A Moment in Time

Happy Birthday Alan!

2012-01-29T08:23:00.006Z

Today is Alan's birthday.

I made this card with one of my new Lili of the Valley stamps.I also used a LOTV Happy Sentiment Stamp, my promarkers, Basic Grey 6X6" Oliver paper pad, a Woodware punch and some glittery blue cardstock.

I'm entering this card into the Lili of the Valley Thursday Challenge 4 'Oh Boy' for masculine cards.
Thanks for looking.

Happy Birthday Alan. xxx

Happy Birthday Jamie

2012-01-28T08:00:00.001Z

I was thinking what to do for a card for Jamie's 8th birthday and was rummaging through some decoupage sheets when I found these Margaret Sherry football images. Thought I would use them both on one card.

I used the 'Time to Celebrate' stamp from Lili of the Valley and a scalloped circle punch from Woodware. So with some red and white Bazzill and 3D foam pads here is the result.

I expect you are at the football match today, so have a great day Jamie - Happy birthday!

Three Little Pigs and Co.

2012-01-27T09:00:00.002Z

Hi, back with more animal cards. Pigs, cows and owls this time.

Again I used Create a Critter cartridge for the Cricut, Lili of the Valley Greetings stamps, bazzil card stock and DCWV paper stack. I addd gems and pearls, glitter and perfect pearls.

Thanks for looking.

More Wildness

2012-01-26T08:00:00.004Z

More of the wild animals I was asked to make.

Again mixed card and paper including Kid's Safari paper pad from DCWV, this and the Cricut products from Cardinal Colours.

I have made cats, dogs, bunnies, giraffes, zebras, alligators, elephants, bears and lions.

I still need to do pigs, cows and owls to complete the order.

This cart has certainly been put to good use.

Twirling Carousel

2012-01-25T14:57:00.001Z

My sister and me on carousel horses on the merry-go-round in our local park, back in the Summer of 1966. The patterns and colours on our dresses matched the Basic Grey Picadilly collection perfectly.

I made this layout in response to the Weekly Challenge on the Basic Grey blog - Double Up - Use papers/embellishments from at least two BasicGrey lines, two photos and a two word title.

The papers I used are from the Picadilly (two patterned papers and element stickers) and Eskimo Kisses (carousel horse and blue background paper) collections. Two little girls on two carousel ponies in two photos with a two layer, two word title.
The original layout on the blog is created by one of my favourite scrapbookers and BG DT member Georgia Keays . Thus this layout of mine is rather influenced by Georgia's style of using borders.

I used a dark red and blue Bazzill cardstock, to reflect the colours of our hand knitted cardigans. The photos were scanned from colour slides and they came over a little dark and with some loss of definition, but maybe this adds to their 1960's charm.

The carousel horse is created using the Cricut and the Once Upon a Princess cartridge, the title is from George and Basic Shapes. The other elements are all from The Picadilly Element Sticker sheet.

Thank you for looking and for the challenge which runs until tomorrow. Bit of a dark, grey, foggy day - hope to take a better photo another day.

They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

2012-01-25T09:00:00.000Z

Catherine is performing in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? It's a set piece for part of her degree course at Uni. Earlier this week she sent me publicity pictures. The play follows the lives of a disparate group of contestants involved in an inhumanely gruelling dance marathon in 1930's America.

I can't wait to go and see the show in March.

These are temporary costumes, she is having a dress made.

Wild Things!

2012-01-24T09:00:00.001Z

Further to my earlier blog entries with cards made using my Cricut here are the first batch of many I have been comissioned to make with a wild animal theme.

Again I have used a selection of papers and cardstock. Some using an 8" x 8" paper stack from DCWV - Kid's Safari. I used the Create a Critter Cartridge for the Cricut. All supplied by Cardinal Colours.

The greetings are stamps from Liliof the Valley. I added some inks, stickles, perfect pearls, gems and flat backed pearls.

Some of these will have names and / or ages added too.

Off to make some more!

Thanks for looking.

Sneak Peek

2012-01-21T23:00:00.000Z

I will be teaching a layout class at the Cardinal Colours Spring Weekend Crop 2012 along with Linda, Anita, SJ and Angie from 31st March to 1st April 2012. More information on the shop web site and blog.

Here is a speak peek at my scrapbook layout class using beautiful paper from Kaiser Craft’s, Sweet Nothings Collection. During the class you will embellish pre-made crochet flowers and a butterfly to create a pretty floral layout which will suit any feminine themed photograph including weddings. You will need your usual scrapbooking tools and a large photo. Details to follow after booking the class - you can email me HERE.

Anita, Linda and I have had a special offer running for early bird booking which runs out midnight on 22nd January. The class will be £10 if booked before then, and £12.50 thereafter. Those who are already booked onto this weekend have had these details for a week. If you would like to book the weekend I believe there are still just a few places remaining (please contact Jill).

Raining Cats and Dogs!

2012-01-20T22:57:00.000Z

Today is Jessica's 6th birthday Where have those years gone!?

I made her one of my Create a Critter, Cricut cards, I think she will like this cat.

Happy Birthday Jess. xxx

Then I made a few more using the terrier and the cat. I used some Basic Grey Olivia and Max & Whiskers papers. I also used the Cindy Lou Cartridge.

Then I made some with bears and bunnies.

The greeting stamps are Lili of the Valley, the punches are Stapin' Up and Woodware.

All the cardstock is from my scraps - had a great time rummaging through my scraps box and sorting it out.

I added lots of gems and crystals, glitter glue and perfect pearls.

Thanks for looking.

Happy birthday Jess. xxx

Hearts and Ribbons

2012-01-16T16:55:00.002Z

Over on Scrapology you will see full details of the January Card Challenge.

Our sponsor for this month's challenge is Ali from Craft Ribbons.

The challenge is - Say it with Ribbons - create a 'Love Is...' card .... an ideal theme as Valentine's day falls next month the day before the end of this challenge.

These two cards use ribbons from Crafty Ribbons, Stampin' Up heart treat cups and Making Memories Love Notes papers. The first card treat cup is full of heart confetti, an so doesn't need to be accessed from behind. The second card contains pink smarties and so I used the foil trick I talked about in yesterday's post. I also found a little charm to add.

You will see many more cards on the scrapology site all made by the design team and Carin our guest designer for this month.

Ali has offered a prize of the 'Love Is...' set of all 16 ribbons featured by the DT.

The prize is available to UK residents only.

Please comment with a link yo your blog entry or email an image using the address in the sidebar.

Looking forward to seeing your cards.

Our thanks to Ali and Carin.

Inspired by a chocolate advent calendar!

2012-01-15T09:00:00.001Z

I had been thinking for a while about ways of using the Stampin' Up Treat Cups. I heard about using a slider to make the treats inside retrievable, and was planning to do this too, but I wondered if there was another way. I had just given the children each a chocolate advent calendar and these have a foil under each flap which you tear open to remove the choccies. I decided to reverse the idea and place foil over the back and make a hole inside the front of the card through which to grab the sweeties.

Here is a quick card to show the stages of the basic idea.

I used papers and element stickers from Basic Grey's Picadilly collection.

The stamps and punch are from Stampin' Up

First of all I filled the treat cup with sweets, revealed the self adhesive tape on the back and covered the whole thing with foil, and trimmed to the edges of the circle.

I punched the circle into the top centre of the card after covering with patterned papers. Then I also punched the centre from the large flower sticker. The sticker was laid over the treat cup and then with extra DST it was all stuck down onto the card over the hole cut earlier.

This is the view from inside the card.

The treat cup flower was decorated with the stem and leaf stamp from the stamp set. I added more stickers from the element sheet either side of the main flower.

Having lots of fun with these treat cups, both hearts and circles.

Thanks for looking. What do you think?

Happy Birthday 3 x 3

2012-01-14T09:30:00.001Z

Happy birthday to Oliver, Hannah and Lucy, as your three are three today!

I made cards for all three little ones.

for Lucy

For Hannah

and for Oliver

Using the Cricut and the Create a Critter cartridge together with Plantin Schoolbook for numbers and Cindy Lou for the scalloped square.

I used papers from the 6" x 6" Echo Park Summer Days paper pad, such lovely, fun, bright colours.

The cards are all 6" square and cut from Bazzill. I used scraps of card to make all the animals and balloons. Inspired by a card in Cricut Birthdays Magazine.

I had fun making the cards, hope you had a fun birthday - see you soon!

Bookworm - Finished at last

2012-01-10T08:00:00.001Z

This layout was started at Debden back in March last year. It still needed more work and journalling when I found it again the other day, I was not that happy with it and have almost completely redesigned it. (the original is at the bottom of this post.) The photo of my son Andrew was taken at my parent's house when they lived in Fairlight.

Andrew has always loved a book from a very early age. I don't know exactly when this was taken, but I was able to work out that he was probably in year one at school. I remember the book week that all thee children were given the same book to bring home. It was 'The Tough Princess' the book he is reading in the photo.

He also has Irlen filters on his glasses. Andrew needed glasses from about three years of age, and when he started school he was quick to learn to read at first - when there were big words and not too many to a page. Then as he moved on from reception and the words became smaller and more of them, he started to have problems. If it wasn't for the quick thinking of my friend Chris who was a special needs teacher in a secondary school and was involved in helping children of 11 years and older who had failed to read in primary school. She was able to ask Andrew appropriate questions about what happens when he is reading. She thought he might have Irlen Syndrome. It is a perceptual defect making it difficult for him to see the words without them appearing to move about and for the white background to interfere. I spoke to the teachers at Andrew's school and they weren't keen to get the testing done, so Chris put me in touch with the Irlen Centre in Maidstone. I fear that without this early intervention, we may have struggled for years to find out what the problem was and he may have lost his love of words all together if it had been a chore to read.

So we travelled to Maidstone annually where he took his tests following each normal eye test at the opticians. New glasses were tinted each year according to his need. It was amazing to witness that as he got older, the strength of the tint diminished until by the time he was 16 he no longer needed it tinting at all.

This story is written in hidden journalling included on this scrapbook page.

The papers are Basic Grey - Hello Luscious.

Cardstock - Bazzill

Cardstock letters - American Crafts - sanded and inked.
Various buttons from my stash
DMC embroidery cotton.

Here is the original before I changed it. I was not happy with the letters, they did not stand out enough and the pattern was too busy, yet perfect for the photo.

Thanks for looking.

For more information about Irlen Syndrome, if you think you know someone who may need help see their website HERE

Cacti & Goblin

2012-01-09T09:00:00.017Z

Emily has been busy again making gifts. We both love the Molly Makes Magazine and when she cam home from Uni for the holidays she has a few issues to catch up on. She wanted to make something special for her friend Sinade as a thank you gift, so got the felt out and made this gremlin.

He even has little tattoos embroidered on his arm. Emily decided give him a jumper to wear, and although used to knitting had not done cable before. She learnt to do this so he could have this super cosy jumper.

Emily has also been working on making a pattern to crochet a cactus for another friend and here is her sample.

It's been great fun having Emily home, especially as we can craft together. Shame she has to return to Nottingham on Wednesday.

Other news is Andrew had to return yesterday to Manchester as he has exams today. And Catherine also returns to Twickenham on Wednesday. We have all have a lovely few weeks being together again. I shall miss you all. Our next opportunity to be all together will be Easter and their 20th birthday.

Happy Birthday Liz

2012-01-08T12:00:00.001Z

We celebrated Liz's birthday at our Cardinal Colours Crop on Saturday. It's not her birthday until later in January but we will not be together again until next month, so we celebrated in advance.
I made Liz an apron and a card.

Stampin' Up Treat Cup Card

Liz in her apron

close up of Liz's apron

The card was made using Making Memories papers, Stamping up stamps and treat cups. The treat cup is filled with skittles. I backed the cup with foil so the sweets can be removed from inside the card without damaging the card. More on how I did this in another post when I do some step by step photos.

Here is the lovely Liz with her cake. We had a good day at the crop, as always. Good company, fun and laughter and even a little crafting!

Hope you have a good birthday Liz. x

Christmas 1998 and a Double Layout

2012-01-02T09:00:00.003Z

This is the double page I made for the 'T is for Texture' Scrapology challenge for January. I used photos of my family from Christmas 1998. Because the colours were so mixed I changed them all to sepia before printing them out.

This month we are scraplifting a layout by Stacey Hansen, called 'Life is a Highway', from September 2011 Creating Keepsakes Magazine. We are challenging you to use lots of texture (or lumpy bits), make a double layout and lots of photographs.

This is the original layout.

and our sketch

A closer look -

Left hand page

Right hand page

I used:

2 sheets Red Bazzill cardstock

1 sheet Leapfrog Bazzill cardstock

1 sheet Salt Dotted Swiss Bazzill Cardstock

QuicKuts dies - Poinsettia, treelights, Lucy Alphabet

Creative Memories Large Circle Template

Technique Tuesday Cardstock Fundamentals

The patterned papers are American Crafts Christmas Dear Lizzy collection, Twinkling Tree, Gracious Gifts, Garland Greetings and Poinsettia and Pine.

Here is what I did:

Use the two pieces of red cardstock as a base for the double layout.

Cut two pieces of diagonal red white and green stripe, 4" x 12", use TT FUNdamental Postage Stamp template to draw pattern along the top of both pieces, just to mark where to cut, then using a small 5/8" circle punch cut notches in place. Stick these to each piece of red about 2" up from the bottom so the pattern runs right across both pages, leave top unstuck to allow for tucking circle and bracket in place later.

Use a medium sized 'Swanky Frame' TT FUNdamental shape as a template. With Leapfrog cardstock cut half a frame following the outside edge of this shape. Cut a piece from holly paper using the inner frame as a guide. Mount the holly paper on top of the green, and tuck this under the diagonal striped paper on the right side of the layout to the right of this piece, about 3" down from the top. Trim where this overlaps the side of the layout.

Cut about 3/4 of a circle using the outer edge of the CM template and the fine stripe paper. Cut the inner circle from the dotted Swiss cardstock. Mount white over stripe and cut down the centre. Mount half of this shape on each side of the layout so they meet in the middle. See sketch for placement, but this is also about 3" down from the top. This is also tucked under the diagonal striped paper, and all is stuck down. (I wanted a little spare red cardstock for making flowers, so I gutted some from under where the circle is going to sit before sticking all down for this purpose!).

I ran a wide red grosgrain ribbon with a white stitch effect across the bottom of the diagonal striped paper, then added a 5mm green satin ribbon on top of this, with a green bow to the left side of the left page.

I matted all my photos in white and arranged them across the layout as in the sketch (roughly).

Then I dusted off the QuicKutz, which has been neglected since I acquired my Cricut! I got busy and cut 16 poinsettia petals and 16 leaves, arranging these in pairs to make 8 flowers. I curved the petals with the scissor blade and attached each pair together with a gold brad, these were added to the layout with a 3D foam pad. The leaves were added later, 2 to each flower. Then I cut lots of small tree bulbs and arranged in a garland along the top of the layout, each of these is raised on a tiny piece of 3D foam too.

Next I cut my title using Leapfrog cardstock and the Lucy Alphabet dies. I arranged these letters inside the white circle.

Thanks for looking.

If you want more details of this challenge please go to the post titled 'T is for Texture' of 01/01/12 on the Scrapology blog.

Good bye to Jo

2011-12-27T09:00:00.000Z

I have worked with Jo for several years, and she is a good friend and great colleague. In the New Year she is off to Australia to start a new life with her husband a two young children. We will all miss her, but wish her well with her new venture.

I made this card for the team to give Jo on her last day.

It's and 8" x 8" scalloped card blank from Craftwork Cards.

The papers are two identical sheets of Sweet Meadow paper also from Craftwork Cards, I cut one sheet to fit the card and used he second to layer up the flowers with 3D foam pads. Then I added, flat backed pearls and gems, buttons, stickles and perfect pearls.

All the edges are inked with chalk inks.

The letters are American Craft Thickers, Dear Lizzy pink foam.

The buttons are stitched in place with DMC thread.

A wide organza ribbon was tied in a bow at the top of the card.

We are really going to miss you Jo, but enjoy your self and keep in touch. xxx

Christmas Aprons

2011-12-26T09:00:00.015Z

For my friends Hilary and Lesley I made two more aprons. Six letters is about the longest name I can get away with with this font and size of lettering!

I used brown, beige, gold and turquoise colours for Hilary's apron.

Lots of blues for Lesley.

Hope you like the aprons girls and that you had a good Christmas.

Happy new year. xxx

Canvas Gifts

2011-12-24T19:00:00.001Z

Merry Christmas to Jessica and Jamie who played a very big part in Mark and Vicki's wedding back in July. I wanted to make them a keepsake. So I matched up some papers and paint and made them a canvas each.

Here is Jessica's Canvas:

Some detail showing the charm.

The canvases were painted with pearl and shopping bag acrylic paints by Making Memories, and the papers are Basic Grey Wassail and some scraps of Prima Marketing. The blossoms are also Prima and others from my stash.The charm is Primark! I have cut the lettering on the Cricut with the Storybook Cartridge. I added gems, pearls, dragonfly brads and Perfect Preals. I used a button and lace to make the large blossom.

Here is Jamie's canvas, he took his duties very seriously and greeted everyone when they arrived.

Have a lovely Christmas you two and I'm looking forward to seeing you later today.

More Handmade Cards Received

2011-12-23T09:00:00.000Z

I thought I would share with you a few more cards which have arrived in the post since the crop and the cards I shared with you at the beginning of the month.

This clever tree card from Karen, she says it was made using the 'Tiny Trees' digital stamp set from pinkpetticoat.co.uk . The flat backed pearls work so well as baubles.

Alison sent this very glittery tree card in purples.

Deirdre sent me this lovely Scandinavian style card. brilliant stamping her to line up the patterns.

Sandra sent me this cute little card. The background has been dry embossed and rubbed over with a light touch of gold.

This cute Warren Rabbit card was made and sent by Jackie.

Thank you to all my crafty friends for these super cards -

Merry Christmas.

Family Layout

2011-12-19T09:00:00.000Z

This layout has taken such a long time to complete. I started it at a crop a few months ago and lost of one the chipboard letters after painting, stamping, inking and glossing them all.

So then I had to find another of the same font, but didn't have one so had to adapt another letter. Then I tried again at the following crop but forgot the stamp!

Eventually I finished off the letter to go with the others and completed the layout!

Although the papers are Christmas ones, Basic Grey Wassail, I felt the colours worked well with the wedding photos. The letters were painted with white acrylic paint, then stamped with a leaf stamp from Clarity Stamps. I inked the edges heavily with colorbox chalk inks, then glossed them with glossy accents.

I rolled back one corner of the paper and held it down with a button and loop feature.

Close up of the button detail.

Stitch detail added with white gel pen. I included some self adhesive flat back pearls and some numbers from Prima.

The photo shows the family at my nephew Mark's wedding earlier this year.

The layout was inspired by a layout by Angelica on Scrapbook.com

Oh Christmas Tree!

2011-12-18T09:00:00.003Z

I went to St Pancreas International Station to meet Emily off the East Midlands train from Nottingham, returning her from Uni for the holiday.

A Christmas tree that's ten metres high and made completely out of Lego bricks has been built at the station. The tree took two months to build and contains 600,000 bricks. There are more than 1,000 Lego baubles attacked to its 172 branches and according to Lego it is the tallest tree ever made using the toy building bricks. Children from local primary schools were involved in the building of the tree which rises up from the ground floor of the station.

From the top of the escalator looking down. With the Olympic Rings in the distance.

More detail of the baubles and branches.

This poster near the tree lists 12 reasons for visiting the station this Christmas, but misses off meeting your loved ones returning home for Christmas!

Emily arriving at the barrier and ....

... by the tree.

This year I managed to get near enough to this statue of John Betjeman to take a photo and read the inscription. Last year they were filming a news programme here.

Betjeman stands on a circle of slate, which is inscribed in two rings. The inner ring is Betjeman's name and dates and the words “Who saved this glorious station”. The outer ring contains words from the poem Cornish Cliffs: “And in the shadowless unclouded glare / Deep blue above us fades to whiteness where / A misty sea-line meets the wash of air.”

The detail of the Olympic rings.

We have All three of our children home for a few weeks now. Andrew also arrived later in the evening via Euston from Manchester and Catherine by car from Twickenham.

Christmas Wreath

2011-12-17T09:00:00.002Z

What a lovely Christmas gift! Linda treated me to an evening at Floral Explosion in Longfield make our own Christmas Wreaths.

This is my finished wreath hanging on the front door.

We were given the blue spruce ring already made up (someone else did the had bit!)

Then we could wander around the shop and choose the elements we wanted to add.

Here is my wreath with my chosen pieces placed and ready to go.

I chose the folksy felt decorations, pine cones, tiny mushrooms (seems a bit of a theme for me at the moment!), broom bundles, I loved the buttons threaded onto the cream felt heart and wanted this to hang down in the centre. I picked a green gingham wired ribbon.

Then we learnt how to wire everything up and attach it to the wreath.

The felt decorations had ribbon loops which hung down, so I took the plunge and decided to cut the loops and tie them in bows. It worked - phew!

I grouped the cones, broom and mushrooms together in three groups.

Then added snow when the wreath was complete.

Then the bow was made with much twisting and looping of the wired ribbon. This was wired and added to the wreath, them arranged and shaped.

I added the button heart so it swings in the centre of the ring.

The finished wreath.

When the Christmas season is over I will have a lovely collection of decorations for next year.

Here is Linda's Wreath hanging on her door. Please see her blog for more information.

Thanks Linda for a really original gift and a lovely evening x

Merry Christmas

Happy Birthday Sue!

2011-12-15T09:00:00.008Z

It was Sue's birthday yesterday, but I couldn't share this card until today as it was designed for the Scrapology DT November Card Challenge which was published today. So here it is!

I made it with a photograph I took in Rendlesham Forest. Based on a similar idea to Elaine's Card.

Patterned papers - Magnolia

Card Blank - Craftwork Cards

Stamps - Stampin' Up greeting, Lili of theValley image

Leaves - brown parcel paper, green bazzill

Inks - Color Box chalk inks

Pens - Promarkers

Die's - QuicKutz

Happy birthday Sue!

Craft Aprrons

2011-12-14T09:00:00.028Z

It all started with this apron I made as a badge for The Scrappers Unlimited Gloucester 2 Retreat several years ago (2006). It had to be a badge you could wear. The apron has come handy when teaching scrapbooking and cardmaking too. It has been admired many times.

I labelled my daughter's school apron the same way when she started her new school (some 8 years ago now), and she loves it, she wears it when ever she does any craft work at home now, she says it makes her more creative! As you can see from the condition, she has used it frequently. On reflection, if this was when Emily changed schools I must have done this before I made my apron.

I wore mine to the Cardinal Colours retreat recently as I ran out of time to make a badge. Then when I was thinking about gifts for my crafting friends Linda and Sue's birthdays recently I decided it would be fun to make them one each.

Linda in her apron on her birthday at the crop in November (also showing off her glass cake stand gift).

Below detail on the apron ( a bit blurred - sorry)

Sue in her Apron at the December crop and below more detail

I cut the Apron from Calico and hem round the edges by machine. I selected favourite colours from my bag of patchwork scraps and some fat quarters of fabric. I use a chipboard alphabet to draw round and cut out the letters, which are then machine stitched into position. I add ribbon or tape ties to match the apron or the letters.

Then I set to with DMC embroidery threads, metallic thread, beads and buttons.

I intend to make some more for other friends and family - as long as they have short names (LOL)!.

Thanks for looking.

Happy birthday Linda and Sue. x

A Night of Fairytales

2011-12-13T16:40:00.001Z

Catherine has been working hard on this short producton which is taking place at Uni tonight. ‎'A Night of Fairytales' TONIGHT, Dolche Vita, £1, 6-7pm

St Mary's University College Twickenham
(free mince pie & bucks fizz)

Thiunking of you - wish I could be there, hope all goes well. xxx

Frame that Family!

2011-12-12T12:00:00.001Z

At our recent Cardinal Colours Crop, I took the talented Anita's Family Frame class.
It made a lovely change from making a layout. We used this white wooden frame measuring 11" x 9.5". Anita provided some swirly stamps and black Staz-On to stamp on the 'Family' cut out section of the frame, which helped to make the word stand out.

It is rare to get a picture of all of our family together these days now that Andrew, Catherine and Emily are all away at Uni. This photo was taken at my nephew's wedding back in July this year.

The lovely papers are My Minds Eye and the Lost and Found II collection, they are double sided and extremely glittery. I used some old Provo Craft letter stickers to add the date. We made paper spiral roses from left over scraps and added some flat backed gems to finish the frame off.

Many thanks Anita x - here is her lovely original.

Win a Joanna Sheen Original Card

2011-12-12T09:00:00.001Z

Joanna kindly sent the Scrapology Design Team the original card she made for our November card challenge which she has signed.

Would you like the opportunity to win this fabulous card?

We are having a raffle, £2.00 per ticket with all proceeds going to the EllenorLions Hospice Charity,
for more information see here.

Contact us using the details in the sidebar for more information and to purchase tickets.

Such a lovely prize and a very worth cause so, please, dig deep and have a go.

The raffle will close on the 16th December once the challenge has finished and the winner will be announced on this blog.

Bon chance!

Christmas Tree Angel Gifts

2011-12-11T09:00:00.061Z

Here I am, back with the gifts I made my scrapping friends.

An angel each for the tree top.

Here are all ten angels.

This is how they looked early in the making!

Here is the one I made for our tree from a kit by Sue Dolman of Candle House Crafts a few years ago.

Sue doesn't make kits any more but you can still buy the pattern and some of the materials from her.

Here is a closer look at each of the angels. They are made to match the colour scheme of each persons Christmas tree decorations.

The angels are made from:

Body - flesh felt

Shoes - white felt

Wings - Vylene.

Bloomers and dress - white cotton lawn

Halo - gold or silver pipe cleaner

Eyes - Black seed beads

Mouth - DMC embroidery thread

Hair - Tapestry wool

Decorations - 3mm satin ribbon, seed beads and star sequins

xXx Hope you all have a great Christmas girls. xXx

Christmas Crop, Cards and Gifts

2011-12-10T09:00:00.052Z

We had our monthly crop at Cardinal Colours on 3rd December and my lovely friends made some super cards and presents.

Sue made these beautiful Kanzashi flowers

Linda made this Decoupage card and this lovely gift box containing this beautiful handmade bracelet and other goodies.

This fun card is from Jill.

Jill also made this box which was filled with scrapping goodies.

I love this clever snowman card by Anita. She also made this delightful cake stand, which I can't wait to show off over Christmas.

Wendy made this cute card.

Liz made this clever boxed box card, with a draw full of candles

Chris is very clever with beads and this year she made some tree baubles - here is mine.

Thanks to my crafty friends for all these wonderful gifts and cards.

You have been seeing the Three Little Angel Cards which I made for my friends at this crop. Back tomorrow with the gifts I made.

Warmst thoughts & Best Wishes

2011-12-09T09:00:00.015Z

Or Last But Not Least!

The last of 12 Christmas cards made with my three little angels stamp from Lili of the Valley, not to say that I won't use them again!

I used:

Stamps - Lili of the Valley

Patterned paper - Magnolia

Packaging from Prima Marketing gems as mat for image

Card blank - Craftwork Cards

Punches - Woodware, 2" scalloped circle and Martha Stewart holly border

Other - ribbon bow, wedding floral decorations, gems, perfect pearls, stickles

Happy Christmas Karen!

Happy Birthday Elaine!

2011-12-08T09:00:00.040Z

Elaine and Robert spent a weekend with us recently and we took a bike ride into the Rendlesham Forest. We were fascinated but all the mushrooms we saw and so I thought it would make a good theme for a birthday card for Elaine.

Patterned papers - Basic Grey - Oxford

Cardstock - Bazzill

Ribbon - Hobbycraft

Punches - Fiskers

Rub-on greeting - Making Memories

Stamps - Lili of the Valley

Pens - Promarkers

Other - gems, perfect pearls, chalk ink.

The mushroom is Amanita muscaria known as Fly Agaric. They are beautiful but Deadly poisonous.

Remembering a lovely weekend,

Happy Birthday Elaine!

All Dressed in White

2011-12-07T09:00:00.011Z

Or Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

... Yet another angel card ...

Patterned papers - Stampin' Up

Punch - Woodware

Card blank and Candi - Craftwork Cards

Roses, Lilys and leaves, ribbbon - Hobbycraft

Pens - Promarkers

Stamps - Lili of the Valley

Stickles

Happy Christmas Wendy

Aqua and Lime

2011-12-06T09:00:00.006Z

Or Christmas Wishes Sent to You

Yet another card with the Three Little Angels and this one was for Liz.

The papers, ribbon and the Sizzix tag die are from Stampin' Up

The Stamps are Lili of the Valley

I added a selection of gems and some perfect pearls and loads of glitter!

Thanks for looking

and

Season's Greetings Liz

Pretty in Pink

2011-12-05T09:00:00.010Z

Or With Love This Festive Season & All Year Through

Back to the Angels!!

Stamps - Lili of the Valley

Punches - 2" scallop circle Woodware, Holly border Martha Stewart

Ink Stampin' Up

Ribbon - Stampin' Up

Other - paper roses, perfect pearls, stickles

Pens - Promarkers

Cardstock - Bazzill & Stampin' Up

Merry Christmas Chris.

Happy Birthday Heather!

2011-12-04T09:00:00.008Z

I made this card at the Cardinal Colours crop yesterday for our niece Heather, who has a birthday today.

I saw these Woodware stamps a few months ago and thought they would be ideal for Heather as she is an optometrist.

Patterned papers - Basic Grey - Out of Print
Cardstock - Bazzill
Stamps - Woodware
Pens - Promarkers
Ink - Memento - Tuxedo, Staz On, Color Box Chalk Inks.
Other - acetate, gems,

Happy birthday Heather and look forward to seeing you tomorrow. xxx

Elegant Angels

2011-12-03T09:00:00.026Z

Or Merry Christmas

Another 3 little angel card this time with this elegant shaped card blank, covered with patterned paper.

I have used :

Cardstock - Stampin' Up & Bazzill
Patterned papers - Stampin' Up
Stamps - Lili of the Valley and Stampin' Up
Punches - Stampin' Up Scallop Trim Corner & Scallop Trim Border, scallop circle and circle
Inks - Stampin' Up
Ribbon - Stampin' Up
Other - Stickles, Perfect Pearls
Pens - Promarkers
Card blank - Craftwork Cards

Thanks for looking.
Lynn x

Dotty Angels

2011-12-02T09:00:00.028Z

Or Welcome Christmas Into Your Heart

Another angel card to show you today.

I have used :

Cardstock - Bazzill
Patterned papers & greeting stamp - Stampin' Up - glittered paper
Stamps - Lili of the Valley 3 Little Angels
Inks - Stampin' Up
Other - Stickles, Gems, Perfect Pearls, paper roses
Punches -Martha Stewart
Pens - Promarkers
Card blank - Craftwork Cards

More to come!
Lynn x

Quintessentially English

2011-12-01T09:00:00.000Z

This is my layout for the December challenge over on Scrapology.

December's choice of layout brings you the scrapping skills of Pamela Young and this pretty page created for Miss Fancy Pants on http://www.scrapbook.com/.

You are challenged to create a page using 'filters', These can be purchased from Fancy Pants, or you can create your own with coffee filter paper, tissue or other papers. They can be used as they are, or they can be coloured with mists or paints. They can be pleated, cut or scrunched. We are looking forward to seeing what you do with yours.

Here is the sketch for this month:

My page was made using a photo of my daughter, Emily taken when we visited our friend Frances in Devon back in August. She took us along to a charity garden party run by her WI friends. We had tea and cake in the beautiful garden and Frances even found has for us all to wear. We had a great afternoon, enjoying this very English occupation. For more details see HERE.

I used:

Coffee filter paper

Cosmic Shimmer Mists

Butcher's Twine

Perfect Pearls

Gems

Decorative eyelet

Prima letter stickers

Cosmo Cricket - Odds and Ends Collection - Remnant, Scraps, From A to Z, Sampler, trinkets. I have been waiting to use these papers for some time and they were perfect for this photo, the colours were ideal and the roses are a perfect march for those in the garden.

I took my coffee filter paper and sprayed it with Cosmic Shimmer mists in green and bronze. I left this to dry while cutting the patterned papers.

I chose the striped side of 'Sampler' as my background.

I cut a large circle from 'Remnant' using the roses side and the outer edge of the very large Creative Memories circle template. This was set overlapping the bottom and right side of the layout, then trimmed the edges level with the base page, but not stuck down yet.

I cut another circle from the red polka dot side of 'Fom A to Z' using the inside of the template. I cut this in half and took 1/4"of the straight side of each. I stuck these semi circles to a piece of 'Trinckets' about 1/2" apart and cut out leaving a border of about 1/2" around the outside. This was then mounted onto the 'Remnant' Circle. This also needs trimming where it overlaps the edge of the layout.

I chose and cut out the elements I wanted from 'Scraps' paper.

I added journalling to one, made a second into a tag (with a large flower eyelet and butcher's twine), and cut a third with a short quote. I set these aside and flipped the paper over to the green side. From here I cut a strip about 10" x 2" and trimmed this with a Marthar Stewart Border punch.

When the coffee filter papers were dry I cut one into 1" strips, pleated it ans stuck it to the edge of the largest circle of patterned paper to make a frilly edging. This could then be stuck to the layout, and the other circular pieces stuck in place on top. Attach the scalloped border about 1" up from the bottom of the page, about 2" in from the left.

Next I arranged my photos according to the sketch, and added the three elements cut from the 'Scraps' paper. I stuck these all in place when happy with the arrangement.

I used Linda's Tattered Flowers die and the Sizzix to cut a lot of flowers from the second filter paper and scrunched these up and smoothed them out again. Then I layered them up to make three flowers adding a gem to the centre of each. These were then arranged and stuck to the layout.

I added my title with the Prima letter stickers before adding more gems and some perfect pearls to decorate the elements already on the page.

Thank you for looking and do visit Scrapology for more details of this challenge 'F is for Filter'.

Lost and Found Angels

2011-11-30T09:00:00.002Z

Or Christmas Wishes Sent To You

The next card features the same three angles surrounded by these lovely My Mind's Eye papers - Lost and Found.

For this one I used:

Pens - Promarkers

Card blank - Craftwork Cards

Patterned papers - My Mind's Eye

Punches - 2" scallop circle - Woodware

Others ribbon bow, perfect pearls, gems, brad, scrap of cardstock (Stampin' Up)

Thanks for looking.

Lynn x

May Your Days Be Merry and Bright

2011-11-29T08:00:00.005Z

Or More Angels!

Back with another card made with the same Lili of the Valley Stamp 'Three Little Angels'

This time I went for a coral colour scheme and I have used :

Cardstock - Stampin' Up - Calypso Coral, Bazzill white
Patterned papers - Stampin' Up Paper Stack - Calypso Coral
Stamps - Lili of the Valley 3 Little Angels and Circle Christmas Greetings
Punches - Martha Stewart Border, Woodware 2" scallop circle
Inks - Stampin' Up Calypso Coral
Other - Stickles, Gems, Perfect Pearls, paper roses, ribbon bow.
Pens - Promarkers
Card Blank - Craftwork Cards

I have still more cards with these angels to show you if you have not given up and are still following!
Thanks for looking

Lynn x

Three Little Angels

2011-11-28T09:00:00.005Z

Another card made with Promarkers, Stampin' Up goodies and my Lili of the Valley Christmas stamps, featuring the three little angels stamp again.

I added lots of sparkle with stickles in different colours to the wings, dresses, clouds and stars. My gems are a selection of different makes including Prima. I first used this fold on a card I made at a STampin' Up Class taught by Natalie O'Shea.

I'm entering this into the Lili of theValley Challenge for this week - Anything Goes

I have used :
Cardstock - Stampin' Up & Bazzill
Stamps - Lili of the Valley 3 Little Angels and Circle Christmas Greetings - Stampin Up Pines and Poinsettias
Punches - Woodware 2" scallop circle
Inks - Stampin' Up Cherry Cobbler, Wild Wasabi and Versamark
Ribbon - Stampin' Up Scallop Dots in Cherry Cobbler
Other - Stickles, Gems, paper roses
Pens - Promarkers

More cards to follow.
Thanks for looking
Lynn x

~ * ~ Swirls and Sparkles ~ * ~

2011-11-26T22:37:00.008Z

Or Silent Night, Holy Night

I have been playing with some favourite products, Promarkers, some Stampin' Up goodies and my Lili of the Valley Christmas stamps and trying to get some Christmas Cards made.

I managed to take this photo before it became too dark, but I think this will need taking again in brighter light tomorrow. I added lots of sparkle with stickles in different colours to the wings, dresses, clouds and stars. My swirls are made from Prima gems, so they sparkle too. Not sure the full extent of the sparkle effect shows on the photo.

I'm entering this card into this weeks Passion for Promarker Challenge 127 Swirls and Sparkles and this weeks Lili of the Valley Challenge blog challenge 122 - Anything Goes!.

I have used :
Cardstock - Stampin' Up Island Indigo and Baja Breeze
Patterned papers - Stampin' Up Paper Stack - Island Indigo
Stamps - Lili of the Valley 3 Little Angels and Circle Christmas Greetings
Punches - Stampin' Up Scallop Trim Corner & Scallop Trim Border, Woodware 2" scallop circle
Inks - Stampin' Up Island Indigo
Other - Stickles, Gems, Perfect Pearls, paper roses
Pens - Promarkers
Card blank - Craftwork Cards

I made a few more cards with this delighful stamp and will show them to you as we go through December.
Thanks for looking
Lynn x

A Beautiful Autumn Day

2011-11-21T10:17:00.001Z

Sunday the weather was very misty, but we got the bikes ready and headed off into the Rendlesham Forest. As we drew nearer the sun cam out and the mist disappeared. We had a lovely ride around the forest, showing Robert and Elaine the area.

Then we drove into Orford for a lovely lunch and an antique fair then onto Snape in the afternoon.

A lovely weekend thanks Elaine and Robert.

In and around Woodbridge

2011-11-20T09:00:00.000Z

My brother Robert and his girlfriend Elaine came for their first visit to us in Suffolk, so on Saturday we decided to take them to explore in and around Woodbridge. We were so lucky with the weather - it was a beautiful autumn day.

We walked along the river front from the Marina.

Warning picture heavy post!

Elaine and Robert

Lynn, Elaine and Alan

Robert's picture

Coffee and cake in 'The Tea Hut'

Followed by walking through the town for some shopping and lunch in the pub before more shopping. We got Elaine some wool and and we started her knitting, her first project is a West Ham scarf for Robert - of course!

House Mouse Challenge on Scrapology.

2011-11-16T09:00:00.000Z

Over on Scrapology this month we are delighted to welcome Joanna Sheen and team on board as our sponsor. She has offered a £10.00 voucher to the winner of this month's challenge.

Here are my two examples for the DT gallery, House Mouse stamps coloured with Promarkers.

Joanna has asked us to make cards using the iconic House Mouse.

Don't worry if you don't have any, any mouse will do.

Here is Joanna's card

Hop over to Scrapology to see more details of this challenge and the design team gallery. /including our guest Scrapdolly and our two mew team members, Soojay and Sandra Dry.

Relax and Recover

2011-11-11T09:00:00.001Z

My sister had surgery to her hand last week, so I made her a card to wish her well.

As you can see I used more of the Cardinal Colours retreat kit left over from my Play-doh layout from Anita's class.

The image is from Kraftin' Kimmie available in the UK from Elaine at Quixotic Paperie.

Coloured with my Promarkers from Cardinal Colours.

Orange cardstock, ribbon, brads, blossoms, glitter, inks and pins from my stash.

Get better soon Sylvie and I'm looking forward to our weekend together very soon.

I'm entering this card into this week's Kraftin' Kimmie blog challenge #103 'Pin It Down'.

Thanks for looking.

Rainbow Stripes with the triplets

2011-11-10T09:00:00.000Z

Here is another layout made with a kit I brought home from Jill's Cardinal Colours Retreat. The class was designed and taught by the lovely Anita and you can see more details of the class on the Calendar of Colours blog. I finally got around to making this layout at Jill's crop last weekend.

The photograph was taken by my daughter Catherine, on her mobile phone, when she visited the triplets with her sister back in September.

The papers are Echo Park Summer Days collection, the kit included Alpha Stickers, Journalling Cards, Die Cut, Rainbow and Borders. Red and white baker's twine.

The papers reflect Heather's (the triplets mum) love of colourful stripes.

Zoe lent me her Stampin' Up Banner Builder punch and gave me these fantastic colourful buttons. Thanks Zoe.

Thanks for the great class Anita.

Here is Anita's original layout.

Thanks for looking.

Happy Birthday Linda

2011-11-05T10:00:00.005Z

It's Linda's birthday today and I made her a card, I used Bittersweet papers from Basic Grey and a Lili of the Valley stamp. With gems, ribbon, stickers, promarkers and stickles. I made the card using the twisted easel card idea from last weeks class. The scalloped heart was cut on the Cricut. As Linda is a cat lover I thought this was just the image for her.

The prop is a row of heart stickers from the Bittersweet Basic Grey element sheet, with lots of stickles and 3D foam pads to raise the height.

Basic grey stickers for the name.

The open card

Close up

I am entering this card in the 119th Lili of the Valley Challenge - the theme this week is

BRIGHT AND SPARKLY in honour of Bonfire Night..

Hope you have a happy birthday Linda. x

Stop Press!

2011-11-04T20:00:00.001Z

So proud of Emily on having her story published today in Cadaverine Magazine.
Very topical story for the time of year too.

Well done sweetheart. xxx

Seam Binding Ribbon Roses Tutorial

2011-11-04T09:00:00.117Z

Here is a tutorial for making the seam binding ribbon rose I made for my November Scrapology layout adapted from Crafty Ribbons instructions.
Using an embroidery stitch called Spiders Web Rose, but rather than sewing on fabric this uses card.

The completed rose.

1. Gather the bits you need around you, scissors, large needle, thread, tape, card and about two metres of seam binding ribbon (for a 6cm bloom).

2. On the card mark a five pointed star and the centre point, and pierce holes at these points. Thread the large needle with some sewing thread. I have used a bright contrasting colour thread for the tutorial, but it doesn't show when the rose is complete, so any colour will do. Secure the thread on the back of the card with a piece of tape. Sew through the holes to create what will look like Spiders Web.

3. Secure the thread on the back of the card with another piece of tape.

4. Thread the seam Binding ribbon into the big needle and sew through the centre hole leaving a small length at the back of the card that you can stick down with more tape.

5. This is the front view. The ribbon has come up through the centre, now pass the needle under one of the threads.

6. Allow the ribbon to cover over the next thread then under the next. It is IMPORTANT to continue working in the same direction at ALL times. Pull the ribbon so it is tight in the centre, but not so tight that it puts a strain on the threads. Continue with the weaving technique of over one thread under the next thread. As you have an odd number of threads (5) you will go round in a circle.

7. Keep going round, if you can still see the holes you need to continue. Allow the ribbon to twist, this will create more interesting shape rose petals.

8. This rose is almost finished, it requires no more petals.

9. To finish, take the needle back down through one of the holes. Secure the ribbon on the back with a piece of tape as before.

Cut away the excess card from around the completed rose. It is now ready to attach to your card or layout.

These instructions are adapted from those supplied by Crafty Ribbons, where I purchased the ribbons for this project and you will find plenty more colours on their website.

Baby Lynn - Scrapology LO for November

2011-11-03T09:00:00.000Z

Here is how I made my DT entry for the November Scrapology Scraplift Challenge. The baby in this photo is me in Beckenham Recreation Ground with my Mum and Dad back in 1960.

We chose to scraplift this delightful layout by Hannah Young of Handmade Hannah, a blog well worth a visit.

We asked people entering the challenge to use this sketch and to make their flowers from fabric, ribbon or lace.

For my layout I used papers from Fancy Pants' Beach Babe Collection

Lemonade

Jumping Fish

Tropical

Cards

I also used white, green and lemon Bazzill

2.5 metres each of lemon and pink seam binging ribbon from Crafty Ribbons

Martha Stewart punches

Cricut Mother's Day Bouquet Cartridge

Letter stickers from My Little Shoebox

Button, DMC embroidery thread and chalk inks.

Here is a close up of the roses, please see separate post for tutorial on how these were made.

1. Gut 'Tropical' paper leaving a frame of 1" all around the sides. Cut white Bazzill to measure 10 1/2" x 10 1/2". Round the corners of the Bazzill and ink the edges. Mount Bazzill centrally over the frame leaving a border of 3/4" all round with the stripes running vertically.

2. Cut a piece of 'Lemonade' paper 6" x 7" with pink side showing, trim top and bottom with border punches, ink the edges and mount 4" x 6" photo about 3/4" down from the top and right up to the right side. Punch a lace strip from lemon Bazzill, ink the edges and stick this along the bottom edge of the photo. Mount the matted photo to the layout about 2" in from the right and 2" down from the top of the layout.

3. To make the three decorative strips on the left, Cut a piece from the top, grid area of the 'Jumping Fish' paper, about 2 1/2" wide and 8 1/2" long, trim this with a deep edge punch.

Cut a strip 12" strip of 'Lemondae' paper, then cut this into two pieces, about 7" and 4". trim one short end of each of these strips with a decorative punch. Ink all three pieces. Use the gingham side of the longer piece and line this up along the right side of the grid paper. the bottom end can overhang by about 1". Take the shorted piece and use this pink side up stick this to the left of and parallel to the gingham piece. Just the punched decorative en will overlap on this piece, so all three pieces are graduated at the bottom of the layout. Stick these three pieces to the left of the photo mount, about 2" down from the top, and close up to the mount.

4. Select and cut out a journalling card from the 'Cards' paper, ink and add your details. Attach, overlapping the top left of your photo.

5. Make you three roses using your seam binding ribbon and the instructions in the tutorial (see separate, earlier post). The large one is 2", the others are 1 1/2" and 1".Arrange and attach to the layout.

6. Die cut 4 leaves (2 x 2", 1 1/2" and 1") using the Cricut and the mother's day bouquet cartridge, or cut using another method.

7. Using mini letter stickers add a small title.

8. Use a scrap of ribbon and a button and thread to add detail to the bottom left of the layout.

Thanks for looking, pop over to scrapology (F is for Fabric Flowers) if you wish to have a go at this challenge which runs until 5th December. If you like the papers and ribbons shown here, there may be a few kits available on Scrapology.

Welcome Christmas

2011-11-02T09:00:00.002Z

The third class at the Stampin' Up Christmas Craft Day Extravaganza on Saturday was taught by Natalie.

This delightful set of cards used gold, red and white card together with the traditional 'Welcome Christmas' stamp set, and a clever twist on card folding and shapes.

This crisp sparkly snow scene was created by making a refection and then embossing. Adding ribbon, brad and punched flowers complete this special card.

Front view

side view

Second was this view through the window frame created with a square punch.

My tree looks a little wonky here, but not IRL!!

and a creative fold for the card itself.

Third is this twisted easel card

Using the Big shot, embossing, punching, stamping and ribbon.

Folded front view

Card opened and displayed

Stamps - All Stampin' Up - Welcome Christmas, Serene Snowflakes, Contempo Christmas

& Lovely as a Tree

Cardstock - Burnished Gold, Real Red, Shimmer White

Ink - Versamark, White Craft, Soft Suede

Ribbon - Real Red Satin Ribbon

Punches - 5-petal flower, Scallop Trim Border, Circle, 1 3/8" square

Die - Top Note Bigz Die

Embossing Folder - Perfect Polka Dots

Powders - Heat & Stick, Dazzling Diamonds

Stamp-a-ma-jig

gold brad

Rhinestone

Thanks for a great class and some useful techniques Natalie.

Pines & Poinsettias

2011-11-01T09:00:00.002Z

Another class from Saturday's Stampin' Up Christmas, All Day Craft Extravaganza. This one was also taught by Zoe.

ROSETTE CHRISTMAS

The first included a pleated rosette, and a tiny hanging tag, the stamps were coloured with the water based pens which I think gave the images a lovely shaded effect, they looked more 'aged' which I think really works well with this delightful set of stamps. These stamps were included in our kit for the day along with all the materials for the projects, and we have plenty left over too. I will certainly make some more of these cards.

SCALLOP PINE CONE

Using punches and ribbon.

POINSETTIAS

Using the beautiful new Scallop Dots Ribbon and 3D layering of the stamped image.

Lovely class again Zoe. Thanks.

Stamps - Pines and Poinsettias

Papers - Holly Berry Bouquet

Punches - scallop circle, 1 3/8" circle, Scallop Edge Border

Cardstock - Stampin' Up A4 Smooth cardstock - Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler. Wild Wasabi, Chocolate Chip

Pens - Stampin' Write Marker - Cherry Cobbler, Wild Wasabi and Chocolate Chip - I loved the effect of using these pens to colour the stamps.

Ribbon - Scallop Dots Ribbon 1/2" Cherry Cobbler.

Thanks for taking a peek.

Polar Party

2011-10-30T19:06:00.003Z

On Saturday Linda and I attended the Stampin' Up All Day Craft Extravaganza with Mrs Wonka (Zoe Pierson) and Natalie O'Shea in Crawley. We had a great day making cards and other things for Christmas.

One of the classes taught by Zoe was a tag, box and card using the Polar Party stamp set. Such a cute stamp set and together with these fab papers they made some super gifts.

The Card

Box

and tag

Stamps - Polar Party

Inks - Memento, Tuxedo Black

Pens - Promarkers

Papers - Paper Stack, 2011 - 2013 in colour (Island Indigo, Lucky Limeade, Pool Party)

Glitter - Stickles

Punches - Crop-a-dile, Corner Rounder

Bigz Die - Two Tags

Ribbon - Ruffled Ribbon Pool Party

Cardstock - A4 Smooth Cardstock Pool Party, Lucky Limeade and Island Indigo.

I was lucky enough to win the stamp set in the raffle, so can make lots more!

These treats were on our tables when we arrived, a bag of sweets and a bottle of water.

Thanks girls, great day all round.

More to follow.

Happy Birthday Karen!

2011-10-26T08:00:00.004+01:00

Hello, here is an easel card I made for my friend and fellow DT member Karen (KazC).

I wanted very gentle colours for this card and found a tutorial on the Lili of the Valley blog for blending one colour with white.

Close up of easel stopper, greeting from Craftwork Cards.

Close up of image to show colouring, with stickles added

I'm entering this card into this weeks challenge with Lily of the Valley, which was to choose a line from the bingo card and include the three elements, I chose ribbon and lace (paper lace hearts as I am away from home and have no lace with me), gems and flowers.

Card Blank & Greeting - Craftwork Cards

Punches - Martha Stewart & Stampin' Up

Patterned papers - Kaiser Craft, Bonjour

Other - butterflies, paper roses, gems, ribbon & Chalk inks.

Thanks for looking.

Happy Birthday Karen!

A Canvas for Simon

2011-10-24T15:06:00.000+01:00

Just a short post today - Having made a canvas each for the triplets Oliver, Hannah and Lucy, I decided to make one for big brother Simon too.

I like this black and white photo of him sailing in Cornwall, so added that to some Beach Babe, Fancy Pants papers and blue acrylic paint on a 10" x 12"canvas.

The letters and images were all cut on the Cricut using George and Basic Shapes and Life is a Beach cartridges.
Thanks for looking.

Soak Up The Sun

2011-10-21T19:00:00.012+01:00

I saw a layout by Miss Fancy Pants on Scrapbook.com that I really liked some months ago. As I already had the papers (but not the other embellishments) that were used, I saved the link intending to have a go myself, and I have finally got around to doing just that.

Patterned papers- Beach Babe - Fancy Pants

Die Cuts - Life is a Beach - Cricut

Punch - Scallop circle - Woodware

Chalk inks, flat backed pearls and Perfect Pearls

Cardstock - White - Bazzill

Black Pen - Sharpie

The photos are my daughter, Catherine on the beach on the Isles of Scilly, messing around while posing for Alan and the camera.

Here is a photo of the original layout by Miss Fancy Pants. The background here is made from a flocked transparency. Her layout is called Beach Beauty. It also has chipboard stickers, journal embellishments and filter flower papers.

Thanks for looking.

Sapperton Tunnel

2011-10-21T09:00:00.044+01:00

Beryl & Alan at Coates Portal

While in Gloucester last week we visited both ends of the Sapperton Tunnel. In the middle of the Thames & Severn Canal, the tunnel was first used over 200 years ago (1789). At the time it was the state of the art in canal technology, being then at 2·17 miles,the longest tunnel ever dug in England. It has no towpath; narrow boats were propelled through the tunnel by legging.

Coates Portal

It took five years to dig (mostly by hand though gunpowder was also used through the rocky sections) which was only a year longer than originally intended, and was much faster than most contemporary tunnels. It was difficult and dangerous work and there were many fatalities, though it does not appear to be recorded as to exactly how many.

The disused canal by the Coates Portal

The tunnel's completion allowed the passage of boats through to Cirencester laden with cheap coal from the mines of the north and west, which had hitherto been transported expensively by road. By the 18th November 1789, the whole length of the Thames & Severn was open, allowing the relatively quick passage of boats with their varying cargoes between the west of England and London, as well as to the many towns and villages in between. Trade flourished, and despite problems with the construction and water supply, the canal and Sapperton Tunnel remained in use until the early 1900s.

We walked along the towpath to the Daneway Portal

On top of the Daneway Portal

The Coates Portal itself, rebuilt in 1976/7, is also worthy of a close look, as is the newly refurbished Daneway Portal , two miles away. Also not too far away is the Source of the Thames, where in wet weather, the water almost fountains up out of the ground.

It was a beautiful autumn day and we had a good walk around the area surrounding both portals, taking pictures, and ended up in the Daneway Inn!

Alan lost his Beer!

Henstead Exotic Garden

2011-10-20T19:00:00.037+01:00

Alan heard about Henstead Exotic Garden and took a look at the website. He was impressed with the story behind the creating of the garden and the fantastic pictures. He contacted Andrew who is responsible for this wonderful acre of exotic plants and trees including bananas, palms, tree ferns, streams and their own special buildings, and made an arrangement to visit. Without watch, phone or Internet (just cameras), we had a private guided tour of the gardens and took hundreds of photos ourselves.

We were so lucky with the weather, (which has been promising to change), which was sunny with blue skies.

The garden also includes rock filled ponds with waterfalls, large palms, Thai style viewing pavilion on stilts, amazing bamboos, a 30 foot tiered wooded walkway and a bespoke gingerbread summer house where the tea and cakes are served from.

I'm sharing a few of our photos here, but urge you to visit the website, or better still take a trip to the garden on one of the open days next year.

This area is quite exposed at present where plants have recently been cut back, and new land in the background has been acquired. So much more work to be done.

That's probably enough photos for one day! Back with photos of the walled garden another time.

My Little Scholar

2011-10-20T09:00:00.000+01:00

Really catching up now with the layouts from the Cardinal Colours Retreat lat month. This double layout was again designed by SJ. The papers are from the Dots and Stripes Collection by Echo Park and included three double-sided papers, as well as letter stickers and element stickers. I flipped the red and blue papers and used the dotty side, rather than the stripes, but kept the stripes for the green paper. The kit also contained Metal Art, flat backed self adhesive brass effect, squares and dots by K & Co. The photo looks a bit wonky, but the layout is quite straight - honest!

Your Journey as a Scholar

The photos show our son, Andrew on his first day at St. Paulinus Primary School, then his first term at Dartford Grammar School and then Just about to leave home for University last Summer.The journalling tells a bit about each place and wonders what will be next. Wishing him well with all his studies and future.

A closer look at each page

This is SJ's original:

Thanks for looking and please leave a comment.

Beautiful Beryl

2011-10-19T19:00:00.001+01:00

We have just returned from a lovely long weekend visiting Alan's cousin Beryl who lives in Tetbury, Gloucestershire. We were very busy discovering both ends of the Sapperton Tunnel on the Severn Thames Canal (more of this in another post). We also spent a great day visiting friends in Worcestershire.

While we were with Beryl we spent some time working on the family tree, something I have neglected to do lately. Beryl gave me this favourite photograph of herself, to scan in and add it to the tree. I also printed out a copy and was pleased with the results. It was taken around 1948 to 1950.

While at the Cardinal Colours Retreat last month I helped out with SJ's classes and one of them was this patchwork class using Glitz Design papers (8"x8" paper pad) from the Love Games collection. The base is Kraft Bazzill, the squares of patterned papers are 3" x 3" squares, with a few cross stitches added here and there. The hearts were punched and the flowers cut free-hand, crumpled, inked and with hand drawn stitches. I started the layout at the retreat but without a photo, Beryl's picture seemed the perfect thing.

Letter stickers - Prima

Gems - Giant Rhinestones - Glitz

I added two silver decorative pins

Here is SJs original layout:

Thanks for looking.

Happy Birthday Mum!

2011-10-19T09:00:00.002+01:00

Wishing you a very happy birthday Mum, sorry we won't see you today, but hope your card has arrived safely.

Rubber stamp image - Lily of the Valley

Patterned papers and letter stickers - Basic Grey, Nook and Pantry collection

Card blank and greeting - Craftwork Cards

Punch - Stampin' Up

Pens - Promarkers

Ink - Memento

Other - 3D foam pads,Stickles, Perfect Pearls and flat backed pearls

Eyelets Everywhere!

2011-10-17T20:02:00.000+01:00

... at Scrapology with the latest challenge set by Sue Roberts, better known as Doogle007. She challenged us all to make cards with Eyelets.

This is Sue's example card.

I made the next two cards with a shaped Bodylicious cards from Craftwork Cards.

The panels of this accordian card are joined with eyelets and ribbon.

Pop over to Scrapology to see more details of the challenge.

There is a prize for the winning entry:

Good Luck!

Happy Birthday Beryl!

2011-10-13T20:58:00.001+01:00

This is the card I made for Alan's cousin Beryl.

Rubber stamp - Lili of the Valley

Pens - Promarkers

Card bank and greeting - Craftwork Cards

Papers, gems and cardstock - Holly Berry Bouquet - Stampin' Up (left over from the Christmas class)

selection of blossoms, perfect pearls, stickles

Happy birthday Beryl!.

Holly Berry Bouquet

2011-10-12T09:00:00.006+01:00

Here are the promised details for the Christmas card class Zoe and Natalie from Stampin' Up taught at the Scrapology Crop on Saturday. The class was to make a folder to hold four cards and envelopes.

Here is the front of the folder

The inside of the folder with cards in place.

Card 1.

Card 2

Card 3

Card 4

All the products were Stampin' Up.

Cardstock Crumb Cake, Wild Wasabi, Naturals Ivory and Cherry Cobbler

Self adhesive, flat backed gems - Jewels Basics

Rubber stamps - Contempo Christmas

Patterned papers - Holly Berry Bouquet (some are glittery, all are double sided)

Punches - Ornament Punch, Decorative Label, Extra Large Oval

Inks - Chocolate Chip, Cherry Cobbler, Wild Wasabi, Crumb Cake

Seam Binding Ribbon - Cherry Cobbler

Really pleased with the finished set.

Thanks Zoe and Natalie.

First Scrapology Crop

2011-10-11T09:00:00.001+01:00

Linda and I planned, shopped, scrapped, baked, packed, arranged furniture and generally prepared for our very first Scrapology crop. We held it at The EllenorLions Centre in Dartford on Saturday. We had lots of locals and other people traveled from as far as Southampton and Eastbourne.

Buckets of sweets and scrapbooking embellishments ready for marking each scrappers place.

23 scrapbookers getting started at the beginning of the event.

The ladies brought their own scrapping to work on, and along the way some had help with using masks, ribbon work, using die cutting machines and more. Lots of techniques we have covered on the Scrapology blog over the last year.

Linda made cakes for everyone.

Robert was a star in the kitchen cooking lunch and washing up too!

Thanks Robert.

Zoe Pierson and Natalie O'Shea came along too They taught a card making class using Stampin' Up products, which was great fun and good value for money. We have lots of products left to make a few more cards.

We had a shop provided by Cardinal Colours.

This is what we all made, a folder of four Christmas cards. More details to follow tomorrow on this class.

We had a great day and the feedback we have received confirms that everyone who attended enjoyed themselves too.

So I guess we should get planning again!

Before You Go!

2011-10-10T09:00:00.002+01:00

A layout I made after the Cardinal Colours retreat.

Together with Linda, I assisted in SJ's class when she taught this page, but brought my kit home to play afterwards.

The class was called 'White Space'.

The glazed Bazzill cardstock is spritzed with two colours of Tattered Angel glimmer mists, then the xcess mopped up to show off the glazed pattern.

Patterned papers are from an 8"x8" pad by Glitz Designs, from a collection called 'Afternoon Muse'. The flowers were cut from these papers and the patterned strips were cut and trimmed with border punches.

The text photo mat was taken from an old gardening text book, crumpled, torn and inked.

The green glittery alphabet stickers are from K and Co.

I used a random selection of buttons from my stash.

The tag s made from patterned paper, it has hidden journalling and is attached with butcher's twine.

Most of these items are still available from Cardinal Colours.

My photo was taken on the day before my daughter Emily returned to Nottingham for her second year of university. The journalling tells of how I wanted one last photo before she went away again. She is pictured with her treasured possessions as a student of creative and professional writing - her notebook / diary, kindle, Filofax and beloved camera.

Missing you Emily x

This is SJ's original page:

Beach Babe

2011-10-02T09:00:00.003+01:00

This is my design team layout for the October Scraplift Challenge on Scrapology.

The little girl in the photos is my daughter Emily when she was 8 years old, on Old Town Beach, St Mary's, Isles of Scilly. August 2000.

Here is Georgia K Keays original layout

we scrapifted for the challenge.

This is the sketch for the month

I used 2 sheets of navy Bazzill and Bo Bunny, Barefoot and Bliss papers all from Cardinal Colours.

Beach Bag

Surf

Stripe

Bubbles

Cutouts

Here is how the layout was made:

1. Cutting

a) Gut a 12 x 12” sheet Navy Bazzill to leave a 1” frame.

b) Cut blue side of ‘Surf’ paper to 11 x 11” and gut to make a 2” frame.
c) Cut a piece of navy Bazzill to 9 x 9” and gut with a 1” frame.
d) Cut variegated side of ‘Stripe’ paper 8 ¾ x 8 ¾”.
e) Cut navy Bazzill to 1 ¾ x 9 ¾”
f) Cut blue side of ‘Bubbles’ paper to 1 ½ x 9 ½”.
g) Cut navy Bazzill to 7 ¼ x 6 ¼” and 3 ¼ x 6 ¼”.
h) Cut white side of ‘Beach Bag’ to 7 x 6” and 3 x 6”.
i) Cut out ‘Dive into summer’ and ‘another day in paradise’ from Cut –outs sheet. Mount these onto navy Bazzill and trim to show a narrow border.
j) Mount photo/s (total size approx 4 x 6”) onto navy Bazzill (approx. 4 ¼ x 6 ¼”).
k) Keep all the scraps of Navy Bazzill for title letters and smaller mounts.

2. Placement of papers.
Ink the edges and stick b centrally onto a.
Stick d centrally onto c and c centrally onto b.
Stick f onto e and place against the top edge of the layout about 3” in from the left.
Stick both pieces cut in step h onto both pieces cut in step g. Place smaller piece about 1” up from bottom of layout, about 4 ½” in from left. Place the larger piece so it overlaps the bottom piece by about 1”, make sure it is not stick down along the bottom edge allowing embellishments to be tucked underneath later.
Add mounted photo and cut-outs as shown on sketch, flowery side of ‘Dive into summer’ showing on the left of the blue strip. Stick the ‘Another Day in Paradise’ to right of layout.

3. Embellishment
Using scraps of navy Bazzill cut lettering for title using ‘Life is a Beach’ Cartridge.
With scraps of patterned paper cut plumeria flower and leaf at 1 ¾” and 1 ¼”, ink the edges and arrange onto layout.
Tuck paper flowers and doilies under pocket made g and h. Place more flowers to left of floral panel.
Punch label with Stampin' Up punch and mount onto navy Bazzill and trim to leave a narrow border. Attach where required.
Write journaling onto scraps of patterned paper, trim and add to left side of layout with 3D foam pads.

If you would like to have a go at this challenge, pop over to the Scrapology Blog and find out what you need to do and to see what the rest of the design team made.

Plane and Simple

2011-09-30T14:00:00.006+01:00

It's Dad's birthday tomorrow, but we are getting together to celebrate today!

I made him a card with my latest purchase from Stampin' Up - this Plane and Simple Stamps Set.

inside

Papers - My Mind's Eye, 'Life Stories'

Punches - Stampin' Up

Alphabet Stickers- Prima Marketing

Following on from the class I did at retreat, I adapted Zoe's Candle Cake Surprise to go with this card for Dad.

Happy Birthday Dad xxx

Celebrate!

2011-09-26T09:00:00.047+01:00

During the weekend retreat with Cardinal Colours, I did a Stampin' Up cards class with Zoe.

Here is what I made in the class:

... and the big surprise was this 2" x 2" x 2" gift box:

when you open it up ...

(flick the switch under the candle before presenting the gift and the flame with flicker)

This was made with scraps from the class kit:

Since the retreat I made these red,white and blue versions with some of the left overs, white Bazzill cardstock and Scenic Route paper scraps.

Zoe did a special evening make and take for those of us who couldn't fit it in during the day time sessions. The session was to make an owl key ring.

Here is my 'Owl', I made him into a fridge magnet.

Thanks to Zoe and Jill.

Happy Birthday Zoe!

2011-09-25T19:46:00.000+01:00

Here is the card I made for Zoe's birthday earlier this month. It was also made for the Scrapology September card challenge. The Challenge this month was set by Craftwork Cards and the theme was to include bunting.

I used:

Craftwork Cards - Sweet Meadow paper pack

Technique Tuesday - Message in a Banner stamps

I added buttons to the flower centres

The letters for 'ZOE' are American Crafts

Happy Birthday is a Making Memories rub-on.

Pop over to scrapology to see details of the challenge.

Victorian Screen

2011-09-24T08:00:00.000+01:00

Something I have been meaning to post about for some time is this Victorian style screen I made over the late 1970's early 1980's.

I was working at the Bexley hospital for a three months spell during my general training. I got involved in helping a patient while attending occupational therapy. At the time there were many projects involving Victorian découpage being used to decorate furniture. Before I knew it, I was collecting suitable pictures from greetings cards and magazines for the patients to use. When describing découpage here, I mean the decoration of the surface of an object with paper cut-outs, which is then varnished or lacquered, not the three deimensional variety we create for cards today.

After I moved on I decided to make a screen, and purchased three, six foot panels of plywood as a basis for this. However it was a long time before I had enough pictures in my box to cover them. I was always on the look out for suitable images of flowers in magazines, catalogues and greetings cards. Then a big pile of Victorian prints were also collected from the same sourses as well as postcards and small posters. I carefully peeled the back layers away from the thicker card images to make all the picutres of a similar weight. Once I was sure I had enough they were pasted onto the boards with a lot of glue under and over the images to seal them in.

With my Dad's help these panels were framed with pine moulding which we stained with a dark finish varnish. The images were heavily treated with several layers of gloss varnish. Then all three framed panels were joined together with brass hinges.

I was really pleased with the finished screen and wondered what to do with the reverse side of the panels. Eventually I started collecting more pictures so I could treat the back in a similar manner to the front. In the mean time I married and we moved into our current home. I found an interesting strip of newspaper, tightly folded and supporting the shorter leg of a sideboard. When unfolded it was a strip torn from the top of the front page of the coronation issue of The Sun newspaper 1838. With it's gold print, it was badly damaged, but I thought is was ideal to help comlplete the screen.

I continued on with the project and much paper, glue and varnish later, the screen was complete. It has stood in various rooms around the house ever since, and is useful for hiding Christmas shopping!

... And in Colour

2011-09-23T09:00:00.002+01:00

Using the same designs I showed you yesterday and the day before here are a selection of cards to show the use of full colour. Of course this involved a lot more Promarkers, but keeping to a minimum, this is what I came up with.

When colouring in a full range of colours, it is still a useful tip to start by colouring the whole area with the palest shade you have. Then build up the shades and finish by using the palest shade to blend the colours. Alternatively you can buy a blending pen which can be used with any colour. You will need a few shades of each colour.

Useful Additions: It is useful to have a fine liner pen in black for detail. A white gel pen is also useful for adding highlights to your coloured image.

All supplied from Jill at Cardinal Colours

Papers - October Afternoon - Seaside Collection

Card Blanks, Card Candi and A4 Digital Smooth White Cardstock - Craftwork Cards

Pens - Promarkers - Pastel yellow, mustard, gold, sandstone, caramel, red, poppy, ruby, pale pink, dusky pink, ivory, powder blue, cornflower, china blue, sky blue, arctic blue and midnight blue.

Cardstock - Bazzill

Chalk inks - Colorbox

Tuxedo dye based ink pad - Memento

Stamps - by Joanna Sheen's All Our Yesterdays stamps designed by Faye Whittaker

Punches - Stampin' Up

Ribbon - Cardinal Colours

Washroom Teddy FW908

Lifebuoy FW901

Bucket and Spade FW912

Sandcastle FW911

Dolphin FW907

Postcard FW909

TFL

In Black and White

2011-09-22T09:00:00.006+01:00

Having taught a class in using Promarkers to create a sepia effect, for the Cardinal Colours Retreat. Here are the sample cards I made to show a different effect, still using just five pens, but this time in monochromatic, black and white.
The Promarker greys come in convenient sets of five, cool greys, warm greys and ice greys With just a few pens you can colour any image.

Papers - Basic Grey Basics Collection

I used the five ProMarkers pens in the Cool Greys collection.

Stamps - by Joanna Sheen's All Our Yesterdays stamps designed by Faye Whittaker

Charcoal chalk ink - Colorbox

Tuxedo black dye based ink - Memento

Punches - Stampin' Up

Ribbon - Cardinal Colours

All available from Jill at Cardinal Colours

Postcard FW909

Bucket and Spade FW912

Washroom Teddy FW908

Sandcastle FW911

Lifebuoy FW910

Dolphin FW907

Sandcastle FW911

Colour to follow...