for a bit of interest!!lol- and chalk pastels for the suit and skin/hair as I didn’t want those to be pearly :) I inked the edges of all the papers for depth and interest, too.

I created a cluster of papers, pins, charm and lace next to the image panel to draw the eye in, inking the lace with the same DI to take the edge of the whiteness and looping one of the pins to attach the charm. The papers I found are so lovely and gave me vintage look I wanted so easily :)

I added my friends’ initials in DI- which did come out rather stronger than I envisaged :S – and then heat embossed ‘Congratulations’ over the top.

I looked all over for birdcage charms but couldn’t find any at the time- I did, of course, very soon after!!lol- so looked for an svg cut file online instead and struck lucky :) The idea to use it as a mask was a last minute one but I think it looked better like that thank if I had just stuck the die-cut on :)

The List:

• Two 6” Sq. White card blanks to make the base
• Image – ‘Mr & Mrs’ from LOTV
• Versamark ink pad, Silver embossing powder and heat tool
• Twinkling H20s and chalk pastels to watercolour
• Papers from Basic Grey Cappella pad and V&A Hanoverian Collection pad (DoCrafts)
• Labels 18 Nesties and Nellie’s Doily dies
• Distress Ink in Pumice Stone
• Bird with Cage svg file - We Can Bea Original
• ‘Congratulations’ stamp from Cat’s Life Press and alphas from Lakeland years ago
• Lace, pins, charm and ivory flat-backed pearls from stash

I haven’t really got much clue what challenges are around at the mo’ and don’t really feel like searching any out or linking them up but, I did notice there is an Anything Goes challenge at Lili’s Little Fairies and I so rarely get the chance to enter there that I can’t resist that one!! :)

So, thank you for stopping by today and for any comments on this or my last couple of cards!! :) I don’t know how long my ‘little break’ from cardmaking will last- it’s entirely unprecedented for me to choose not to make cards as cardmaking is usually my ‘little break’ from the rest of my life and not something I can cope without, so I don’t really know what to make of it :S - but I’ll be back sometime soon-ish, I hope... maybe I’ll even share my first forays into crochet as I have finally got around to having a go at that after years of wanting to... seems I simply can’t not do anything creative at all so have been crocheting a bit and knitting- when I’ve not had my nose in a book that is... if that saying still works when you’re reading a Kindle!?!!lol 

Don’t forget to pop over to Dream Valley to check out the amazing creations from the rest of the team- including some fab new members this time, too!! :) – and just have a look at the beautiful Wishing Well Mel has made for her Wedding Day!! :)

Purple Haze for Mother's Day at Dream Valley... :)

Hello there folks!! :)

I hope you’re all well and enjoying the weekend!! :) Another fortnight has flown by and I’m still feeling rubbish which is why I’m here a tad later than intended again- I’m so desperate to be feeling better and get back to blogging more often and even for crafting (or anything else come to that! :S ) to be a little less like climbing Mount Everest but I am glad to have my fortnightly Dream Valley posts to keep giving me the impetus to get on here occasionally at least!! :)

Speaking of Dream Valley- it’s time for a new challenge and this fortnight we’d like to see your ‘Mother’s Day’ creations... not long to go for us here in the UK so perfect timing if you need a bit of inspiration!! :) We have two fab sponsors this time- our monthly sponsor OSCC and also Crafty Ribbons...

I make four Mother’s Day cards each year to give- one each for my Mum and Gran, of course, and these two are usually fairly involved, then slightly simpler ones for my Aunty (who’s also my God Mother) and for a lovely family friend who I think of as my ‘adopted Gran’- she has always been there for my Mum and I since I got so ill and we’d never have managed without her all these years... this one was made with her in mind :)

I kept it pretty simple again, partly due to how I’ve been feeling and partly because I think that suits this lovely image from Tiddly Inks pretty well... :)

I bought a couple of these gorgeous Wryn digis a few weeks back and printed them straight away as I wanted to enter the Tiddly Inks Valentine’s challenge... well, that didn’t happen so instead of being red, little Wryn has now come over all spring-like and pastel-coloured... and I finally got a purple blend I liked with my Amethyst PM, too!! :) I layered her up with the free co-ordinating flowers in my graphics program before printing.

I edged everything with two shades of purple DI and stamped the little LOTV corner stamp twice on top of each other- the second time in the darker shade and slightly off centre to give a bit of depth. Then I added some sparkle to that and the flowers... well, you just have to really, don’t you!!lol

The List:

• 5”x7” white card blank
• Wryn – Grow A Little Love and Freebie Garden of Love digi from TiddlyInks 
• ProMarkers and FlexMarkers to colour: Dress- Amethyst and Orchid; Flowers, Grass, Shoes and Stripes- Pink Carnation & Blossom, Lilac, Lavender & Soft Mauve (FM), Blue Pearl & Glacier Blue (FM), Soft Green, Pastel Green & Honeydew (FM); Skin- Satin, Blush, Dusky Pink & Putty with Pale Pink for cheeks ; Hair- Caramel, Cinnamon, Cocoa, Henna, Walnut, Honeycomb & Spice (no clue why it ended up so many!!lol); Soft Aqua (FM) and Copic Blender for shading
• Paper from First Edition’s Dreamcatcher  pad
• MS Traditional Scallop border punch
• MS large Butterfly punch
• DIs- Milled Lavender and Dusty Concord
• Cat’s Life Press sentiment stamp
• Crystal Stickles and Sakura Clear Stardust
• 3mm and 2mm teeny gems from Docrafts

I’d like to enter this in the following challenges: Joanna Sheen – Spring/Easter :) ; Crafter’s Companion – Spring :) ; CES – Flower frenzy :) ; Flutterby Wednesdays – Open Challenge (must include fairy, angel or butterfly) :) ; Sweet Stampin’ – Nature, bugs and bees :) ; Craft Your Days Away – Mother’s Day :)

So, that’s the first of my Mother’s Day cards... only three more to go... wish me luck- and some more energy!! :S Make sure you pop over to the Dream valley blog to check out the rest of the DT’s fab cards... there’s so much lovely inspiration to make that special Mother’s Day card!! :) Right, I’m off for a much needed rest... see you whenever my body decides to let me post again!! And thank you for all your lovely comments, they mean a lot!! :)

Teddy Bo’s back... and it’s just for the men at Dream Valley...

Hello everyone!! :)

I hope you’re all well and having a lovely weekend? It’s rather windy and cold here but at least the days are getting longer!! :) Well, the last fortnight’s just disappeared on me again... largely because I’ve still not been feeling too good at all so will do my best to keep this as brief as I can... typically I have a double project to share with you today but here we go...

Our challenge for you over at Dream Valley this fortnight is one which- if you’re anything like me at least!! ;) - will give your creative muscles a wee bit more of a workout than our last few lovely, easy challenges have... but I had fun with mine and hope you’ll brave it and join us, too!!lol We’d like to see you creations made ‘Just For Men’ this time and we’re sponsored by the fab Bugaboo who have some great fun images for men’s cards- which some of the DT did an amazing job with to inspire you so do pop over to the DV blog to check them out, too!! :)

Luckily I’ve had my projects for this challenge ready for a while as I’ve not been up to creating much this last couple of weeks... but this is the card I made for my Dad’s birthday earlier in the year :)

When I made this back in mid-January, I hadn’t been well enough to get to my desk since Boxing Day and the old mojo was feeling as rusty as the rest of me so I kept it all very simple!!lol

I went on a little shopping spree at Teddy Bo ready for my Dad’s birthday- any excuse!!lol I cropped the outline tag shape off this image then added in my own border and personalised greeting. I tried a different colour combo of PMs and FMs for his fur this time, which I found a lot easier and much prefer to my previous attempts!! :)

To make a little extra gift (I am pleased to have finally come up with an idea for a handmade gift for my dad as I have given many to the female members of the family and have been trying to think of something he’d actually like for ages- scarves and jewellery not being quite his thing!!lol), I made an easel base for a calendar with my Nesties and used the same gorgeous First Edition papers to decorate it, along with the same MS punch and some more little brown brads, too, so it all co-ordinated :)

My dad works from home and I thought this fella, called ‘Computer Daze’ might sit on his desk and catch his eye while he worked... maybe even diffusing a bit of the computer daze/rage we all feel when we stare at these (can’t live with’em, can’t live wiithout’em!) things too long!!lol

The List:

• 6” Sq. White card blank and two A6 white card blanks (for the calendar base)
• Teddy Bo images- TEDDYBOBEA_TABS_002 Three Little Piggies and TEDDYBO_135 Computer Daze
• ProMarkers and FlexMarkers to colour: Bo- Antique White (FM), Ivory, Vanilla, Oatmeal, Tan and Putty for cheeks; The rest- Cinnamon, Cocoa & Walnut; Lime Zest, Pear Green & Moss; White Pearl (Spectrum Noir) and Copic Blender; CG 1, 2, 4 and Ice Grey 1 (FM), Tulip Yellow and Lemon; Satin, Pastel Beige and Khaki
• Nesties- Labels One
• First Edition New Leaf paper pad
• MS Zig Zag punch
• Scissors and brown ink pad to distress edges, Peeled Paint DI for calendar image
• Brown Sugar Baker’s Twine from The Ribbon Girl
• Brown brads from stash (possibly from Panduro years ago)
• Calendar by Anita's

I’d like to enter the following challenges: Allsorts - Anything Goes :) ; CES - Spots and Dots :) ; Sarah Hurley - Die Cuts (my calendar made with Nesties) :) ; PaperPlay - Critters :) ; Fab 'n' Funky - Try something new (this was my first calendar) :) ; Hotshot Crafts - One for the Boys :) ; Paper Sundaes - Birthdays :)

Well, so much for brief, eh!! :S Thanks for stopping by today and for all the lovely comments on my last cards!! :) Sorry I’m still not managing to leave comments when I visit you all at the mo’- really hope I’ll be feeling well enough to soon but thank you for the fabulous inspiration and for saving my sanity when I’m not up to crafting in the meantime!! :) Don’t forget to stop by the Dream Valley blog to see all the amazing creations from the rest of the DT!! :) 

My first Saturated Canary image... and more Valentine’s over at Dream Valley!! :)

Hey folks!! :)

Sorry I'm a couple of days late with this one- I’ve had a bad week and an even worse last few days... but it’s definitely a case of distraction-therapy rather than waffle-about-it-therapy needed so I’ll do us all a favour and crack straight on with the point of my post...

It’s time for another fab new challenge over at Dream Valley and this fortnight we’d like to see you Valentine’s inspired projects!! :) Another lovely easy one at the moment!! :) We’re sponsored this time by the fabulous Joanna Sheen!! :)

Now, for someone who doesn’t normally do much in the Valentine’s card line I put a rather disproportionate amount of time and effort in to the various digi files I created for the card in my last post and so really wanted to enjoy playing with them while I had the excuse... so this card uses many of the same items along with the rather fabulous addition of one of the (quite a few!!lol) Saturated Canary images I got from the lovely Krista while she had her discount running last weekend!! :)

While not exactly CAS, I did go for a simpler, less busy look to this one as I wanted to see how I could get different looks with the same basic materials... I think the two do have quite different feels to them despite both being suitably masculine... or masculine enough- they are Valentine’s cards after all!!lol

This is by no means the first SC image I have bought or coloured but it is the first that has made onto a completed card so far (Christmas kinda took over!!lol) and I’m pretty happy with how she came out- though I can see massive room for improvement in virtually every area of my colouring... the hair is the *most* glaringly obvious mess-up, but you’ll be kind and not look at that, right!?!!lol Seriously, every time I think I’ve cracked ‘hair’ at last, I prove myself sooo very wrong!! :S I wasn’t sure if I should get this image, if I would get that much use out of it, but I really loved it and I do think I’ll be to use it for plenty of other occasions in different colours :)

I’d cut the circles in alternate colourways and embossed and sanded them as before, then layered them up with some leftover paper. I then had fun with a Fineliner, some gems and a glitter pen!! :) The sentiment stumped me to start with... ‘til I remembered a freebie set of Val’s Day stamps from a mag last year (or maybe the year before!!) and the hearts allowed me to add a pop of red to balance out the gems, too :)

I just took this for my own curiosity regarding the similarities/differences really but thought I may as well add it in!! :)

The List:

• 6” Sq. White card blank
• Fab Saturated Canary Digi ‘Love Letter’ from Krista’s Etsy shop, coloured with FlexMarkers, ProMarkers and Fine Nibs (photo included below to save energy!! FMs- Ice Grey 1, Soft Aqua and Copics- Blender and Warm Grey 1)
• My own design digi paper
• Core’dinations cardstock- red from the vintage selection, grey an All-in-the-Family pack
•  My own design embossing mask and cut files for the heart circle and lacy rectangle, created in my graphics program and cut on my Cricut
• Sanding block for cardstock
• Black Fineliner and Sakura Clear Stardust pen
• Red gems 

I’d like to enter this card in the following challenges: Cards for Men– Seeing Red :) ; Joanna Sheen – Love is in the Air :) ; Sarah Hurley – Love is All Around :) ; OSCC – For the One I Love :) ; Allsorts – Free and Easy :) ; Sweet Stampin’ – The One I Love :) ; MiC – Shading Red :) ; Crafter's Companion - Anything Goes :) ; Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes with optional 'Love' theme :)

Well, thanks for stopping by today and I hope you like my first SC card... I’m off to link that lot up now and then have a much needed rest, I think... or maybe the other way around!! :S Hope you’re all keeping well and warm (what a weekend here n the UK, eh?!)!! And don’t forget to pop over to the Dream Valley blog to have a look at all the wonderful inspiration from the rest of the fab team!! :)

Getting carried away... with Valentine’s at Forever Friends!! :)

Hello lovely Bloggers!! :)

Well, I’ve no clue where January disappeared to- at this rate 2012 will pass me by in even more of a flash than 2011, which I would hardly have thought possible!! :S – but disappear it has and so it is time for our February challenge over at The Forever Friends & Co. Blog!! :)

This time we have a very seasonal theme for you as we would like to see your Valentine’s cards... should be nice and easy for most people if all the gorgeous Valentine’s creations I’ve been seeing recently are anything to go by!! :) We are sponsored this time by Di’s Digi Downloads!! :)

I got a bit carried away with this one as I made everything on the card myself on my netbook- the digi paper, the cut files for my electronic cutter for the ‘Nestie’ shapes and even a cut file to make my own embossing mask from Doeflex for the first time- I’ve been wanting to try that for ages!! :) Took a while to get it all sorted but, as I don’t normally make many Valentine’s cards, I didn’t have much already in my stash that would work and once I started, I could just see so many other possibilities...  I had a great time doing it, though, and it’s a nice feeling to know I designed and made it all bar the stamp myself!!lol Anyway, here it is:

I knew I had this image, which I had already coloured ages ago, in a box by my desk (somewhere!!lol) and this colour combo is one I love (since I made quite a few V’s Day cards from a kit all in black, white, silver/grey and red a few years ago to fundraise for charity- about the first time I used red on a card and liked it!!) so the first stage of the creative process was all sewn up from the start!!lol The computer aspects took ages (a bit at a time in bed over the last week or so!!lol) but I have the files for future use now and, as all that prep was done, putting the card together once everything was printed and cut actually took no time at all, especially as I decided the graphic look to the papers and made it seem more masculine so kept the embellies to a minimum!! :)

This gorgeous FF bear was coloured in my usual PMs and has just a bit of Stardust pen smudged around the top and base of the heart :) I wish I knew what colours I’d used for the heart as I actually like the patchy effect now... but I didn’t like it at all when I did it, typically, so didn’t bother to note them down!! :(

A couple of close ups of the layers and embossing- this was the best I could do to try and show the embossing... it isn’t the deepest embossing as the Doeflex isn’t that thick but, to be honest, I would have been afraid to put my lacy rectangle through a normal embossing folder as it would have ripped the edges so that’s a good thing really!!lol I did sand everything to add to the more masculine feel in the end, too, and it was more than deep enough for that to work a treat- I particularly love the contrast on the black card!! :) The little hearts in the top of the rectangle are the ‘waste’ from the circle and a border cut file I also created but ended up not using as it made it look just too busy!! :)

And a little close up of my paper :)

The List:

• 6” Sq. White card blank
• Forever Friends wooden stamp by DoCrafts, stamped in Memento Rich Cocoa and coloured with PMs (usual colours for the bear- Ivory, Vanilla, Oatmeal and Sunkissed Pink- and not sure on the heart)
• My own design digi paper
• Core’dinations cardstock- red from the vintage selection, grey and black from an All-in-the-Family pack
•  My own design embossing mask and cut files for the heart circle and lacy rectangle, created in my graphics program and cut on my Cricut
• Distressing Tool for the paper edges and sanding thingy (mine is a flower shape!!lol) for all the card
• Black Bakers Twine
• Red Stickles
• Sakura Clear Stardust pen
• Black gems

I’d like to enter this card in the following challenges: Sweet Stampin’ – Animals :) ; Cards for Men – Seeing Red :) ; Pollycraft – My Favourite Things (lots of them- FF bears, creating my own papers and ‘nestie’ shapes, Stickles and my Stardust pen... there are probably more but that’ll do!!lol) :) ; PaperSundaes – Valentine’s :) ; Allsorts – One or More Hearts (think I *might* have this covered!!lol) :) ; Joanna Sheen – Love is in the Air :) ; Ladybug Crafts – Loves Me, Loves Me Not :) ; Craft Your Days Away – Distressing :) ; Bling It On – Love :) ; My Mum’s Craft Shop - Fab & Funky :)

So that’s my card- hope you like it!! :) Thanks for stopping by today and for all the comments on my last two cards- I forgot to say in the post for my sis’ card that, when I said I hoped she didn’t mind how simple it was compared with the ones I’ve made her in the past, she said she thought it was her fav of all the one’s I’d made her... well, that’ll save me some time and energy fussing with papers and extra embellies next year then!!lol  :) Please do pop over to the FF blog to have a look at the cards from the rest of the DT and I hope you’ll join in with us, too!! :) I’ll be back with my next Dream Valley DT post at the weekend, if I don’t make it before... which is unlikely as this week has turned out to be incredibly hectic with no sign of a let up yet and so I’m struggling a tad and should probably rest not post again!!lol In the meantime, I hope you are all well and having a good and crafty week!! :)