Kool Kitty Musings

And the next nod to the Jubilee...

...is up on the Daring Cardmakers blog this week.

It was my turn to choose the colours for our June colour challenge, and yes, it had to be red, white and blue. Well any shades of this combination even pink, cream, and aqua.

Here's the inspiration photo I chose:

Here's what I made:

Paper: Pink Paislee, Crate Paper, MME
Dies: MFT, Sizzix
Vintage elements: Pink Paislee
Resin frame: Melissa Frances
Stamps: JustRite, PTI
Other: Sewing machine, distressing tool, 3D foam, string

I rather like how this one came together. I didn't have a strip of the airmail paper from Crate long enough to fit the entire Tim Holtz medium rosette die so I just cut the longest strip I had and it has made a lovely little rosette. I am so in love with those Melissa Frances resin frames, I want them all! LOL

I hope you have chance to join in - wherever you are!

And folks in the UK, you enjoy your Jubilee weekend! I intend to. :)

52 Cards challenge - Week 22

Morning everyone!

Hope you had a lovely weekend - at last the summer weather stuck around in these parts. Almost forgot what it was like to sit out in the garden with a good book. :)

For this week's challenge we are going for a monochromatic look - so sticking to one colour palette and using as many or as few shades and hues of that colour together on one card.

I went for white:

Bling: Prima
Pearls: Kaisercraft
Die: PTI
Other: Glitter card, 3D foam

I know this is a more simple affair than my usual cards, but I was so disappointed in the range of Holy Communion cards on offer in the local card shops, M&S didn't have any nor did Paperchase and well, I thought I could make something despite having no stash that automatically fit the bill.

Hopefully it'll fit in ok with the others this particular recipient receives. :D

Happy creating!

Catching up

I'm a bit late to the party sharing my card for Friday's Daring Cardmakers dare. This week Rein set us the task of featuring locks and keys on our cards.

Well I had the perfect project in mind, I just didn't manage to execute it until the weekend. ;)

And the project?

Well this lovely item arrived in the post this week:

The official invitation to my cousin's wedding in Poland - no doubt designed by himself since he is a very talented graphic designer. :D

It's all getting very exciting now!

So here's the card I made as official acceptance:

Paper: Crate Paper
Chipboard: Crate Paper
Charms: Prima
Stamps: PTI, PSX
Dies: MFT
Seam binding: The Ribbon Girl
Pearls: Kaiserkcraft
Other: Sewing machine, Stickles

I hope they like it. :D

And now, on with making the next card - since the lovely weather seems to have disappeared over night.

52 Cards challenge - Week 21

Morning everyone!

Loved seeing the different takes on last week's Rainbow challenge.

This week our challenge is technique-driven.

I want to see you make a card featuring a recent technique you have learned or admired.

For my technique I have used cupcake cases to create a rosette/flower element. I tried my hand at this for the first time over the weekend and liked it so much I thought I'd do another one, but with a slightly different look:

Cardstock: PTI
Die: PTI
Stamps: PTI
Impression folder: Darice
Brad: Crate Paper
Other: 3D foam, cupcake cases

I'm looking forward to seeing what techniques you share - and picking up something new to try. ;)

Happy creating!

Ending the weekend on a creative note

Well I have had quite a country-fied weekend on the music front. Caught up with Hart of Dixie and spent the rest of the time listening to new tunes and falling even more in love with The Lumineers self-titled album.

Today's favourite song:

Love it!

And all that music in the air made me feel quite creative this afternoon. I made a card for the current Mojo Monday sketch challenge (#241).

Paper, chipboard and sticker: Crate Paper
Die: Cheery Lynn
Bling: Prima
Other: Resin flower, toothpick, sewing machine, 3D foam, distressing tool, Distress Stickles

Alas the Distress Stickles are still drying despite being applied 4+ hours ago! With any luck they will be dry in the morning. ;)

And now, back to my new country playlist while I have a nice long soak in the bath and get started on a new book.

Summer shades

Well the gloomy weather has continued outside all day - not a glimmer of sun. So just to remind myself it is "summer" I decided to get using some cheery colours on my cards today.

First up I had a go at the current CPS sketch #265, but when it came to actually applying the elements I had to mix it up a little as my card looked a bit off balance. So I moved the greeting up. :)

Paper: Crate Paper
Die: MFT
Stamp: PTI
Pearls: Kaisercraft
Other: Seam binding, button, twine, 3D foam

Can't resist a little spring green with soft pink. :)

Next up I tried out the Super Circles challenge on the Passion for Papertrey blog. I thought it was time for a sunny yellow and aqua combo this time, and I wanted to use cupcake cases as my circle theme to make some rosettes:

Cardstock: PTI
Heart and greeting stamps: PTI
Background stamp: Hero Arts
Dies: PTI
Other: 3D foam

I rather like how this one turned out - will definitely have to use cupcake cases to make more rosettes... well since I am off cupcakes at the moment I need to use them one way or another! ;)

Right, time to get my tea in the oven and catch up with The Voice.

52 Cards challenge - Week 20

Morning everyone!

This week's challenge is all on the theme of the....

Rainbow

And here are some pretty pics from Pinterest to get you in the mood. :)

Source: labeletterose.blogspot.fr via Natalia on Pinterest

 

Source: dailymail.co.uk via Natalia on Pinterest

 

Source: bellemaison23.com via Natalia on Pinterest

 

Source: tumblr.com via Natalia on Pinterest

 

Source: my.opera.com via Natalia on Pinterest

 

Source: design-fetish.blogspot.com via Natalia on Pinterest

 

Source: iil.around.at via Natalia on Pinterest

 

Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Sarah on Pinterest

 

Here's the card I made to fit this prompt:

Paper: American Crafts, My Little Shoebox, PTI
Dies: MFT, Spellbinders, PTI
Stamp: PTI
Other: Sewing machine, 3D foam

I have a bit of a soft spot for rainbow colours - stamped, cut out, used to make an actual rainbow. They are really fun and cheery so I hope you'll enjoy playing along and taking inspiration from the colours of the rainbow. :oD

Fussy cutting anyone?

Anyone who has seen my cards will know that I don't really do fussy cutting - I tend to leave that look to dies or ready-cut embellishments. ;)

But this week on the DCM blog the lovely Jo Kill has set us the challenge to feature fussy cutting in our cards, either as a background element or an embellishment.

Well, in my mass clear-out last year I did away with quite a bit of paper that would require fussy cutting and I didn't really fancy stamping and cutting - still haven't recovered from that pirate boy I cut out!

So I raided the old Basic Grey stash zone and found my Lily Kate collection kit ready to be used.

It's amazing how difficult it is to feel inspired by old papers when they all belong so strongly to a specific collection. But it was mind over matter, and out came the craft knife and glass mat!

This is the rather simplistic card I came up with:

Paper: Basic Grey
Stamp: Waltzing Mouse Stamps
Dies: PTI
Other: Stickles, foam pads, white pen

And there we have it - a rather spring-ish card to add to my card basket. :)

52 Cards challenge - Week 19

Sorry for the delay getting today's prompt up - Typepad wasn't working for me yesterday when I was free to get my post drafted.

But here we are with this week's challenge:

Some rather nice elements, for the "garden" aspect I imagine you can interpret this any way you want. A gardening theme, "garden" in the greeting, growing/growth, items that grow in a garden.... I'll be intrigued to see what you go for. :)

Here's my example:

Paper: MME
Label: MME
Stamp: PTI
Die: PTI
Brads, Basic Grey
Other: Foam pads, Corner Chomper

That injected a bit of colour into my Monday morning. :) UK girls - enjoy your Bank Holiday Monday!

Two challenges with one card

So I never did quite manage to catch up with the prompt for this week's 52 Cards challenge, instead I have sneakily combined it with this week's colour challenge from the DCM blog. :)

Here's the palette we are using this month chosen by Keilly:

I belatedly realised that these colours were an exact match for the Noteworthy stash I have from Making Memories... shame I didn't remember that sooner!

Instead I have played with some newer bits and pieces:

Paper: MME, Crate Paper
Stamps: WMS, PTI
Dies: Spellbinders, PTI, Cuttlebug
Ribbon and trim: The Ribbon Girl
Chipboard and resin flower: Crate Paper
Other: Mulberry rose, glassine envelope, sewing machine

I had a little play with my new Prima chalk inks at the weekend and I think I have found my favourite turquoise ink - as used on the tiny tag. :D

And for the eagle-eyed - behold the glassine envelope for this week's 52 Cards prompt!

Hodge podge books...

So, for my scrappy weekend away I decided to take along a couple of Jenni Bowlin hodge podge books that I liked the look of and intended to use for heritage projects. Well I always like the look of "alterable" things but I'm not so great at envisioning how the finished article should look. In the end I used the pages more as backgrounds that got rather covered up - since they looked a bit out of place when not covered up so much... lol

But this is what I made:

Here are the pics a bit bigger - I still need to work out a way to add accents to the stamped letters, it was enough of a challenge to stamp some of them without getting lost in the consonants!

So yes, this is a Jenni Bowlin hodge podge book combined with Crate Paper Story Teller and some bits and pieces from Crate Paper's Portrait line.

Well, it is a mini book after all - the journalling would never fit in here and would make it as heavy as a phone book, but I can happily report that most info is now recorded on Ancestry by my dad - a lot of great information has recently come to light.

My Great Grandmother Maria Lukasiewicz née Tustanowksa photographed in Sternberg - then in Austro-Hungary.

My Grandfather as a toddler - the prominent family hairline was already in evidence! This photo was taken in 1911 in Lwow or Lemberg if you wanted to know the Austrian name.

Here he is as a young boy - the back of the photo is just as interesting as it is a rather sweet postcard he wrote to his Uncle Romuald in pencil (without a date). This uncle was sadly later shot in the Mednoye-Katyn masacre.

Here we are back with Great Grandma Maria and Great Grandfather Michal Lukasiewicz some time in the 1920/1930s(?). The Lukasiewicz hairline once again on display. The genes must be very strong as I think my Uncle Mark is a dead ringer for Michal Lukasiewicz... minus the moustache!

Judging from the necklace I think this must be from the same photo session as the previous photo of Maria.

We only have photos of two of my Grandfather's three sisters - this is Renia.

And Alicia, who I remember meeting sometime in the early 80s and remembering she had a very high-strung Dachshund that chewed everything within an inch of its life. Glad to say the Lukasiewicz hairline is not passed down on the female side!

My Grandfather after the war having made his way here via Kazakhstan, Italy and who knows where else.

Nice to use that protractor and postage stamp chipboard since he then trained as a graphic designer and indeed designed postage stamps (among a lot of Disney artwork for Waddingtons) for such far flung places as Bermuda.

And his wedding to my Grandma in good old the good ol' West Riding. Here ends that particular Polish adventure...

52 Cards challenge - Week 17

Welcome to this week's prompt. :)

We're returning to the prompt jar this week for inspiration, and here are our three elements:

And here's the card I made with these elements:

Paper: MME
Stamps: WMS, PTI
Dies: PTI
Ribbon and twine: The Ribbon Girl
Button: Pebbles Inc
Pearls: Kaisercraft

So from the colours you might have an idea what this card is about, it's for a lovely friend and her hubby who have just announced they are expecting, and I couldn't be happier for them. :D That WMS stamp really does say it all!

Hope you have fun playing along. :)

Tags and treats

This week on the DCM blog the design team had the great pleasure of playing with some lovely stash from fellow teamy Zuz's new online shop.

Tea House Bridge sells gorgeous vintage-style buttons, resin, and findings that are just perfect for craft projects.

We got to combine that lovely stash with Gez's dare - all on the theme of tags!

There's also the chance to win some lovely items from the store when you play along with this week's dare. Check out all the details on the DCM blog here.

For my card I was still in the shabby vintage mood, and of course out came my Pink Paislee London Market papers again!

Items from Tea House Bridge: cream resin frame, baby pink resin bird, clear round buttons, white and pink cotton button.
Papers: Pink Paislee, Crate Paper, Echo Park
Label: Pink Paislee
Stamp: Waltzing Mouse Stamps
Pompom trim: The Ribbon Girl
Tag and envelope: Melissa Frances
Dies: Spellbinders, PTI
Other: heart doily, sewing machine, distress ink, thin silk ribbon

For the centre of the frame I cut a piece of text paper from Echo Park with the smallest scallop oval nestability die I had, and then snipped into each dent to give it a little frill effect when it was stuck down onto the frame. The frame also has a little eye at one end, great for threading ribbon or twine through.

I hope you enjoy playing along this week - the design team have come up with some lovely projects this week. :D

52 Cards challenge - Week 16

Good morning!

Welcome to this week's prompt - it's time for another colour challenge and this week's combination is all about fresh green, aqua blue and white.

Here's some photo inspiration to get you started:

Source: brabournefarm.blogspot.com via Natalia on Pinterest

Source: chiccheapnursery.com via Natalia on Pinterest

Source: houseofturquoise.com via Natalia on Pinterest

Source: houseofturquoise.com via Melissa on Pinterest

 

Source: apartmenttherapy.com via speckless on Pinterest

 

And now for the card I made. :)

Paper: Pink Paislee
Stamps: WMS
Chipboard sticker: Pink Paislee
Ribbon: The Ribbon Girl
Dies: MFT, PTI
Brads: KI Memories
Flowers: Wild Orchid Crafts
Punch: Martha Stewart

So I had a little chance to play with my new stash over the weekend after getting work out of the way. The papers and chipboard stickers are from the Spring Jubilee line by Pink Paislee.

Hope you enjoy playing along. :D

Ribbon Girl Colour Challenge

This month's colour challenge on the Ribbon Girl blog has a fab prize up for grabs:

Lots of yummy pinks plus there is a £10 voucher for LOVTV stamps to win too. :o)

This month's colours are most yummy:

Pinks, orange and aqua - right up my street.

I made a couple of cards - because one wasn't enough! ;)

Paper: Crate Paper
Seam binding, twine, and flower: The Ribbon Girl
Envelope: Melissa Frances
Button: Pebbles Inc
Stamp: PTI
Die: PTI

I made a scrunchy flower out of the deep pink seam binding and added one of those lovely orange paper blooms to the centre.

For my other card I went with a more "advanced" ribbon flower using 25 mm wide satin ribbon folded in half to make a neater look:

Paper: MME, Pink Paislee, Echo Park
Satin ribbon, saddle-stich ribbon, and pompom trim: The Ribbon Girl
Stamp: Hero Arts
Felt: PTI
Dies: Sizzix, PTI
Other: Sewing machine, kraft pocket

I just love these colours together. :D

Hope you have fun checking out the lovely projects by the design team and have chance to play along. :)

Arrrrgggghhhh, shiver me timbers!

This week's dare on the DCM blog meant I had to get my thinking cap on... literally!

Zuz set us the challenge to create a card featuring some kind of hat, well it's a good job I remembered my little set of Pirate Boy stamps from My Cute Stamps, otherwise I'd still be sat here trying to come up with something. ;)

So here it is:

Paper: MME, My Little Shoebox
Stamps: My Cute Stamps
Dies: Sizzix, Memory Box, Spellbinders, PTI
Brads: Doodlebug
Other: 3D foam, Copics, Distress Inks

Well, this is as good as my close cutting gets, even with a glass mat temporarily borrowed from the kitchen. ;) I can't do that really neat and detailed cutting work that so many others excel at, but it's not so bad I don't think. *Ü*

I am quite pleased with how my waves came out on this one - those scallop edge dies are very useful indeed.

52 Cards challenge - Week 15

Happy Easter Monday everyone!

I hope you've had a lovely extended weekend so far. :)

This week's prompt is a little different, it's a word prompt!

I want to see you make a card inspired by the word...

Happy

Now you can look at this in loads of different ways:

• Include the word happy on your card as part of a greeting
• Use colours that represent happiness
• Include images or a theme that will make the recipient happy
• Make something that makes you feel happy
• Feature items that make you happy

I went with a combination of using the word "happy" in my greeting and items that make me feel happy:

Paper and label: Pink Paislee
Stamp: WMS
Velvet ribbon: Making Memories
Twill: The Ribbon Girl
Heart bling: Prima
Other: Sewing machine, heart doily, buttons, cotton thread, 3D foam, distresser

I love the look of this black label from the Pink Paislee elements for London Market as it's got that chalkboard effect which is really popular now - especially twinned with the lovely font used in this set of greetings from Waltzing Mouse Stamps. :D

Happy Easter!

Or let me say it another way:

Paper: MME
Stamps: Pink Paislee, WMS
Ribbon: The Ribbon Girl
Dies: PTI, Spellbinders
Pearls: Prima
Other: 3D foam, corner chomper

In fact with that rain shower paper it's probably a more than accurate depiction of today! :D

I also wanted to quickly mention how chuffed I was to be asked by Mary and Andrea to joining them and the other Ribbon Girls as a guest designer this month. :D Although I use Ribbon Girl stash in some form on most of the cards I make anyways, you'll be seeing my favourite items a lot this month!

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter Sunday and enjoy your Easter eggs. I'll be tucking into our lovely Polish Easter breakfast this morning followed later by a wonderful Sunday roast no doubt, oh and the Malt-Easter cupcakes I made yesterday. :)

52 Cards challenge - Week 14

Hope you all had a lovely sunny weekend.

Wow, it's hard to believe we're already into month 4 of this challenge. :)

This week it's the return of the sketch prompt, and here's what we've got to play with:

This is what I made:

Papers: MME, Pink Paislee
Stamps: JustRite
Dies: Sizzix, Spellbinders
Trim, twine, seam binding: The Ribbon Girl
Button: Pebbles Inc
Pearls: Prima
Other: Felt, sewing machine, Glossy Accents

Unfortunately it's a bit difficult to see the pale pink and grey stamped text in the pics but I'm definitely getting through that new set of stamps, one greeting at a time! LOL

The new toys...

There's nothing like using all your new stash in one project and revitalising the sadly lacking creative mojo! LOL

I had the perfect excuse to crack it open with this week's dare for the DCM blog - Keilly has set us the challenge to make a card featuring fabric.

Well, this is what I came up with - see if you can spot what new stuff I've used! :P

Paper: Pink Paislee
Die-cut accents: Pink Paislee
Stamps: Just Rite
Heart crystal: Prima
Pearls: Kaisercraft
Dies: Spellbinders, Cheery Lynn, MFT
Ribbon and twine: The Ribbon Girl
Rose: Wild Orchid Crafts
Other: Felt, sewing machine, distress inks, Glossy Accents

So the "new items" tally was quite high: the Pink Paislee papers and accents, the doily and pinking dies, the Keep Calm stamps, the pink felt, the heart crystal, oh and that fab wide ribbon from The Ribbon Girl - perfect for vintage projects and BIG bows. :D

Hope you have a creative weekend, I am hoping the sun continues shining so I can actually enjoy it!

52 Cards challenge - Week 13

Morning everyone!

I hope you are getting used to the start of British Summer Time, afraid it's going to take a bit of adjusting for me. ;)

Anyway, this week's challenge is to feature either lace or doilies on your card, or both. :D

Any type of lace will do: lace trim, lace tape, lace paper, doilies in paper form, die-cut form, or printed form... the possibilities are endless. :D

For mine I went with some paper that features lace doilies.

Paper: MME, Crate Paper
Stamp: Waltzing Mouse Stamps
Dies: MFT, Magnolia
Twill: The Ribbon Girl
Other: Distress Stickles

I seriously love this twill ribbon, I have quite a few of the colours to hand as it is a lovely finishing touch to projects. In fact I have a dedicated jar for this Twill ribbon on my shelf. hehe

Happy creating!

In need of an early night...

Since it's off to the NEC we go tomorrow for a day of (hopefully) fruitful shopping.

And I need to be up at something like 5 a.m. and the clocks go forward tonight so... yes. I shall be a pretty sight in the morning.

But today I have managed to catch up on a few projects and before the sun came out I watched the first season of Burn Notice almost back to back. I seem to be in a box-set mood at the moment. The next disc of Game of Thrones has arrived but I cannot face it tonight as I need something to send me off to sleep. ;o)

But anyway, here's a pic if the latest Easter card in the production line.

Paper: Crate Paper
Stamps: My Cute Stamps, PTI
Ribbon: The Ribbon Girl
Pearls: Kaisercraft
Other: Stickles, sewing machine, 3D foam

The stamped background on the label was made using this little stamp set:

I also finished off the latest Katie Fforde book the other day.

Well, I liked it - but didn't love it. It was all a bit predictable but a decent read nonetheless.

So that's another book down on my spring chick lit pile.

Right, best get myself sorted for tomorrow and get that very early night! ;)

Thinking out of the box

Or maybe inside the box... because this week's dare on the DCM blog that Fran has set is to create a card featuring a box... oooh it was quite tricky and I wanted to come up with something more imaginative than my first thought - a gift box - but well, I'm just not that clever...

So a gift box it is!

Papers and stickers: Happy Day collection by Simple Stories
Other: Sewing machine, 3D foam

When faced with collection packs I always struggle to mix and match the items with products from other lines... but the items in this Simple Stories collection coordinate so well with each other it was a pointless task! LOL

I did love the balloon stickers and love how they pop out with a bit of 3D foam behind them.

This and that

Just a couple of pics to share this evening.

I made a simple card at the weekend that was still in line with pastel colours of the card I posted yesterday:

Paper: Echo Park, American Crafts, MME
Stamps: MFT, PTI
Dies: MFT, Sizzix
Button: Basic Grey
Other: Twine

I know... that typewriter set does get used a lot, but just goes to show it was such a good investment! hehe

This weekend I got back into some baking for Mother's Day, and made a batch of key lime butterfly cakes:

I added a few handfuls of heart-shaped sprinkles into the batter before baking. Next time I will definitely make half the quantity of buttercream, sorry Mary Berry, but there was a heck of a lot of buttercream for 12 cakes!

Also, I definitely need an oven thermometer if anyone has any good recommendations. They reviews are inconclusive on amazon and I definitely want one that isn't going to stop working after a few uses.

This evening I polished off my current read:

Fantastic!

I need some more horsey chicklit recommendations along the lines of French Relations, Well Groomed and Kiss and Tell by Fiona Walker. So please feel free to supply me with a list of books to try! ;)

52 Cards challenge - Week 12

Morning everyone!

I hope you all had a lovely weekend.

Well, since Mother's Day has just been and gone in the UK, I thought it was a good time to start thinking towards Easter and Spring-themed cards so I bet you can guess what this week's prompt will be.

Oh yes indeed, I want to see you making a card to celebrate Easter or Spring.

If these aren't the type of cards you usually make or send, then no problem, take inspiration from this prompt by using pastel colours, yellows, spring blossoms and blooms, cute bunnies or well... chocolate at a push!

There are lots of things to inspire. Like some of these pins:

Source: decor8blog.com via Sheena on Pinterest

 

Source: etsy.com via Shannon on Pinterest

Source: hostessblog.com via Megan on Pinterest

Source: thedecoratedcookie.com via Noelle on Pinterest

 

As for my card, this is what I made:

Paper: MME
Sticker: MME
Stamp: WMS
Dies: MFT, Sizzix, PTI
Rose: Wild Orchid Crafts
Pearls: Kaisercraft
Other: Crackle Accents, 3D foam

I just love this combination of colours together, and it was an excuse to use one of my new Waltzing Mouse greetings stamps.

Plus I used up the companion sticker to the one I used on a card I made that features in the current issue of Papercraft Inspirations (#98) as part of the Beautiful Blogs article. It was lovely to see it in print alongside all those gorgeous card projects. :D

Happy creating!

Green for luck

With St. Patrick's day just around the corner, Samm has set us a well-timed dare this week on the DCM blog.

She wants to see you make a card featuring green and luck in some way.

Green isn't really one of my staple colours in cardmaking, but there is one particular design of patterned paper by KI Memories that I always reach for (and am glad I stocked up on with extra sheets for this reason!). So of course it is the design I went for yet again for this challenge. :)

Paper: KI Memories
Stamps: PTI, WMS
Dies: PTI, Cuttlebug
Ribbon: The Ribbon Girl
Resin flower: 3DJean
Other: Crackle glaze, paper flower, 3D foam

I love how the crackle glaze has dried on the butterfly die cut, will definitely have to use that crackle glaze on more projects in future. :)

Don't forget to check out the parade of green creations from the design team on the DCM blog today!

Happy creating. :)

52 Cards challenge - Week 11

Morning everyone! Hope you had a lovely sunny weekend. :D

This week's inspiration comes courtesy of the prompt jar.

We have three elements to work with:

Here's what I came up with:

Paper: MME
Dies: MFT, PTI
Stamps: My Cute Stamps, MFT
Seam binding: The Ribbon Reel
Flowers: Prima
Resin flower: 3Djean
Pearls: Kaiser craft
Other: Distress Stickles, 3D foam, sewing machine

It was nice to play with my new MME papers for this challenge. :D

Hope you have fun joining in!

A tessellating time

It's Friday again (one of the nicest days of the week) which means there's a brand new dare on the Daring Cardmakers blog!

This week Leo has set us a fab challenge, and that is to make a card with a tessellation pattern - I bet you're rushing to google what that means! ;o)

Well it's nothing more complex than a kind of tiled pattern.

I went for a quatrefoil pattern for mine:

Paper: MME
Stamps: Waltzing Mouse Stamps, PTI
Dies: PTI
Felt: PTI
Punch: Martha Stewart
Other: button, twine

It's difficult to make out, but I stamped the coordinating leaf stamp on the die-cut leaf in a subtle shade of ink. I am loving the Compact Sentiments stamps from Waltzing Mouse Stamps, you'll definitely see them on quite a few projects to come!

Hope you have fun choosing your patterns, happy crafting! :D

52 Cards challenge - Week 10

This week's prompt hasn't really been set by me... in fact I had a very special request from my mum and since it was such a challenge I thought it would make a perfect prompt for this week. :oD

Basically I needed to make a flat card to post overseas as any cards I've made in the past for this very special recipient have always gone missing and we think it's because they aren't flat enough. :o(

So your challenge is to make a flat card - you can't use 3D foam tape or tabs, dimensional accents, lumpy and bumpy bits - nope.... just plain old paper and card and any flat embellishments of your choice! :oD

Here's hoping this one finally makes it through - it's a birthday card for my grandma in Poland. :o)

Paper: MME
Dies: PTI, Sizzix, MFT, Spellbinders
Stamps: PTI

I also thought I'd get using my new Howdy Doody 6x6 pad to make this card, the colours are just lovely for spring birthdays - plus I am still very much in love with anything with a pinking edge.

Spring is in the air...

Over on the DCM blog this week.

Can I first just take a moment to say how very nice it is to finally see daylight on my drive to and from work. Oh I am soooo glad that the dark winter days are almost behind us! And soon we will be enjoying those long summer evenings. My favourite!

Anyway, before all that can happen we need to glory in the arrival of Spring. And what better way to do this in a crafty way, than with a spring colour challenge.

This week it's Kathy's pic and she chose this lovely chic duck egg, soft lemon yellow and mocha combo:

Here's what I came up with using some rather vintage paper stash. ;)

Paper: Crate Paper
Stamps: The Stamp Man, PTI
Dies: MFT, PTI
Seam binding: The Ribbon Girl
Buttons: PTI
Felt: PTI
Other: Glassine envelope, Liquid Pearls, embroidery thread

I put my pinking die to great use on this card, can't seem to get enough of pinked edges at the moment, I even chopped off the top of the glassine envelope using that die.

I hope you have a sunny weekend! :D

52 Cards challenge - Week 9

Hi everyone!

I hope you had fun with last week's "easy" prompt. :)

This week I thought we'd try a proactive approach to using our stash...

It's definitely time that we address the "scraps" pile many of us have accumulated over the years. I'm really bad at throwing away left-overs from paper I've cut into - if I know I can fit it onto a card "some day" I just cannot part with it - just too wasteful. The problem is there are too many other days that arrive before "some day" and these scraps rarely make it onto a card any time soon.

A great way to make use of these scraps is to use them for punched accents or die cut with them.

Even thin strips of left-over paper and card can be put to good use with decorative edging.

So with all that in mind we're going to make a card that features:

• At least 2 decorative edges
• Scraps/leftover paper from your stash

If you manage to make a card where you've not cut into any "new" sheets of paper or card, well I think you'll be deserving some extra gold stars!

Here's what I made for this week:

Paper: Crate Paper, Cosmo Cricket
Dies: PTI, Memory Box, Magnolia
Stamps: PTI
Pearl: Prima
Other: Glossy Accents, chalk ink for edging

A really simple card, yet it's all made from scraps and left-over pieces that were just too big to chuck out.

I'm not sure if you can pick up in the photos but I applied Glossy Accents to the label around the greeting. It gives it extra pop against the background paper. :)

Anyway, I hope you have fun rummaging through your stockpile of scraps!

So I made something

My mojo is still eluding me but I thought I would check out some challenges and push some paper around in hopes that things would magically come together.

I must be in a mad mood, as not only has my mojo gone missing, but I decided to focus on purple which is the colour I most avoid in all crafting projects! Crazy!

Well the challenge I went for is the Needle and Thread challenge over on A Passion for Papertrey.

I had grand hopes for doing something fancy with my sewing machine but it all ended up looking too busy if I did anything more complicated than a wonky outline.

Anyway, here's what I made:

Cardstock: PTI
Dies: PTI
Stamp: PTI
Paper: PTI, MME
Other: Sewing machine, 3D foam

I finally had an excuse to use the "Thanks" set I kindly received from a fellow crafting friend. The purple was Boysenberry VersaColor and the teal is Prima chalk ink.

Anyway, I think it's time to check out the next task on my to-do list! Need to get some dies labelled and organised. Fun eh?

Oh la la...

This week we have a very chic dare over on the DCM blog.

Sharon has asked us to create a Marie-Antoinette-inspired card.

This can be anything from featuring Marie-Antoinette herself, taking inspiration from the décor of Versailles, the rococo period, fashion of the time to a "let them eat cake" theme - although technically she never said that!

For my card I have drawn inspiration from the décor and fashions of the time - lots of frippery and flounces.

Oh and a rather obscure fact I read that Louis the XVIth made keys as a hobby...

Kraft cardblank: Papermania
Flocked paper: My Mind's Eye
Patterned paper: My Mind's Eye
Trinkets: Prima
Rose: Wild Orchid Crafts
Die: PTI
Stamps: Waltzing Mouse Stamps, PTI
Seam binding: The Ribbon Reel
Resin flower: 3DJean
Button: Upcycled from a tag by Ang (paper&ribbons)
Other: Cream and pearlescent white acrylic paint, chalk ink (grey and light beige), distresser

I was happy to find that one of the stamps in my recent PTI purchase nicely coordinated with the damask background, so I stamped it on the little greeting label.

The kraft cardblank has undergone quite a transformation to git it a vintage look. I first dry-brushed pearlescent white acrylic paint on, then dry brushed cream acrylic on to take some of the shine off. It looks very effective in real life.

I also brushed cream acrylic paint onto the flocked paper to age it a bit - love how that look turned out as it really complimented to overall look and feel.

I hope you take a moment to check out the inspiration from the rest of the design team - I think we pretty much covered all the bases on this dare. :D

52 Cards challenge - Week 8

Morning everyone!

This week's challenge is quite a simple one. Create a card using just one design of patterned paper.

If you have time you could use up the entire sheet of paper to make some coordinating cards. ;o)

But this week we're keeping it as simple as it needs to be. :)

Here's what I made:

Paper: Basic Grey
Butterfly stickers: Basic Grey
Dies: PTI, MFT
Stamp: MFT
Seam binding: The Ribbon Girl
Rose: Wild Orchid Crafts

Happy creating!

Something cheery for a sunny Sunday

I managed to get some creative time in yesterday afternoon and used some of my new stash.

It's been ages since I've had time to join in with a sketch challenge, so I chose this week's Mojo Monday sketch (# 228) as inspiration and made this:

Paper: October Afternoon, MME
Dies: PTI
Stamps: PTI
Felt: PTI
Punch: Martha Stewart
Other: Sewing machine

So it looks like I'm not quite over grey/yellow/peach colour combinations just yet! I shall be needing some new grey paper as my existing stash is starting to dwindle.

Also I have had a late start this morning as I ended up reading Walking Back to Happiness from cover to cover... ok, page 30 to the end!

Five stars! And I need to restock my tissues. But what a fantastic read. I only have The Ballroom Class left to read and will then be eagerly awaiting whatever new book Lucy Dillon has to write, have loved all of her books so far.

Anyway, I had best get back to what I need to get done! ;o)

Going postal

Well it is Friday... almost the weekend! :D

Thanks to everyone who joined in with the hearts and doilies dare I set last week. This week on the DCM blog Rein has set us the challenge to create a card using postal inspiration.

My card as a bit of a nightmare to photograph but looks much nicer in real life where you can see all the Distress Stickles:

Actually it may look a bit better lying down:

Paper: Crate Paper
Stamps: 7Gypsies, Waltzing Mouse, PTI
Die: PTI
Twine: The Ribbon Reel
Chipboard elements: Crate Paper
Other: Distress Stickles, pattern wheel, distresser

I rather love that heart + heart chipboard. :)

Hope you have a creative weekend!

It ain't over yet...

I have another card to share today that features plenty of hearts. ;o)

I made it for Crate Paper's recent colour challenge - using Peachy Pink, Tropical Coral, and Misty grey. The only other colours you could use were black, white and kraft.

This is what I came up with:

Paper: Crate Paper
Dies: Spellbinders, PTI
Chipboard: Crate Paper
Other: Distress Stickles, sewing machine

I am rather in love with bunting on cards at the moment, but more dimensional bunting. I ysed ny fab "Ingerdibly Tacky" glue from api to attached the folded little hearts and they keep that popped up position even after being shoved in an envelope as the glue is still flexible when dry. Will need to get a new one soon as I use it so much!

In other news it's been a bit of a sad day as we learned that Gizmo the cat died this morning. Although he wasn't my mum and dad's cat he did tend to live at their house part time, well.... quite a lot actually and had become part of the fabric of family life. Kizia wasn't so keen on him but he paid her no mind and was round more often than not, especially if food and spacious sleep space was available! It seems to have been a peaceful end if a mysterious one, but it will be very odd not to see him loping about the place. :o\

52 Cards challenge - Week 7

This week's prompt for the 52 Cards challenge is a colour prompt.

Here's your inspiration for our colour combo:

Cool pastels and off-white greys.

For my card I tried a technique I have been wanting to try for a while, and that's sewn dimensional hearts:

Paper: PTI, October Afternoon, Crate Paper
Stamp: Hero Arts
Other: Vellum, string, sewing machine

The little dotty paper is from PTI and coordinates with their cardstock. The grey spotty paper is from October Afternoon, and the background is from Crate's recent Christmas line - a very nice off white that doesn't scream Christmas. Also I wanted to use grey ink for the greeting to keep with the colour theme. :)

Hope you have fun playing with these colours!

A creative start to the weekend

Papertrey currently have some lovely card sketches on Nichole Heady's blog at the moment as part of their anniversary celebrations.

They are available as a free download here and look really handy.

I chose the first sketch:

And made this:

Cardstock: PTI
Paper: MME
Stamp: PTI (Sending you)
Dies: PTI (mat stack 5, heart prints, angled labels), Spellbinders scallop and regular circle
Felt: PTI
Buttons and twine: PTI
Other: Sander, 3D foam

I'd best get my desk tidied if I plan to get anything else made today! ;o)

Who doesn't like hearts and doilies?

Well I hope no one! As it's my turn to set the dare over on the DCM blog this week, and my choice was for my two favourite design features at the moment.

Pretty hearts and paper doilies.

Lovely stuff.

Now, as many on the team will attest creating the card for your own dare seems to be a cursed experience. It becomes a herculean task and rarely turns out how you'd planned or hoped.

My card this week is no different. It bares no resemblance to what I had in mind and well I sure hope the next card I made is a lot easier!

But here it is...

Ppaer: Crate Paper
Die-cuts and chipboard: Crate Paper
Doily die: MFT
Stamps: Waltzing Mouse
Other: Vellum, sewing machine

The vellum greeting is sewn on at the side and lifts to reveal bride and groom silhouettes.

Anyway, I hope you give this week's dare a go! Looking forward to seeing how these two elements get combined. :)

52 Cards challenge - Week 6

Welcome to another week and another prompt!

Well, this week our inspiration comes from three random elements drawn from the prompt jar:

Focussing on hot pink I knew immediately that I could kill two birds with one stone this week. I've had a scrap of Cosmo Cricket paper left over since last year, too large to chuck out, and just the right size for a card...

So get your shades on, because this card is BRIGHT!

Paper: Cosmo Cricket
Stamp: MFT
Dies: MFT
Felt: PTI
Bling: Kaisercraft
Punches: Martha Stewart
Other: White gel pen, 3D foam

Now, if hot pink isn't really your thing, you don't need to use it quite on the scale I did. Just one little accent that is hot pink is all you need. Or what about hot pink stitching?

Hope you have a lovely creative week! :D

Feb colour challenge

This month it's Jo's turn to choose the colours for the DCM monthly colour dare and thankfully she has gone for a combo I am rather partial to!

Pink and red

If you're in need of extra inspiration, check out the colour prompt:

And here's what I came up with for my pink and red homage!

Paper: MME, Crate Paper
Flower: Prima
Stickers: Crate Paper
Dies: Magnolia (zigzag and scallop lace)
Other: Sewing machine, pattern wheel

A rather girly Polish birthday card!

I went with black and grey as my other colours with this one. Have to say I am rather loving the edger dies I bought on sale made by Magnolia, they have a lovely teeny scallop and zigzag. I cannot believe the original price for Magnolia dies but for £13 (still pricey) I knew I'd get some use out of them. :)

And look at this using up one of those beloved Prima flowers I bought a few years ago - just had to have the red and teal packs and finally one has made it onto a project. Just 3 more to go!

Happy crafting!

52 Cards challenge - Week 5

Welcome to another week on the 52 cards challenge - hard to believe we are reaching the end of January!

Well done to everyone who has been playing along! :)

For this week's prompt there is one main theme.

Make a card featuring some sort of aperture.

Here's what I made:

Paper: My Mind's Eye, October Afternoon
Dies: PTI, MFT, Stampin' Up
Stamps: PTI, Hero Arts
Felt: PTI
Kraft pocket: Joann's
Other: Promarkers

To make my aperture detail I used a small kraft paper bag. I bought a pack of these in Florida a while ago and they are similar to coin envelopes that you can get over here.

I first masked the inside of the flap at the back with a post-it note so that I could stamp the woodgrain background on just the front.

I then die cut the pinked circle from felt and cut a smaller circle inside the pinked felt piece. I cut the same sized circle from the kraft paper bag and attached the felt border round the circle.

I created a tag to go inside and when it's pulled out you can see the yellow arrow paper that I stuck to the back of the kraft baggie to cover the die-cut hole on that side:

Also when making this card I wanted to use up the 2 sheets of 6x6 paper from my MME pad entirely, I managed that by using the left-over bits to make the yellow details and the cloud tag. Always nice when you can use up a whole sheet of something. I just love MME 6x6 pads as their double-sided papers are really versatile.

Anyway, I hope you have fun coming up with some aperture ideas. :D

Wishi-Washi...

Jo has set a fab dare over on the DCM blog - to use washi tape on your card. :D

I didn't have any tape in my stash, but lucky me, I remembered that Jo had done a great tutorial on her blog showing how to make your own with tracing paper.

Well, this is what I made (shame about the photos, I cannot wait for daylight to return so I can photograph projects on a weekday! lol

Paper: Digital papers by Crystal Wilkerson (Vintage Cupcake), MME, Fancy Pants
Dies: PTI
Stamps: PTI
Rub-on: Basic Grey
Resin flower: 3D Jean
Twill: The Ribbon Girls
Other: Double-sided tape, tracing paper, distresser, 3D foam, Corner Chomper

Sharon's card on the DCM blog uses another cool idea - patterned vellum to make your own tape, I see a whole new opportunity for using up some of that ca. 2002 vellum stash!

52 Cards challenge - Week 4

Happy Monday everyone!

This week's prompt is a sketch created by my own fair hand, hence it is rather simple!

Here's the card I made based on this design:

Paper: MME
Dies: My Favorite Things, PTI
Stamps: Hero Arts, Waltzing Mouse Stamps
Pearls: Kaisercraft
Other: 3D foam

I managed a play with my new doily die from My Favorite Things, I rather like how you can use it to full up white space without totally overwhelming the background. :D

And on a similar theme, I made a second card but mixed up the sketch a little:

Paper: Crate Paper
Dies: My Favorite Things, Spellbinders
Stamps: My Favorite Things
Sticker: Crate Paper
Brad: Crate Paper
Other: Distressing tool, sander

So you see, you can create a card that follows the sketch exactly, turn the sketch design on its side, or mix the elements around a little. I look forward to seeing how you interpret it! :)

Happy creating!

Short, but sweet

Well the weekend is almost over, I've not managed anything exciting since Friday night's crop, but the house is a lot tidier, boring tasks have been completed and well... I managed to finish this book at last:

It was a pleasant enough read, although I wish we didn't have to wait so long for the next in the series as I am rather intrigued to see how things develop. :o)

I also started this today:

On page 200 now and really liking it. :)

Now, I did manage to make something...

Paper: MME
Sticker: MME
Stamps: MFT
Die: MFT
Felt: PTI
Other: 3D foam

Love that lime twist polka dot paper from MME, yum yum aqua colours. :D

Right, I had best get back to my book. ;o)

Something's cookin'

Over at the DCM blog today. :D

The theme of the week is Kitchenalia in honour of Kathy's new-look kitchen - lucky girl!

Here's what I made:

Paper: Crate Paper
Printable: theprettyblog.com
Stamps: PTI
Stickers: Crate Paper
Die: PTI
Ribbon: The Ribbon Girl
Other: Svarovski gem, 3D foam

For the cuttlery I used a wonderful placemat printable I found online:

Source: theprettyblog.com via Natalia on Pinterest

 

I resized it so that I could print it onto my die-cut label, and then used a journalling sticker from Crate Portrait collection as the plate.

Hopefully the hostess in question will like it. :)

52 Cards challenge - Week 3

Morning everyone!

This week's inspiration is tied together by a common theme and is brought to you with the aid of Pinterest. :D

The theme for this prompt is bunting, banners, pennants and flags.

Now before I show the photo inspiration don't worry too much, remember you can take any aspect of these photos as your inspiration. I would love you to try to incorporate bunting, banners, pennants and flags in any shape or form in your project, but if you really can't manage it focus on another area of inspiration from these photos.

We have some lovely bunting combining stripes, and dots, and my favourite combo of red and aqua:

Source: hostessblog.com via Natalia on Pinterest

 

We have banners that are tied at either end:

Source: tinywhitedaisies.tumblr.com via Natalia on Pinterest

 

We have little flags on sticks:

Source: frolic-blog.com via Natalia on Pinterest

 

We have DIY banners and pennants that use a neat technique:

Source: danielleflanders.blogspot.com via Natalia on Pinterest

 

If you have a Fiskars scallop border punch check out this wonderful idea by Danielle Flanders.

We have pennants of all shapes and sizes:

Source: littlebirdiesecrets.blogspot.com via Natalia on Pinterest

 

In fact, you can do just about anything:

Source: abeautifulmess.typepad.com via Natalia on Pinterest

 

The possibilities are endless!

Here's what I came up with using my new Paperheart collection from Crate. :D

Paper: Crate
Stickers: Crate
Pearls: Kaisercraft
Dies: Spellbinders, PTI
Stamp: PTI
Other: Sewing machine, chalk ink, distresser

I ended up cutting the banner with the pennant die from Nestabilities, a nice and quick way to get even, uniform pennants. Stuck them down where I wanted them with a touch of repositionable Herma and ran the card through the sewing machine. :D

Miraculous social networks

Or the dare that stumped a lot of us!

Yes, the wonderful Zuz set a dare this week to use social networks as your inspiration.

Well, after initially thinking of going with some "hip" text speak stamps, I suddenly remembered that I had something in my stash that looked very much like the Twitter logo on my phone.

And so a card was born:

Paper: October Afternoon
Journaling card: October Afternoon
Die: PTI
Stickers: October Afternoon
Stamp: My Cute Stamps
Other: Sewing machine, distress glitter, 3D foam

So yes, the twitter birdie and a "tweet" ticked the box. :D

Don't forget to check out the rest of the design team's wonderful cards!

52 Cards challenge - Week 2

Wow, what a fab start to the challenge we had last week! So many people joining in and getting creative! :oD

This week our prompt comes from the trusted prompt jar:

Remember you can interpret the prompts in any way!

Here's the card I made to congratulate a friend on the lovely news that she and her hubby are expecting a baby boy:

Paper: MME
Die-cuts: MME
Stickers: American Crafts, KI Memories
Die: Sizzix
Other: Corner Chomper, 3D foam

So red-yellow-blue as my primary colours inspiration, the handmade embellishment is the rosette made with the aid of a die and altered slightly, and the journalling spot was used for my greeting.

Happy creating!