Kool Kitty Musings

Something unseasonal

I think it's safe to post these cards I made late last year for a piece in Simply Cards and Papercraft, the challenge was to make two cards on the theme of music.

The first one is really simple but I couldn't think of a better reason to use that label sticker from Echo Park, or in fact use a few stickers up in one go:

Pre-scored A6 kraft card blank: Papermania
Patterned paper: Echo Park - A Walk in the Park 12x12 collection
Stickers: Echo Park - A Walk in the Park and Sweet Summertime collections
Other: Mini and regular 3D foam pads

I am sure you all recognise the music reference here!

For my other card I created a little embellishment from old torn sheet music, nicked from the piano stool - which contains a lot of odd pages and scraps of old sheet music that will never be played, at least this way they get to be enjoyed again:

Patterned paper: Crate Paper - Emma's Shoppe 6x6 pad and collection pack
Stickers: Crate Paper - Emma's Shoppe
Die cuts: Crate Paper - Emma's Shoppe collection pack
Stamp: Waltzing Mouse Stamps - Big Day Additions
Brad: Crate Paper - Emma's Shoppe
Glitter: Distress Stickles
Other: Mini 3D foam pads, brown chalk ink pad, Versafine black ink pad, old sheet music
Tools: Green Corner Chomper - We R Memory Keepers, Tim Holtz edge distresser, silicone glue

So some sunny bright cards to brighten this very cold Saturday morning! I don't think I will be going out today, I have my toe socks on, and lots of crafty stuff around me so think I can crack on with the projects I need to make for next week. :)

52 Cards Challenge: Week 52

Well I hope everyone has managed to survive the Christmas weekend, if you are looking for an excuse to play with your new crafty presents, then look no further.

Here's the last prompt for this year's 52 Cards Challenge:

And here is the card I managed to make for it just before Christmas Eve - clean and simple for obvious reasons! LOL

Paper: MME
Stamp: PTI
Die: PTI
Brad: Crate Paper
Other: Chalk ink, old music paper

Thanks to everyone who has played along with this challenge over the year, and I'd especially like to thank Ang (paper&ribbons) for originally starting off this challenge. :o)

Don't worry, the 52 Cards challenge will return for 2012 with a prompt or two in week 1, see you next year! ;o)

52 Cards Challenge: Week 51

The end is almost nigh for this year's card challenge.

The good news is that weekly card prompts will continue next year and will be inspired by both the prompt jar (for random prompts), my Papercrafts 365 cards book... and well, perhaps the odd pinterest pin!

But on with this week's prompt:

So I wasn't quite done making Christmas cards, I had detached some sticky chipboard from the sheet last week and never ended up using it, so this was a good excuse to get it stuck down to something other than random objects on my desk!

Paper: Crate Paper
Chipboard: MME
Dies: PTI
Stamps: PTI
Twine: The Ribbon Reel

So there goes my homage to the Sound of Music, not quite a brown paper package tied up with string... but the I couldn't help humming the rest of the tune while I was making this!

Anyway, see you next week for the last prompt of the year - I shall be working on my card in advance as I somehow think it'll be a tad busy this time next Monday. ;o)

Sweetest festive treats...

Wow, my oven has had a bit of a work out this weekend.

Yesterday afternoon ma and I got a few baking tasks completed/prepped.

This primarily involved baking up 1 loaf, 6 mini-bunts and 4 heart-shaped pierniki (Polish gingerbread cake):

The heart-shaped ones were left in my care as the chocolate glaze was still setting by the time ma had to get home and well... I have no idea how I am to transport these back to her in one piece!

We also made the dough for sugar biscuits:

They will need icing one evening this week, but I have half the dough in the freezer and a small ball still in the fridge to do another tray now that I know to take them out before there are any signs of golden-browning! I really think I need an oven thermometer as although I reduce the temp by 20 to 40 degrees from the recipe we still had some volcanic action with the gingerbread. And the biscuits were done almost instantly... :o\

But today I have been trying out some of my new flavourings to do some festive cupcakes:

My IKEA cake stand has also been drafted into use.

Red and green, doesn't get much more festive than that eh?

And under the dome are 6 red cherry cupcakes, and 6 green pistachio cupcakes. The frosting is vanilla for both and I have to say the cherry flavouring is fab.

Now I wonder if you can guess what flavour these mini and full-sized cupcakes are?

Bubblegum blue....

Finished off with bubblegum pink flavoured icing and...

bubblegum glitter, I had a fair bit of frosting left over so decorated one of the almond sugar biscuits for someone who really likes bubblegum flavour!

Spots, stripes and all things nice

This week's dare on the DCM blog is from Keilly and on the theme of spots and stripes.

A wonderful design combination!

I have combined the two on my card, but it was quite easy really since there are so many stripes to choose from at the moment with all the peppermint-themed papers out for Christmas.

I have loved my Crate Peppermint papers more than I ever thought I would and really wish I'd gone for the collection pack now, but never fear there are many more chipboard accents still for me to use. :D

Paper: Crate Paper, MME
Chipboard: Crate Paper
Stamps: PTI
Dies: Memory Box Dies, Spellbinders, MFT, PTI
Pearls: Kaisercraft
Other: Distress Stickles, Stickles, sanding file, 3D foam, sewing machine

Have to say I am slightly addicted to making snow globes now that I've used up the snow globe chipboard piece from my Peppermint set, so that Memory Box die and the library tab from MFT dienamics make good substitutes.

Also in other news I have had a couple of card projects published in the current issue (#92)of Simply Cards and Papercraft. :D It was nice to see the mag drop through the letterbox the other day and have a good flick through at all the projects including some fab ones from fellow DCM teamies. :)

And on that note, make sure you go check out the cards from the rest of the team!

52 Cards challenge: Week 50

Things have been rather hectic here to say the least so I wasn't sure I'd manage to get a prompt AND card up today... but I had some time spare Friday evening and got the paper and glue out to just have some creative me time. :)

So on with the prompt:

Here's what I made to fit the brief (and for plaid I think anything with checks/gingham fits that bill!):

Paper and chipboard: Crate Paper
Stamps: Waltzing Mouse Stamps
Dies: Memory Box Dies, PTI, Marianne
Other: Felt, ribbon, 3D foam, Distress Stickles, circle punch

Now this particular card is an homage to the Austrian Tirol and will be going to my friends Kelly and Andreas since I am pretty sure they wish they were in Austria this Christmas again, but hopefully it'll bring back some happy Tirol memories. :)

Happy creating!

Nordic inspired

We have a lovely dare over on the DCM blog from Fran this week, just perfect for getting you in the festive spirit.

It's all about Nordic inspiration, style trends, colours and well reindeer! Fran's even provided wonderful photo inspiration to get you in the mood:

I'm offering up two cards this week, here's the more traditional Nordic look complete with a Swedish greeting:

Paper: KI Memories
Stamps: Waltzing Mouse Stamps
Velvet Thickers: American Crafts
Dies: Marianne, Spellbinders
Seam binding: The Ribbon Reel
Ribbon: The Ribbon Girl
Other: Acrylic paint, embossing powder, sewing machine, felt, button, twine, 3D foam

It's a bit difficult to pick out the white felt scallop around the heart but it's there. I love how the white embossing with the WMS stamps has come out on the red cardstock, looks like it actually has been knitted. LOL And that zigzag stitch on my little sewing machine, I will be using that more often!

Oh and I actually cut into some old KI frosty papers, but dry brushed cream paint on it to make it more subtle and less frosty for this background. And I did say I'd be using that Marianne bough die a lot more!

And the other card, well it's a more modern colour twist:

Stamps: Waltzing Mouse
Dies: Spellbinders
Paper: American Crafts
Other: Stickles, white gel pen, twine, 3D foam

And if you need more inspiration, here are some twinkly shots of a few old and new additions to my tree this year:

This is one from last year, but I think it fits today's prompt rather nicely!

The festive mushroom is a new addition this year.

As is this gorgeous church ornament my mum bought me. Not quite Nordic, but very glam!

And can I just say I totally love RadLab for these bauble shots, soooo fab to be able to save your own recipe and just apply it quickly to a bunch of photos.

A few more makes...

Here are a couple more cards from the weekend when I was trying out my lovely winter landscape die!

Die: Memory Box Dies
Stamps: PTI

Got to admit, it is a keeper, and I think will be very handy for simple yet elegant emergency cards! ;o) But I think it'll add a very nice note to more complex ones too.

Paper: American Crafts
Die: Memory Box Dies
Stamps: PTI
Pearls: Kaisercraft

Difficult to see on the metallic AC paper, but there is a snowflake behind the greeting too.

Right, I'd best get my skates on and have some tea. :)

52 Cards Challenge: Week 49

Hi everyone!

The weeks seem to be flying by right now, so here we are with another prompt to get stuck into. :)

This is what I came up with during a cardmaking session at the weekend:

Paper: Crate Paper
Chipboard: Crate Paper
Dies: Marianne, PTI
Stamps: PTI
Other: Felt, Distress Stickles

And another card on the same theme:

Paper: Crate Paper
Chipboard: Crate Paper
Dies: Marianne
Stamps: Waltzing Mouse Stamps
Other: Felt, Distress Stickles, button twine, corner chomper

Happy crafting!

Holly Jolly Christmas

We've reached the end of our year of flowers series on the Daring Cardmakers' Blog - with the option of Holly or Narcissus for December.

Well, it was an easy choice for me this week, plenty of holly-inspired items to choose from. :)

Papers: MME
Stamps: PTI
Dies: Spellbinders, PTI
Tag and glittery brad: Making Memories
Other: Distress Stickles, buttons, twine, 3D foam, corner chomper

Have to say I am really glad I bought Picket Fence Distress Stickles, they are just lovely and really frosty when they dry out.

Don't forget to pop on over to the blog and check out the fab cards from the design team, plus our lovely new guest designer, Gez. :D

52 Cards Challenge: Week 48

Welcome to the last prompt of the month.

This week's elements are:

Rub-ons: If you are like me there will be a whole stack of these in the bottom of a box somewhere dating back quite a few years! I've not used rub-ons in ages, so a good excuse to check through the stash pile.

Pearls: My favourite little addition to card projects. Especially the teeny tiny ones from kaisercraft.

Vintage: Well you can go with any interpretation for this. Old era papers, ephemera, printables, or just plain old distressing.

And yep, it's another Christmas offering from me!

I made two cards to fit this challenge, but wasn't so happy with how the first one turned out:

Paper: Basic Grey
Sticker: Basic Grey
Label: Basic Grey
Pearls: Kaisercraft
Glitter rub-on: Making Memories
Other: Stickles, 3D foam, chalk ink

The reason I'm not so happy with how it turned out is the way the glitter rub-on appears in most light, it doesn't photograph that well and looks rather blurry and not so glittery...  Bit of a shame...

As for the second card, well the Distress Stickles were still drying when I had to take the photos as I was almost out of daylight, so the glittery border will look a lot better once it dries:

Paper: Basic Grey
Chipboard: Basic Grey
Rub-ons: Luxe designs (stitches)
Felt: PTI
Stamp: Waltzing Mouse Stamps
Dies: Spellbinders
Pearl: Kaisercraft

The Stickles are Shabby Shutters so should be a nice compliment to the moss green ink of the greeting once dry and flat. :)

Happy creating!

Continuing with the snowman theme....

Here's my Christmas card for today. :o)

Paper: Basic Grey
Label: Basic Grey
Stamps: PTI
Chipboard: Basic Grey
Seam binding: The Ribbon Reel
Other: 3D foam, sewing machine

So yep, keeping it simple seems to be working OK for me at the moment.

I have quite a lot of these labels and bits from BG's Jovial range to use up, but alas haven't got much in the way of paper left that goes with them.

Oh well, I am sure there will be something in my stash that will fit the bill. ;o)

Hard to believe

that this time last year it was non-stop snow... today it has been full of blustery gales and dark, dark clouds.

Hence the reason I kind of got caught up in this all day instead of getting anything productive done:

A fantastic read, and a new author to add to my chick-lit arsenal, witty and warm and I admit to shedding a few tears... I am really glad I got her other books out of the library along with this one, now I just need to NOT crack open the next book since I need to make more things along these lines:

Paper: Crate Paper
Die cut and sticker: Crate Paper
Stamp: PTI
Die: PTI
Other: 3D foam

I used the current sketch #245 over on the Card Positioning Systems blog to get me started. Think I shall be needing more sketches to get me going with my Christmas cards at this rate... and yes, I think clean and simple Christmas cards might be the way to go at this late stage in the game!

Movember madness

Over on the DCM blog this week Samm has set a wonderful dare in honour of this month, the month of Movember, the month of the moustache.

Oh yes.

Personally, I am not that much of a fan of the moustache as a permanent feature... I think the 80s and the popularity of the extreme moustache due to such examples as this:

and the Genghis Kahn looks sported by many a young man about town has a lot to answer for. Although saying that, Magnum without his moustache would have been very bizarre indeed.

Mind you there is room for some moustache admiration:

Uh-hum...

But moving on... to my card in honour of Movember:

Papers: Echo Park, Basic Grey
Stamp: PTI
Die: Spellbinders
Alpha stickers: October Afternoon
Other: 3D foam, Distress ink, Moustache printable

Very dapper eh?

And if after visiting the other Design Team blogs you're looking for more moustache inspiration, well how about these little gems from Pinterest:

The ultimate Movember style guide:

Source: somethingshidinginhere.com via gillie on Pinterest

 

My favourite Movember homage:

Source: glamour.com via Vaishali on Pinterest

 

Some great props for some wacky photo shoots: 

Source: google.co.uk via Julie on Pinterest

 

A very graceful way to wear your moustache, if you're so inclined: 

Source: wanelo.com via Laura on Pinterest

 

These really make me chuckle:

Source: gthegentleman.tumblr.com via Carlos on Pinterest

 

Source: etsy.com via Gigi on Pinterest

 

And I would love to see this in action - hilarious:

Source: etsy.com via Glenda on Pinterest

 

And of course, there had to be a Keep Calm and...

Happy 'taching!

52 Cards Challenge: Week 47

I cannot believe how quickly the 52 week mark is almost upon us! Scary right!?

Well, I am happy to report that the prompts for this week are at least slightly on track with the time of year. :)

• Foam pads - such an essential item in my stash, that this element is always a nice one to see
• Christmas - if you don't celebrate it or don't need to make anything Christmas-themed, you can always go with Winter or another seasonal idea
• Red - ahhh a very apt colour at the moment. I don't think I use it enough!

Here's the card sample I made for this week:

Cardblank: DCWV
Paper: Echo Park
Dies: Spellbinders, PTI
Stickers: Echo Park
Rub-ons: Crate Paper
Stamp: PTI
Snowman: Basic Grey
Other: 3D foam, string, glitter paper, cardstock

I seriously love that little felt snowman.

I am a bit bummed at the moment that none of my cards are coming out anywhere near what I planned. I wonder if my mojo is needing a little recharging. I just don't feel I am doing justice to my stash, or indeed managing to "use" the really nice stash I have. Time and time again I have reached for my nordic WMS stamps only to end up changing my mind and making something else. :o\

Oh well, there is always next week, right?

In the meantime I hope my creative mojo makes a reappearance as I really could do with making nice cards again! hehe

This week I have mostly been shopping...

So like I said the other day, my Christmas shopping has so far been a bit of a failure. For other people.

But not for myself and the house.

I finally got my little Sheep-deer from TK Maxx. The first time I saw him I thought he was a reindeer, but on closer inspection when I went back to TK Maxx this week, he is in fact... more of a sheep. I may yet make him antlers...

 

I managed to stock up on some nice baking items. Some fab baking cases plus accessories, including mini cases which needed a mini muffin tin. Some silicone jelly like baking moulds in Ikea, some nice sized silicone hearts that can either make 4 separate heart cakes, or 2 heart sandwich cakes... festive jelly beans for decrating, and some Christmas sprinkles in Lidl that looked just perfect.

I also finally have a domed cake stand - for £9.99 from IKEA. Hurrah.

More seasonal tableware was purchased in M&S with these red felt coasters and matching placemat.

Keeping on the red theme, I now have a lovely little slow cooker to get me through the winter months and free up the hob and soup pan for other things. :)

I finally managed to find a long and wide scarf in Zara... and didn't break the bank on it. To date all others were too short for wrapping round a few times and creative knotting...

Yesterday the delight that was Boundary Mills yielded a nice shoe shopping experience - so many pretty Hush Puppy shoes in one place. I bought the above in purple, plus:

...in dark brown, and these:

Which are a little bigger than the others, but I think will be fine with an insole or even thicker winter tights. :)

And finally, thanks to Jean, I have been reunited with a good-sized bag of Candy Corn M&Ms:

In addition to the shopping, there has been some making:

It started last weekend with our "annual" gingerbread house-making afternoon... which included an emergency dash for new gingerbread cabins when the IKEA gingerbread houses were opened up and all broken, but will make great cheesecake bases! So as we got to work on these little houses, complete with the white gunky icing included, it was a real fight to keep all the walls and roofs attached...

Lola just watched on hoping to hoover up any victims of the gingerbread house collapse...

Wednesday night I went with Becky to a craft night at her church and we made:

This lovely little flowerpot snowman, who I am sure will appear in many upcoming Christmas-themed snaps.

And this lovely felt heart ornament, in which I finally learnt to blanket stitch - it could have been tidier, but I am sure I could make some more of these with different felts, especially in nordic colours... and cut the hearts with my nestabilities. :)

And although not made by me, had a lovely lunch out in Tynemouth yesterday with my friend Kel, hot chocolate dessert for her:

And the most delicious cherry and almond scone for me:

I loved the chintzy decor in the shop and it was like a real Christmas shabby glam grotto. :D

And speaking of making, I had best get on and get a few projects done while we still have daylight available!

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

My it feels like the week has flown by since Monday...

And I am really thankful for the scheduler function in Typepad as I am typing this very late in the evening/early morning... it has been that busy this week.

I attempted to start my Christmas shopping this week... for gifts for others... and ended up just buying stuff for me... deary me. But I have made quite a few lovely purchases, made a couple of nice new crafty items that weren't paper-related and had my fill of festive Starbucks in ONE day... and tonight I am off up to my friend's after work armed with 6 bottles of vodka for a vodka tasting evening (they are all different flavours - only the best don't you know - and one is the famous lemon vodka my Uncle in Chicago makes) and a nice meal, so should be a very good night. Then the weekend to recover and recharge and who knows, get some real progress in my Christmas card making!

But anyway, on with today's crafty creation. This week's challenge on the DCM blog is based on the theme of water.

Paper: MME
Stamps: Waltzing Mouse Stamps, Banana Frog, PTI
Dies: Spellbinders, PTI
Other: 3D foam, Copics

Cute little whale, bless! Of all the dies in my arsenal, of which there are a few..., I get the most use out of these scallop edger dies from PTI. This is the medium one in action. Now I just wonder if the MFT scallop edges are similar or just different enough to require a purchase! I am also after a pinking edge die like the new one from PTI... wonder if there are any other manufacturers out there who have one. I cannot cut a straight line with a pair of regular scissors never mind ones with a zig zag edge!

Also while I was at it, I used up the scraps from this card to make a matching gift tag, with a nice bit of felt too...

I have a feeling I also need to start on my Christmas gift tags too!

Looks like I have a lot of catching up to do. ;o)

52 Cards Challenge: Week 46

Welcome to another Monday morning prompt, this week's elements are:

I am really wanting to concentrate on my Christmas cards now, so I may not manage to get all the elements on my cards for upcoming prompts, but I think I've ticked all the boxes this week. Including glitter galore for the glitz and glam aspect.

Paper: Cosmo Cricket
Stamps: PTI
Dies: Spellbinders, PTI
Pearls: Kaisercraft
Other: Chalk ink, Distress Stickles, Stickles, glitter paper, 3D foam, satin ribbon

It's been a while since I used this stamp set, and I forgot how nice the branch and leaves work together. No doubt will be using it more in the upcoming weeks!

Have a creative week!

Diamonds are a girl's best friend...

Or any jewellery really...

Which is a good thing as this week's dare is from my fellow PTI stash lover, Sharon. The challenge is to make a card inspired by jewellery, and this is the item I used as my inspiration:

Source: etsy.com via Natalia on Pinterest

 

And here's what I came up with:

Paper: MME
Dies: Die-namics, PTI
Stamps: My Favorite Things, Waltzing Mouse Stamps
Other: Twine, button, 3D foam, pattern wheel, chalk ink

I love this new paper pad from MME, the greys are lovely in it and those doily patterns very lush! I used my little tag die from MFT to create the little birds on one of the tiny tags from PTI. The main greeting is stamped with the dark grey Prima chalk ink and I really wish I'd stamped the "so tweet" with grey ink too but too late for that!

Still loving my pattern wheel for tracing stitch lines... very handy. :)

Happy weekend crafting!

52 Cards Challenge: Week 45

Welcome to a rather frosty Monday morning prompt for this weekly challenge. It is rather frightening how close we are getting to week 50! Never mind 52!

This week's elements are:

I made a rather simple Christmas card for my offering that looks a lot nicer in real life than it photos:

Stamps: PTI
Other: Stickles, Prima grey chalk inks, Versamagic white chalk ink, Versacolor pigment inks

I am really liking how the Prima chalk inks stamp on kraft and on that white ink - very lush, I had to order the rest!

Happy crafting!

Happy birthday daring cardmakers

It's a rather special milestone this week for the DCM blog, hard to believe but this week's dare marks a special anniversary for the DCM dares!

Also it's the first Friday of November, so this week's dare is a return to our flowers of the month series.

November's flower is the chrysanthemum and since I need all the help I can get with my Christmas card product right now, I've gone for a festive number...

Card blank: Kraft from Papermania
Paper: Basic Grey
Stamp: Waltzing Mouse Stamps
Felt: PTI
Dies: Marianne, PTI, Spellbinders
Brad: Crate Paper
Other: 3D foam pads, White chalk ink, Distress Stickles, white brilliance ink, Versacolor Celadon

I think you can only just see in this pic that the felt is indeed a dark green, and not black! That would make for a rather spooky Christmas card... ;o) I love the branch die from Marianne, great with felt through the Cuttlebug.

Also making the flower was a doddle. You need 3 sizes of flower die or punch, cut 2 each of the large and medium flowers, and 3 of the centre flower. Then ink the edges and cut into the petal dents, crumple them up a bit and assemble with a brad. I really like how the blue of the reverse side of the paper shows through as well.

And those Waltzing Mouse festive label stamps are lovely to use and so yum with a bit of Rock Candy Stickles for vintage sparkle.

Roll on the next Christmas card when I can try out my new Spellbinders tags from yesterday's little trip to the Hobbycraft sale. ;o)

52 Cards Challenge: Week 44

Welcome to another prompt on this spooky Monday!

This week's elements are:

I felt this called for a festive number... ;o)

Paper and die cuts: My Mind's Eye
Other: 3D foam pads, Corner Chomper

A really simple one just using elements from the collection pack, oh and my nice new 5x7 Papermania kraft card blanks. Finally in stock at The Range!

Happy crafting!

Friday felties

Well it's my turn to set the dare on the DCM blog this week... and I have gone for felt!

Yep, I want to see handmade felt embellishments, pre-made felt accents, or anything felt-a-licious on your cards this week.

As is the norm for DT members, when it comes to making a card for your own it seems doubly difficult! But I have gone for a very CAS card - quite a departure from my usual stuff. However I made the felt mum from scratch and did sew the leaves...

Paper: American Crafts
Felt: PTI
Stamp: PTI
Leaf dies: PTI
Other: Embroidery thread, 3D dots

Apparently you can now get dies to make these mum flowers from fabric or paper, but a while ago I saw the technique on youtube when I was randomly flicking through things, and have now lost the video... although it creates a very lumpy card I really love the end result. Would make for a nice hair accessory too eh?

52 Cards Challenge: Week 43

Welcome to another prompt on this rather dark Monday morning!

This week's elements are...

And here's what I went with (excuse the garish photo - how I miss daylight for taking pics).

Paper: Crate Paper
Stamps: Waltzing Mouse
Dies: Spellbinders, Dienamics, PTI
Twine: The Ribbon Reel
Brad: Basic Grey
Other: Stickles, Distress Stickles, Copics, Distress Inks

Happy crafting!

Foxy Friday...

For this week's fab sketch-based dare over on the DCM blog I have gone a bit random...

I don't know what it is, but I am currently finding foxes very cute for crafty projects, not quite surpassing owls just yet! But I was happy to see that I had a very handsome foxy character in a chipboard set from Cosmo Cricket, and I needed to make a relatively manly card... save the butterfly...

Papers: Cosmo Cricket, October Afternoon
Chipboard: Cosmo Cricket
Stamps: Waltzing Mouse Stamps, PTI
Die: Spellbinders
Other: Corner Chomper, needle and thread, brad

I rather like the grey/green/red colour combo.

I hope you pop on over to the DCM blog to check out the sketch and the cards from the design team. :)

Happy almost-weekend!

52 Cards Challenge: Week 42

Welcome on this dreary and breezy Monday morning to another prompt for the 52 cards challenge.

 

And here's my card:

Paper: MME
Dies: Stampin' Up, Sizzix, PTI
Stickers: Doodlebug
Stamps: Banana Frog
Pearl: Kaisercraft
Scallop: Bazzill edge
Other: Stickles, sewing machine, sander

Hope you have a creative week!

Friday how I love you...

Not only is it almost the weekend, but there is a lot else to like about Fridays...

Starting with this week's dare on the DCM blog that has been set by Rein this time around.

And if you are a fan of ribbon and other goodies, you will definitely want to check it out!

The theme we are working with this week is birds... never a problem to find birdie related items in my stash!

Here's what I came up with:

Paper: MME
Stamps: Inkadinkado, PTI
Dies: PTI
Seam binding: The Ribbon Reel
Pearls: Prima
Other: Button, twine, Distress Stickles, pattern wheel

The "stamp" is actually just a stamp die cut into a corner of the MME paper, handy that it had that crown already printed on it eh? And I am quite taken with how that stripy crumply banner came out. Glad to see it looks just as good with paper as it does with ribbon.

52 Cards Challenge: Week 41

Welcome to another Monday and another prompt - I am not liking these dark and cool morning starts...

This week we're playing with the following three elements:

 

And for my take on these I had to go with something Christmas-themed:

 

Paper: Crate Paper
Chipboard: Crate Paper
Stamp: PTI
Ribbon: East of India
Pearls: Kaisercraft
Other: Stickles, buttons, embroidery thread

 

A nice mix of vintage buttons, ribbon and style with those Peppermint Collection papers and chipboard from Crate Paper, a little chipboard house Stickled to the max and home in the greeting, and yummy grey gingham ribbon. :)

Wintry wishes...

Well, that's the theme for my cardmaking activities at yesterday's crop. :) Had a lovely time, but wasn't as productive as I'd hoped. Mind you it was a nice change to start on some Christmas cards...

First up, something a little bright and mod...

 

Paper: Crate
Stamps: MFT, PTI
Dies: MFT, PTI
Other: Button, 3D foam, embroidery thread, Stickles

 

Oh yes, I knew I could work my typewriter die and stamp set into Christmas cards some how!

 

Papers: Basic Grey
Chipboard: Basic Grey
Other: 3D foam, Glossy Accents, white ink

Re-loving last year's Basic Grey Christmas line. I love that mistletoe paper so much!

And finally, something using the new Christmas stash...

Paper: MME
Stamps: PTI
Dies: PTI
Pearls: Kaisercraft
Felt: PTI
Other: Stickles, 3D foam, Promarkers

 

I totally love that red MME herringbone paper - it's just so vibrant! Nothing quite like a dash of Stickles either... ;o)

Right, well since it is starting to feel wintry around here I am wondering if today is the today my heating finally needs to go on... I have managed to abstain so far.

That Friday feeling, hoping it arrives soon!

Well, a good way to start off the Friday feeling is with a new dare over on the DCM blog.

As it's the first Friday of the month we are going back to our flowers of the month theme.

October's flowers are the Calendula and Cosmos.

I have gone for the Calendula as my inspiration.

Paper: Crate Paper, Making Memories
Stamps: PTI
Dies: Cuttlebug, Spellbinders, PTI
Seam binding: The Ribbon Reel
Brad: Crate Paper
Other: Distress ink, 3D foam, pattern wheel

The flowers are made using the Cuttlebug daisy quilling set, I cut the plain strips from grey cardstock and then used two of the middle petal details for the large flowers, and one petal strip for the smaller ones. A lot of crumpling on the leaves but I really like the end result. I am rather partial to grey at the moment, mixed in with aqua tones, coral or yellow... so expect to see more grey in the future!

Unfortunately the ink on the background doesn't show up so well in the photo (hate photographing on an evening) but it all works quite nicely together in real life. :o)

Don't forget to check out the cards from the rest of the design team - so many different interpretations of this month's flowers.

Happy creating!

52 Card Challenge: Week 40

Hello Monday!

And welcome to another new prompt. At last I have managed to be organised enough to have something to share, but first let's see what the elements are this week. :)

 

Here's what I came up with, back to non-summertime photography I'm afraid:

 

Papers: October Afternoon
Dies: Dienamics (MFT), PTI
Stamps: Dienamics (MFT)
Other: 3D foam, button, thread, Corner Chomper

 

For the dress form, I cut a piece of doily paper in red with the same die to give it a bit more of a fashiony look than just using the stamped image.

And now I have another card to add to my card basket, I finally sorted a pile of 3 months worth of cards into cellophane baggies with matching envelopes yesterday and so the card basket is looking a lot healthier. :)

Happy International Day of Translation

If only we translator's also had the day off! ;o)

But in honour of today's celebrations on the theme of language, Lythan has set a wonderful dare over on the DCM blog.

You need to make a card featuring a foreign language. But which one to choose?

Well, I went for Polish in order to plan ahead for upcoming name day celebrations.

Here's my card:

 

Papers: My Mind's Eye
Seam binding: The Ribbon Girl
Pearl: Prima
Punch: EK Success
Felt: Papertrey Ink
Stamps: Papertrey Ink
Dies: Papertrey Ink
Other: Liquid Pearls, Stickles, Distresser, 3D foam, pattern tracer

 

As for the greeting, it goes a little something like this:

May the sun keep you warm, may your smile last long, may your face remain filled with joy because today it's your name day!

Well, it sounds a lot nicer in Polish, and it rhymes!

On a side note, any regular visitors to my blog will know that I am a great fan of Papertrey Ink (PTI) product.

Much as I love their products, unfortunately for a number of years I have been less thank overjoyed with a great many other aspects of the company, especially the shipping policy for international orders and well ordering in general and have seen things deteriorate to an all time low this week. 

The biggest personal disappointment I experienced was back in the day when ordering 10 of the ink cubes to try them out but had added in the comments that if it was truly going to cost $30+ to ship just ten ink cubes then to cancel my order, well I got charged that $30+ dollars shipping for 10 ink cubes which arrived in a huge box nestled in lots of wrap to pad it out, thankfully no customs charge (that really would have been insult to injury!).

I got right on the e-mail to enquire why my comments hadn't been taken into consideration and was told after some delay that the comments aren't read until after an order has been processed. Full stop. It was their policy so I didn't follow up with further complaint, just sucked it up and made a note that those were the goal posts for any future transactions with PTI (needless to say it took some time before I placed another order).

In all my years of online ordering I was used to retailers having a policy where comments included with an order were read and dealt with before an order was dispatched (a rather normal assumption I thought since a comments box was provided there during ordering) and actually someone would get back in touch to follow up if there were questions attached. But obviously that wasn't the way of doing things at PTI.

Fair enough.

But to rub salt into those smarting wounds, the ink cubes I had bought were next to useless when it came to testing them on various paper and cardstock, and I have rarely used them since. What a waste of money, but more importantly a huge loss of faith PTI.

Anyway, many years have passed and I have ordered from PTI since then, only a couple of times to the UK as really you have to make a big order to make the postage "bearable", as inevitably there is a £60~ customs charge also to factor in. So where possible I have ordered when I could get stuff shipped to the villa in Florida when on hols, or another US address if someone was coming back and had space in their case (those were the days).

To cut a long story short any followers of PTI will be aware of the appalling customer service that has been shown to a huge customer of PTI. All for the sake of $20.

It has disgusted me so much that I have even found it hard to enjoy using my PTI stash this week to create something knowing how this person has been treated and in fact reading on the PTI forum how many former and current PTI customers are out there who have also been left disappointed after issues have not been resolved to their satisfaction.

And until PTI addresses the issues regarding their returns policy for defective product/supply of the wrong product (so the end customer isn't paying for their mistake), huge shipping delays, constant stock problems (had been hoping this might be resolved with the new website), lack of communicating accurate information (plenty of promises of change but nothing to show for it), and most importantly customer service that services the customer I won't be buying.

I truly hope PTI turns it around - they have some of the best product on the market and their style is one that most closely fits my tastes.

I have had a lot of people ask me about the PTI products I use and I have always raved about them (with the exception of the ink) but I have only felt it right to also tell them what to expect when wanting to order to the UK as I would feel very guilty if I had recommended a company and then that person had ended up having the same experiences as me and many other customers (frustration with out of stock items, very long turn-around on dispatch of orders, high postage, very high customs charges).

I might not be a big fish to PTI, they probably won't miss my custom, I'll probably miss their product a lot more, but it's the principle of the thing.

PTI have a few wrongs to right - both personally to the customer involved in this latest incident (an apology would be a nice way to start) and publicly by listening to their customer base and bringing the quality of their customer service and policies in line with the high standard of design and product concepts they offer.

You're a mean one, Mr Grinch!

Well, I hadn't quite planned on starting on my Christmas cards just yet, but this week's Dare over on the DCM blog, set by the über-talented Jo Kill, was the perfect excuse.

Because this week we're visiting Seussville - aka the land of Dr Seuss.

And for my Dr Seuss inspiration I used a printable from the Seussville site that included that most grumbly of characters - the Grinch.

 

Paper: Crate Paper - Peppermint Collection
Chipboard elements: Crate Paper
Stickers: Crate Paper
Speech bubble: MME
Die: PTI
Punch: Marvy
Twine: The Ribbon Girl
Other: Stickles, Distress Stickles, 3D foam, Distress ink, white pen

 

There isn't much that didn't get Stickled on that card, but it all adds the frosty grinchness. I wanted to create a little Grinchy scene and the fireplace was the perfect starting point. It's hard to see in the photos but the little rug I punched out has 3D foam dots under it at the bottom to make it pop out so the floor looks less flat. Looks much more effective in real life.

Anyway, I much as I loved breaking into my lovely new Christmas stash, I am not sure that I'm quite read to go into full Christmas card mode... however it it stays this cold I may just have to rethink that. The Christmas playlist will soon be on!

52 Cards Challenge: Week 38

Welcome to another Monday!

This week's prompt looks a little something like this...

 

Hm, a good job I bought some of those Lime Twist MME papers, perfect for the lime aspect. And what do you know, I've actually managed to make a card for this prompt. Just need to find the time to catch up with weeks 36 and 37 at some point:

 

Papers: MME
Journaling card: MME
Punch: EK Success
Dies: Sizzix, PTI
Pearls: Kaisercraft
Twine: The Ribbon Girl
Other: Distress ink, 3D foam, sander, Pattern tracing wheel

 

No catch-up for me tonight, it's the start of my new photography class plus it's going to be a rather busy week!

How many candles?

This week's DCM dare is all about birthday candles... well it's all about a card featuring birthday candles!

The design team were lucky enough to play with a new collection of digi papers from Funky Hand - I got to play with the Winter Birthday set, featuring ice blue, lime green and purple:

 

Paper: Funky Hand
Dies: Spellbinders, Papertrey Ink
Stamps: My Cute Stamps, Papertrey Ink
Ribbon: The Ribbon Girl
Pearls: Kaisercraft
Other: Stickles, cardstock, notepaper, 3D foam, Copics, Corner Chomper, Distress Ink

 

It's probably difficult to see in the photos but there are Stickles around the greeting label, on the cake, and dotted down the edge of the blue spotty paper. There's always room for Stickles!

Happy creating!

Fluttery inspiration

Source: birthdaygirlblog.com via Jodie on Pinterest

 

Friday has rolled around quite quickly - and the weekend is nigh!

This week over on the DCM block Keilly has set a lovely challenge using the pin above as colour inspiration. You also need to feature butterflies on your card. Sweet! :oD

Here's what I came up with - in fact it was a little exercise in using up scraps:

 

Paper: KI Memories
Dies: Die-namics, Papertrey Ink, Cuttlebug
Stamps: Papertrey Ink
Felt: Papertrey Ink
Ribbon: The Ribbon Reel
Punch: Martha Stewart
Other: Pattern wheel, 3D foam

 

Even the felt is scraps, well actually the little flower bud I made ages ago when I was trying out a few things and have had it sat in my scraps bowl ready to be used.

I think my halo needs polishing! ;o)

Happy creating and happy weekend!

What's the story...

morning glory? Aster?

Doesn't quite have the same ring to it, but this is the first Friday of the month and as such is the month of flowers dare over on the DCM blog.

In September you have a choice of morning glory or asters.

I went with asters for mine:

 

Papers: Create Paper
Dies: Cuttlebug, Spellbinders, My Favorite Things, Papertrey Ink
Pearls: Kaisercraft
Stamp: Papertrey Ink
Seam binding: The Ribbon Reel
Other: 3D foam

 

No matter what I tried I just couldn't get nice photos of this card - but I am still happy with the end result. Think it does quite well as a more manly birthday card than my usual creations!

And I got to play with that Cuttlebug flow quilling set, might have to use it a bit more as I really love the combo with the matching leaves.

Anyway, I hope you have a wonderfully creative week!

52 Card Challenge: Week 35

I hope everyone who's going a Bank Holiday weekend is enjoying theirs.

Unfortunately with my current work project I have spent all weekend working so far with little chance for anything else.

But today's a day off that's for sure! :o)

If you're feeling crafty, check out this week's prompt:

 

Amazingly enough I have managed to make a card for it using some new stash:

 

Cardstock: American Crafts, PTI, Stampin' Up
Dies: My Favorite Things, Papertrey Ink
Stamps: Waltzing Mouse Stamps, Papertrey Ink
Pearls: Prima
Other: 3D foam pads, Corner Chomper

 

So I've interpreted squares as a square card base, sweet as cute and well, there's always a bit of 3D foam knocking about on my cards! hehe

Happy creating!

Feeling Krafty

Fran has set a wonderful dare over on the DCM blog this week.

You need to make a card that features at least 3 natural items such as wood, burlap, twine, and of course kraft!

My card features a few upcycled things!

 

Paper: MME
Stamps: MFT, PTI
Dies: MFT, PTI
Pearls: Kaisercraft
Button: Crate Paper
Rose: Wild Orchid Crafts
Lace: The Ribbon Reel
Other: Clothes tag, fabric sample swatch, pattern wheel, distresser

 

There is indeed a Mantaray clothing tag on that card - I love Mantaray tags, they are made from this really thick, distressed card and the fonts and artwork on them are very vintagey. I also used an M&S fabric swatch that resembles burlap plus there's twine and kraft galore. :o)

Happy creating!

52 Card Challenge: Week 34

Happy Monday!

Here's this week's prompt - one that looks nice and friendly:

 

And guess what? Shock, horror... I've actually made a card... well a little notelet:

 

Cardstock: PTI
Paper: Echo Park
Stamps: PTI and Waltzing Mouse Stamps
Die: PTI
Punch: Martha Stewart
Bling: Prima

 

For my choice of... I went with stamping to try out my "new" WMS banner stamps for the background to the greeting - very handy indeed. :)

A little creative catch-up

Managed to get a card made for the 52 Card Challenge prompt that called for kraft, autumn and twine.

 

Papers: October Afternoon
Dies: Sizzix, Spellbinders, PTI
Stamp: PTI
Button: PTI
Twine: The Ribbon Girl
Other: Corner Chomper

 

Hopefully those OA Weathervane papers are sufficiently autumnal for August! ;o)

Right, I'd best get some other things sorted ready for the coming week. Managed to tick off a few creative things today before it's back to the grind tomorrow.

52 Cards Challenge: Week 33

Morning all!

I feel rather guilty about posting this week's prompt given that yesterday was the sunniest day I've seen in a while and I feel like I've returned to summer mode after all the cold rain...

 

I'm thinking a couple of autumnal shades ought to do it, but it doesn't have to be a full on autumn affair!

Not sure when I'll get my card made as I am currently eating through any spare hours in the day around work engrossed in French Relations and then onto re-reading Well Groomed... I will soon shut up about these books - promise! But I just love it when you can truly get engrossed in a good read. ;o)

ETA: Here's the card for this prompt finally made:

 

The details are here. :)

So Kawaii...

There's a seriously fab dare up on the DCM blog this week - it's time to get your cute on, or should that be kawaii on!

This week we're making a card that celebrates Kawaii - all things cute and bright and Japanese. :)

My main bit of Kawaii inspiration came from a little badge I received in an old Poppy Ink kit many moons ago. Anyway, what I ended up making didn't come out anything like what I thought I was going to make. lol

 

Papers: Echo Park
Stickers: Echo Park, Cosmo Cricket, American Crafts
Badge: KungFuCowgirl
Dies: Papertrey Ink
Twine: The Ribbon Girl
Pearls: Kaisercraft
Ribbon: May Arts
Other: 3D foam

 

I mean, what else are you going to use a toaster badge on right? ;o)

Happy creating!

52 Cards Challenge: Week 32

Welcome to another Monday and another prompt!

 

This week's prompt must have been meant to be for my cardmaking needs as I needed to make a baby card for a little girl. :)

Anyway, here's what I came up with using some papers from my little Echo Park Victoria Gardens set.

 

Papers: MME, Echo Park
Stamps: PTI
Dies: PTI, Spellbinders
Ribbon: Pebbles Inc
Seam binding: The Ribbon Girl
Lace: The Ribbon Reel
Buttons: PTI
Twine: The Ribbon Girl
Pearls: Kaisercraft
Other: Sewing machine, distress sander, 3D foam

 

It's difficult to see the inking in the photos, but I sanded back the main background paper and used cream ink all around to age it a bit before sewing a border round.

Anyway, happy creating!

Since it's been raining - a lot ...

It's been a weekend mostly spent indoors.

I actually finished a card I sort of started at the crop:

 

Paper: My Little Shoebox
Stamps: PTI
Dies: PTI
Seam binding and twill: The Ribbon Girl
Felt: PTI
Punch: Martha Stewart
Button: Making Memories
Twine: The Ribbon Reel
Pearls: Kaisercraft
Other: Stickles, Copics, 3D foam

 

I also finished a couple of books that need to go back to the library and watched this while trying to be creative, but watched the movie more than I made anything!

 

It was very good, even better than I thought it'd be. ;o)

So glad!

So here I am briefly popping in to share my card for this week's DCM dare - August has crept up on us and as it's the first Friday of the month we're focusing on the flowers of the month.

Poppies and gladioli!

Now, I have to confess, I was quite tempted by poppies...

 

Especially after finally seeing them out in the wilds of Northumberland.

 

So pretty...

But it was actually my jug of glads in the kitchen that had me itching to create a card using the colour tone...

 

I'm still in a very peachy mood, and buying flowers is no different!

So I got out the new stash and got creating with a peachy, linen and cream colour palette.

 

Stamps: Waltzing Mouse Stamps, PTI
Paper: Fancy Pants
Ink: Pink Grapefruit Versamagic, Vintage Cream (PTI), Versafine black
Seam Binding: The Ribbon Reel
Pearls: Kaisercraft
Other: Distress Stickles, 3D foam, distress sander, Corner Chomper

 

I had a good play with the Cameo Maker and oval frame stamps I bought in my little haul from WMS - the best wishes and little heart are from PTI as I needed something teeny but noticeable to add the last elements in. And those rose distress Stickles were the perfect colour match and I am amazed I actually managed to stamp the background so it's more or less straight!

And I suppose those spiky leafy accents in the frame and background stamps are sort of gladioli-like... ;o)

52 Cards Challenge: Week 31

Welcome to a new month and another Monday!

The prompt this weeks looks nice and friendly:

 

So friendly in fact, I've already made a sample to go with it. ;o)

 

Papers: My Mind's Eye
Die: Spellbinders
Stamp: Waltzing Mouse Stamps
Seam binding and twine: The Ribbon Girl
Lace: The Ribbon Reel
Button: PTI
Rose: Wild Orchid Crafts
Pearls: Kaisercraft
Other: Distress sander, sewing machine, 3D foam, Distress Ink, Crackle Accents, Distress Stickles

 

A lot of the stitching I did got covered up, but I tried the tricot stitch to stitch the seam binding on and quite liked that. Unfortunately the Memento ink I used for the stamp ran a bit when I applied the crackle glaze, but it doesn't look too bad. I don't really want to use Staz-on on my clear stamps, but is that the only ink that works OK with Crackle Accents?

Buttons galore...

We've got a fab dare over on the DCM blog for all you button addicts out there. :oD

Sharon's dare is to use buttons as a main design on your card, and with that objective in mind I knew just which buttons I wanted to use for my card.

That unopened pack of Crate Neighbourhood buttons!

 

Papers: Crate Paper
Buttons: Crate Paper
Stamps: Papertrey Ink
Dies: Papertrey Ink
Seam binding: The Ribbon Reel
Button twine: The Ribbon Reel
Other: 3D foam, embroidery cotton, Distress Ink, Copics, sewing machine

 

I really do love the book paper in the Emma's Shoppe 6x6 pad - in fact I think I've used my 6x6 pad more on cards than I have the Portrait collection and that was the collection I absolutely loved!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy your button fun!

52 Cards Challenge: Week 30

I'm not sure how we managed to get to week 30 already, but here's the prompt we have to inspire us:

 

Hm, why is it that "simple" is usually anything but for me when making cards? LOL

I will be interested to see just how simple my card is when I come to make it later on. ;o)

Until then, happy creating!

Well, what do you know? I managed to catch up with this prompt and last week's. This one is for last week's prompt to use buttons, jewels and a frame:

 

I posted all the details here, but the jewels are around the rose, the film strip acts as a frame and you can see that lovely Crate button.

And as for this week's prompt, here's my "simple" card:

 

Paper: My Mind's Eye
Dies: Papertrey Ink
Stamps: Papertrey Ink
Pearls: Kaisercraft
Other: 3D foam

 

Until next week!

A quick catch-up

Here's the card I made for week 28's prompt in the 52 Cards Challenge. It called for yellow, cream, and brads...

 

Paper: Cosmo Cricket
Chipboard: Cosmo Cricket
Stamps: Waltzing Mouse, PTI
Dies: Spellbinders
Seam binding: The Ribbon Girl
Brad: Doodlebug
Other: 3D foam, sanding file, distress ink, Corner Chomper

 

In other news, weather continues to be less than wonderful. I've read a few more books and am debating between waiting to re-read...

 

The Devil in Winter from the library or just getting the Kindle version!

I really want to re-read it before I read...

 

A Scandal in Spring which is the next book in the Wallflower series. After reading...

 

It Happened One Autumn yesterday I realise how much I have missed Lisa Kleypas' writing... The new Friday Harbour series cannot come some enough! But in the meantime I have at least a couple of her books to enjoy. ;o)