Every Christmas I always know we will be treated to one of two films, or maybe both....
One is The Sound of Music. The other is of course:
Mary Poppins!
Off out for dinner tonight so not much chance of getting anything new made, I need to go dig out my winter boots for the walk but shall be watching and singing along to Mary Poppins in the meantime!
But I did post this card project on the Frog Blog:
It uses the new Retro Space set.
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Well it looks like normal service is resuming on the cardmaking front - although I've not put my Christmas papers away just yet. ;o)
Anyway, a special card for a special someone - won't reveal her age but let's just say it's an important one.
I finally opened my Everyday Button Bits from Papertrey and found the perfect use for those old Doodlebug charms.
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You stay wrapped up at home in the warmth - watching such classic movies as...
Because what snow is left out there is now solid ice and deceptively lethal! I made the walk to Tesco earlier and had to walk most of it on the roads as the pavements are just too dangerous.
But now I can watch a movie or two and not worry about going anywhere!
Also yesterday I managed to get those remaining cards made, some I can't share just yet as they were DT assignments... I did spend much of the day researching the new QK letterpress kit while trying to make cards so hummed and hahed about buying it while it was on offer on QVC, but after reading some reviews regarding getting the best results decided to no do it now and wait to see how this product pans out, and hope they bring out some other nice texture plates....
But here are the cards I can share:
I am still rather loving kraft for my cardblanks!
Lovely stuff this KI range. As is Jolly by Golly - a little goes a long way with that range. :oD
Another gift card...
And another!
Glossy Accents were definitely at work with these...
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Now that the big day has been and gone, and today is definitely recovery day, I am just sharing the gift cards I made this year for presents. Technically these are cards and I just need to make 4 more cards this year to meet my personal challenge! Hurrah!
OK, yes I know it's probably cutting corners, but at this stage I don't care!
Christmas photos are still on the various cameras, but we still had snow yesterday and today (although no new snow flurries since Christmas Eve), we're all feeling rather overstuffed, and today I have done nothing but read my book and check out the festive TV, oh and I did have a fair few goes at my new Wii sports resort - shame you can only use the motion plus remote for it as I only have the one that came with the game, so no table tennis matches between me and my brother, we have gone head to head on the archery and wake boarding though!
Anyway, I plan to be much more productive tomorrow - in the meantime back to enjoying boxing day, my next book and maybe I'll get the Sims up and going again. :o)
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Yes, 16 more cards made this year and I will have hit my 209 in 2009 target! It can be done!
Here are today's creative efforts...
This one was in response to last weeks sketch of at CPS (#145) and it's one of the BG stickers mounted on the matching chipboard which I coloured in with a turquoise promarker, it looks very nice in real life offset against the turquoise.
Then while I had that BG stuff out, I made another one.
Quite a whopping bauble there!
And next, I checked out the current dare over at Darking Card Makers... Going dotty, but I had to go with a Christmas theme to get those cards made! LOL
Those Anna Griffin rub-ons are rather handy!
Oh, and I still love those little MM tags, wish they made more tags like this in some funky colours.
I really love these Signature greeting stamps - they are perfect for so many cards!
Now, if this next one doesn't shout Christmas I don't know what will!
I've still got a fair bit of this Love Elsie fabric paper left over so will get using it soon!
While the Love Elsie was out, I made this card:
Those Paperchase badges finally got used on a card!
And finally, a little snow... who knows we may get some this week!
Love those KI glitter snowflakes.
So there we go... I just need to get writing them next! LOL
But first, X Factor final time!
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The other night I managed to get some more cards made... Behold minor productivity!
Some Merry Mint - rather like some of the papers from this American Crafts release...
Aren't those little houses cute? And I just noticed there's a reindeer on top of the roof. lol
I know it's rather sad, but that green spotty paper is my favourite in this line!
One of my new Papertrey stamps at work!
Then out came the KI Festive again...
The glittery rub-ons are my favourite!
And the gift paper is my favourite in this line - just love the colours and the pattern.
And last but not least:
Simple, but I really like it. :o)
I think it gets the message across right?
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Well I was under the influence of Ibuprofen tonight... and it has helped a bit because I seem to have been quite productive on operation Christmas card!
I had a good play with my new Jolly By Golly stash.
Finally used some of that old Scrapworks ribbon - I knew it would be perfect for something and it is - goes perfectly with this Cosmo line!
I totally love this ice skating birdie:
Am rather liking those greeting stamps from Papertrey - I think my collection of Christmas greetings is now complete... well until next year!
I am determined to use up the cardstock elements in this set, as I always end up with these left-over... so here's another one being used at least!
Love the background paper with the little snowmen bits. hehe
And last but not least...
I wish I'd got the Jolly by Golly chipboard elements, but I am using up quite a few of these MME ones... so need to get using the MME papers next!
So after that little creative outburst, I have another 28 cards left to make this year... it can be done. Maybe.
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So much for my creative day. I think I might have pulled something in my neck/shoulder blade area yesterday when lifting boxes or even making those cards... because today I have been a totally uncreative lump! After my PC decided to switch itself on at 8 a.m. out of the blue (slightly worrying it has to be said), the day was a non-starter from then on. I spent the rest of the day reading and finishing Diana Gabaldon's Cross Stitch (gaaah next book is on loan until January from my library - fingers crossed current user returns it early!) and have done nothing creative at all.
Last night after Strictly and blogging I made another 16 cards from that CK/QVC kit:
Just another 32 cards to make this year - ha! - And I'll have met my challenge... perhaps I should just keep making those QVC cards! Although it's getting a bit tiring now... Maybe my neck/back pain is from repetitive ATG gun strain! Who knows?
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Well, my 209 cards in 2009 has suffered a bit of a set back... Namely the purchase of a house!
This year's amount of Christmas cards made currently numbers less than 10! They are so limited edition it's untrue.
With this in mind this morning I got out a rather old QVC Lisa Bearnson Christmas card kit and made 18 cards - that were promptly allocated to my mum's pile of cards to be written and sent instead of mine... they just aren't my style anymore, but there are some more packs in the box that I can make up and use if I can't come through with the real thing. No pressure then! But the ATG gun really had a good work out, because I made 18 cards:
So hopefully tomorrow I can carry on with card 161 and onwards of 209!
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Because the tall Pax wardrobe... is in the house!
Well, 2 of the 3 wardrobes, and only one being up after much swearing and realisation that three people are required to build it, not just two! Still it looks well tall but most impressive and full of storage potential. The big middle one is hopefully going to be purchased Tuesday then need to start configuring the insides...
But yes, it's so tall that I am going to need to use my stepladder to get to the top shelf. LOL
But let's just say after trying to put together just the one wardrobe we are about 3 steps behind where we needed to be on the progress to-do-list... :o\
However, I have at least made one more Christmas card... something tells me at my current output I shall be buying some cards as well! :oO
Some October Afternoon Very Merry, and of course "that stamp set" again!
Anyway, hoping to head to Paperchase after work tomorrow in hopes of finding what I need before Borders is shut... So sad. York Borders was heaving yesterday but Paperchase didn't have what I wanted. But all that was forgotten after the rest of the hen day shopping and celebrating event, we took the bride-to-be to Revolution for some nice vodka (never say no!) and then a champagne bar for some rosé Moet (would have been rude not to!). Amazingly, am not hung over today, but then I never get hangovers after vodka, just a bit of Champagne-lag!
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I have had a little time on my hands tonight to watch a movie (Franklyn - rather good) and also make a card, this time with the current CPS sketch (#142) as inspiration:
I used KI papers (Good Tidings and Festive) and Papertrey's Take a Bough set. :oD
Rather liking the combination of colours that Good Tidings co-ordinates with. Will have to play some more this week.
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A festive sighting on my desk...
I was spoilt for choice with which of my new purchases to play with first... and the IKEA teeny card blanks and SEI glittery winter accents won out. I have to say those Winter accents are very nice:
So here's what I made, nothing fancy quite simple really with just the red and white:
I added some dimensional glitter paint to the berries:
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Here are a couple of projects recently posted on the Banana Frog blog...
Something seasonal:
That kitty from October Afternoon can look very spooky with a couple of bling crystals as eyes.
And today's project of the day on the Frog Blog is this rustic retro Christmas card:
I really cannot get enough of kraft and vintage cream ink at the moment.
Anyway, Fantastic Mr Fox was very good indeed. Definitely recommended!
Right, I'd best get dressed and get going, off to IKEA today, hopefully to return with furniture this time!
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Had a bit of time this afternoon to make two very important cards - which I hope will arrive with their recipients before next weekend, postal strike permitting... :oS
This one is using one of the sketches for the October cardmaking challenge over on UKS:
All KI of course...
I even used a chipboard accent for the inside:
Then the next card also uses KI birthday papers, plus that trick to flick the back of your project after applying Perfect Pearls or indeed any 3D glue really works - no more pointy bits!
Here's a close-up:
See how flat the "pearls" are now?
Anyway, after that I am feeling quite itchy to get the Christmas stash out and make a start on this year's pile of cards, but now really isn't a good time to go searching for all the Christmas paraphenalia... there's always tomorrow! hehe
I finally watched Benjamin Button last night (very good indeed) and Henry Poole is Here this afternoon (not so taken with it and did a lot of fast forwarding) - so those are two DVDs ready to post back to Lovefilm tomorrow.
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Why yes! I have actually made something. ;o)
I needed some creative outlet and well, can't beat a bit of October Afternoon!
And of course those cute little rub-ons from Nancy Kubo - love them!
On the house front, well the floors went down yesterday and now have a week of resting for the glue, etc. But my word, they look amazing and not a creak to be heard! Will try and get some pics this week before they get varnished stained and varnished.
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Well I won't bore you with too many house details now as I need to vamoose and go round and seal the decking we cleaned yesterday (4 hrs of hard washing and brushing and coating in really hot sun!) but apparently it was well worth it as it has come up much nicer now it's dried out. But have to go round in a bit to start on sealing the wood... or staining it... not decided which yet...
But, here's a little project I just uploaded to the Banana Frog blog:
It uses the "It's all about Documenting" set.
Also here's my creation for September's colour focus challenge:
The heart is stamped using the Perfect Paisley set:
Then glossy accented.
And back to the house... I looked at the painted lining paper with my turquoise paint samples... looks like I will be taking down the broken blind in the main bedroom at some point and replacing it with voile and thicker curtains, this should really bring in a lot more light.
I am going for a feature wall in Javan Dawn 2, then the other walls will be Javan Dawn 5. That should help with the illusion of light and space yet still give me some zinging turquoise to enjoy!
The bed was delivered yesterday along with my table and chairs, the conservatory looks so much more homely with them in.
Had plans to paint the bathroom today, but while the weather is good like this, best to do the outdoors stuff first.
A roofing guy is coming round next week to look at the guttering at the back that needs fixing/replacing and the roof - seems to be a cracked roof tile to replace and then the loft will need installing. Not been up there but apparently there's a lot of space for... er stuff. ;o)
Heck knows when I will actually get back to making some cards again!
Right I'm off!
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Here's a card I made for the current CPS sketch (#131) using October Afternoon papers, BG chipboard, and a Papertrey Ink greeting:
I added a bit of 3D glitter paint to the flowers as well:
And here's a card using up some scraps... KI Pieces of Me, such a shame they never released more in this style:
Glossy accents on the flower, still drying...
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I always feel you need to make the most of these - yet always end up relaxing away the time, rarely packing them with loads of manic activity!
So far I have managed to tick a few things off my more boring to-do list, had a Medium viewing marathon, read half my current re-read book, raced over to Homebase to purchase another cake stand in their 20% event (there were just 3 left), and posted my project of the day over on the Frog Blog:
If you fancy making these easy peasy notelets, check out this post.
I have some stuff to write up for a few projects, but think I will leave that until tomorrow. In the meantime I'm going to get back to my book, and at some point watch Bride Wars. I am also crossing my fingers that Next will still have the crockery I want at a reduced price - and that they will still actually have it in stock as it's not on the website! :oS
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I got back into the card sketch swing today, well that was after going to visit the (stray) cat that my brother and his house mates have temporarily homed while they look for the owner/find a new kitty home... Milo, very nice young cat and aw.... if there is no home for him I am sure he'd be moving in with Kizia (not sure how she'd feel about it as she has been in a snit all day). But I digress... must stop thinking about that as it is likely Milo will be moving in somewhere else....
So yes, the card... from this week's sketch over at CPS (#129):
Going for a more manly birthday card...
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I had the sudden urge to get using some of the stash I had at my disposal and make something for this month's card challenge of at UK Scrappers, namely to make a simple card...
Well this is as simple as I left it:
Yay, I now have a set of rub-ons that rub on properly thanks to the folks at KI for sorting my issue with the faulty set I bought.
Then I had some off-cuts and well, one thing led to another:
I must confess that blue background paper is one of my favourites in the set...
And so are the trees on this one - warning it's a bit bright!
Love the goggly eyes on the birdie sticker:
All in all it's been a rather nice day, finished Black Hills, started rereading Face the Fire (about to return to that), watched a few episodes of The Closer I hadn't seen yet, and made a few cards... a nice lazy Saturday. :o)
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So I spent the best part of Saturday night at Zoe's covering this little BG album in BG Blush - I am both happy (it looks lovely so far) and sad (I have no full sheets of Blush patterns left). I am really trying to resist googling the availability of Blush collection packs as I am starting to feel nervous at the thought of no longer having any of these papers. Gulp. I spent the best part of an hour online looking for a 6x6 pad of this paper on the off chance it is languishing in the corner of some retailer's shop... But no... not much luck there... then oh half an hour ago I noticed that one of the retailers had a number of Blush sheets reduced so I went and snapped up what was left that I liked, including a few sheets of the above red on pink pattern!
I spent less than £10 so think that was warranted, but if anyone spots the 6x6 pad anywhere give me a shout! I could still do with it. :oP
But I have also been good... I made a little card for a recent new arrival, just need to get it sent off! :o)
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Whew, well that holiday certainly passed by quickly - almost feels like we were never away. And I shudder at the thought of going through all the photos I took and deleting the naff ones... but plenty of fodder for future pages (should I actually decide to scrapbook again!) and maybe the odd mini-book. hehe
But in the meantime, here are some card projects I made before going on holiday but couldn't yet post. First up some cards for Crafty Templates, who kindly invited me to guest for their July kit:
When it came to the ice cream template, well I just had to use those Pieces of Me papers from KI!
And last but not least....
And another project posted while I was away, was my project of the day for the frog blog - tips and instructions are here:
And that's it for now... have made a little order for some mini chipboard books but really need some more - especially BG and Cosmo ones, I have plans to actually get a holiday in a mini-book rather than gradually get pages in a normal album - and since I have only managed 1 page from my Chicago holiday last year, that might be a wise decision!
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An excellent excuse to get those Crate Little Sprout papers out, as one of the girls in our office building is going on maternity leave this Friday so have made a little card for her - hopefully it is sufficiently neutral as I'm not sure whether it's a boy or a girl.
I have also filled a little mini jam pot that used to contain Tiptree blackcurrant jam with those cute little QuicKutz tags, I can never be bothered to go and cut them especially and the mini greetings stamps from Papertrey are the ideal size for them, so I now have a good little stash of them to hand. :o)
Am also slowly catching up on my DVDs, looks like I am making very good use of my Lovefilm subscription this month - have had a DVD to watch almost every day so far, but have a hankering to rent a copy of Madonna's Confessions tour since I watched the Sticky and Sweet Rio concert last night on Sky. Hm... may go and add that to the list and who knows, maybe Lovefilm will send me it one day!
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The days are passing so quickly and I've not been at the computer much while the weather has been so lovely. And one way to enjoy the weather is to sit out with a good book, shame about the slight sunburn though!
Nevertheless, I managed to finish off a couple of books today - well I started and finished the latest Katie Fforde and now can start on my next read!
But when the weather turned stormy I caught up on my DVD list and made a few cards, one of which is this one for the current CPS challenge - I am so behind on my challenge cards too now! Yikes!
I finally used up that last piece of dotty white/green ribbon as well!
The addition to liquid pearls continues...
Right I am off to tidy up and get started on my next book.
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It is TOASTY out there! :oO
If it weren't for the midgies I would still be sat out in the garden reading away it's that warm.
But there are blood-sucking midgies out there and so I am indoors trying to keep cool and think cool thoughts, but also update this here blog with the Project of the Day I posted over at the Frog Blog...
So, by now it will be obvious that I have become slightly re-addicted to Liquid Pearls, well especially red liquid pearls - who knew they were so nice...
Red and turquoise still my fave combo!
But I almost crippled my hand trying to squeeze out the Sticky Fingers equivalent of Liquid Pearls - shame their bottles are so stiff!
Right I think I am due for a return of the Stickles addiction!
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Nope, just busy with a lot of work, other stuff... and hey, summer sun! :oD
But I have managed to make a minimal amount of cards, but they're nothing to write home about!
Still loving my Mommy and Me rub-ons, but how to make those decorative pins look nice and not like implements of torture!
Have even delved into really old stash that needs using up, one day it will all be gone:
Wish I had more of the images from those chipboard embellishments and less of the words...
Just having some fun with Tim's edge scorer:
And finally using some of those beige AC stickers:
And last but not least, couldn't resist giving some Kraft cardstock the dotty treatment:
And always nice to have matching brads from Lasting Impressions - yum!
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KI Friendship rub-ons!
Well so much for some fun creating today. I sat down to try using these rub-ons again before contacting KI re the problem, and as you can see, I didn't get that far!
Hopefully this is a unique problem to this batch and not a new "feature" of KI rub-ons as I've never had an issue with them in the past.
Ho-hum...
So the card I did finally make did not feature the rub-ons I wanted to use and instead looks like this:
Nothing spectacular but I was feeling rather ticked off after battling the rub-ons!
So that marks card 100 of 209 - need to do a bit more catching up to be on target again...
But think it's back to the Sims 3 now!
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The rest of the cards!
Really simple, but I just love the colours and that paper!
And obviously there was need for another Nancy Kubo rub-on!
And there is always room for a stonking bow!
I really made use of that loaned out top-note die as well and cut a mini stack from scraps and other random bits and pieces!
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Since I've not managed to make anything since getting back from the weekend away, here are some more cards!
Cuteness and glitter, can't go wrong!
Those border punches at work!
Still loving those red liquid pearls - yummy!
Last one for today...
Of course there had to be an owl in there!
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Playing catch-up again, as I have had a few busy days since last posting.
Been out both evenings, first to Kabbabish for dinner, then last night to see Angels and Daemons at the Cinema - good job it was Orange Wednesday as they've put ticket prices up to £7 now..
Anyway, onwards with some more cards!
Once again, Nancy Kubo journaling cards - so useful!
And of course some co-ordinating rub-ons!
Back with the Sassafras stamps.
Equal opportunities cardmaking - that's what it's all about!
Or not, I needed to use up the rest of that sheet of paper!
And thickers - mmmm
Always a struggle sympathy cards, but I thought the papers were quite fitting
And that Papertrey stamp was the perfect fit.
Finally used some of my new Basic Grey diddy stamps, but have to say the quality was rather lacking, all the inks I tried just bubbled up on the surface, never had that happen with BG stamps.
You can see how yucky the impression is compared to the Papertrey greeting... so you live and learn!
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So here are some more of the creations...
A fine smattering of glitter on the Prima flowers:
And there was no way I could miss out on using my Nancy Kubo journaling cards in some way, especially on a father's day card:
I really like those KI glittery alpha stickers, no glitter all over the place like with the Doodlebug ones...
But yep, really love these journaling cards:
And especially on Kraft, with good old loopy Doodlebug (sans glitter!).
And definitely some space for October Afternoon and cute Sassafras Lass stamps!
I even used up a few of those lovely matt brads from Lasting Impressions:
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