Sweetpeas for my Sweet

Todays card has been created from one of the new Flourishes Spring stamps, its a beautiful bouquet of Sweetpeas. You will find these stamps on their blogspot http://flourishesnewsletter.blogspot.com/search/label/March%20Release.

I stamped the image again onto white card and coloured it with my Karisma colouring pencils, Ive been using these quite a lot lately, they are really easy to use as they are very waxy and are very smooth when you build up the colours on top of one another. I then cut it out and mounted it onto the deep purple card.

The base card is a A3 piece of white card cut down to a 8.1/2" x 7" size, then I have layered up the dark purple card and a piece of the Artylicious paper from Butterfly Fusion Cd. The second layer is another of the papers from the same cd and Ive mounted this up in the same way as the first layer.

I then stuck my stamped mounted image onto this mount not quite in the centre, I have also stamped another of the Flourishes greetings onto a piece of white card and mounted this also onto a piece of the left over purple card. I should have said that I used a gold pen around the edge of my coloured image and my greeting, just to take away the harshness of the white.

Mums Easter Card

I want to apologise for the photo as its got some glare on it, but Im not a photographer and it was the best one of many I took, so please forgive me.

Ive made this card for my mum, shes very religious and I want to make her one that had a bit of seriousness and a bit of glitz, so this is what Ive come up with.

I firstly stamped the cross image onto Acetate then I used my cosmic shimmer glitter powders and my Art Glitter dries clear glue adhesive on the front and left it to dry over night.

The base card is a piece of A3 Purple card folded in half and with a oval template Ive cut out the front. Ive then printed an insert to stick inside and stuck a piece of holographic gold card onto the front outside page of the insert.

Ive then positioned the cross behind the oval cut out and stuck it to the front page and the insert so as to keep it from moving around. On the front I have used my flourish punches and a rainbow piece of paper and then used my flower punches and a piece of rainbow vellum for the flowers. Ive also used a yellow pearl paint in the centre of the flowers.

To finish of the card Ive printed a greeting onto a piece of photo paper and stuck it to a piece of the purple card left from cutting out the oval. Ive run a gold pen around the edge of the greeting first before sticking to the purple mount, then with some foam tape Ive stuck it over the flourish pieces.

A Flower Fairy Card for Janet

Todays card has been made with one of Janet Rogers beautiful stamps, if you liked to visit her shop its http://pinkgemdesigns.blogspot.com/ . Janet said she would be interested to see what I could make with it, so I do hope she will like the result.

I stamped the image onto white card and coloured it with my Karisma pencils, then I used a Sakura Clear Glitter pen on the wings. I cut it out with my Rotatrim and mounted it onto a piece of green Pearlescent Card.

The base card is a A4 piece of white card folded in half, onto this I have mounted firstly a piece of yellow pearlescent card and on top of this a yellow glittered piece of card, Ive then made a long green mount from the green pearlescent card and on top of this put a piece of green glittered card, both these patterned cards are ones by Michelle Marsden that I had in my stash. Before mounting this on top of the yellow base I have wrapped a piece of green gingham ribbon around and attached it to the back, after which I have mounted it down the middle of the base card.

I have then put my stamped mounted image on top of the ribbon but have used foam tape to raise it a bit. I then stamped the greeting onto a piece of white card cut it out and mounted this in the same way as the stamped image and positioned it underneath it.

To finish of the card I have used 4 coloured plastic flowers down the front right hand side of the card, and made up a multi flower with a pearl brad, for the bottom left side.

Miss Fairy Sprinkles

Todays card is another of Pink Gem designs by Janet Roberts this one is Party Sprinkles, one of the Fairy Sprinkles designs. Ive actually created this card for my daughters partners daughter Georgia.

Anyway I stamped the image onto white card and coloured it with my Karisma colour pencils and my clear sakura glitter pen on the wings and crown. Then cut it out with my Rectangle Nestabilitie die, I also used a scallop die for the second mount, with pink pearlescent card for this mount.

The base card is created with an A4 piece of white card and then cut it down to a 6"x6.1/2"size, I have mounted on to this a pink card mount with a patterned paper on top, then made a smaller mount and used again the pink card with a further patterned paper, I stuck this to the base card and wrapped a pink organza ribbon around the whole card.

On top of the ribbon I have mounted my stamped image and printed a greeting onto a piece of photo paper and cut this out and mounted this on the same pink pearlescent card, which was then mounted onto the base card.

To finish of the card I have stuck a few pearls down the centre of the greeting and a flower gem to the right hand top. I also made up two silk flowers from my stash and popped a glittered brad through the centre and mounted them at opposite ends of the stamped image.

Sample No.6 The Poppy With Love Card

Todays sample is No.6 and the last sample that Ive made for Sarah. Im of to post them to her presently, just hope they all arrive in a good condition and that the PO dont squash the box Ive packed them in.

Anyway Ive created this card from Sarahs Poppy section, but I have actually stamped a Topper. Sarah is not going to sell her stamps on Create and Craft but only on her website, so if you are interested you will find them http://www.spanglefish.com/peerlessdesigns/rubberstamps.asp

she now has a selection of 3 different sets.

I stamped the Poppy and its seed case onto white card and coloured it with my Karisma pencils, then I cut it out with one of my Nestabilitie dies, and mounted it onto a larger size diecut in dark red mirri card.

For the base card I have printed one of the poppy designs straight onto A4 white card, then folded this in half, for the insert I have used another of the designs and even printed a verse onto it. For the outer jacket Ive printed a third design onto vellum and then attached them altogether with some bright red organza ribbon.

Ive then mounted the stamped image onto the vellum, and made three poppies with my punches. I have used the gingo leaf, snowflake, small stamen, two different sizes of sun and the small circle to make them. I used my oak leaf and fern leaf punches for the leaves. I tried to stamp a greeting once on the vellum wrap but it looked rather lost so I have multi stamped it all over the wrap instead, but Im not sure if I might have over done it.

Sample No.5 The Chiminea Thank You Card

Todays sample is created from the Chiminea papers, they are so vibrant and so very different. I had an email from Sarah last night and so far shes extremely happy with my samples, I hope she will be still when she actually receives them, Ive only one more to go.

I picked three of the backing papers from this set, and two of them I have printed straight onto card, these two formed the front and inside of the card. I printed the third design onto paper for the insert in the centre.

I folded the outer base card into half, and the centre piece into four sections, this made the pop-out of my card, I draw around an oval shape and cut this out, I then put a thin peel-off around the edge.

To make up the card, I first stuck the third design (on paper) into the middle of the base card, and then stuck the pop-out piece to the two sides. On the front of the card Ive used a piece of another paper and used one of my Martha Stewart border punches to make a strip of paper to put down the centre front of the card.

I then printed onto photo paper the decoupage sheet of the Chiminea and cut it out and stuck it onto an oval piece of Gold Mirra Card, which I then decoupaged up, this was mounted when dry onto the middle of the front of the card. I also printed a Thank You greeting onto another piece of photo paper, cut it out and stuck this onto Gold Mirra Card to and mounted this below the main Topper.

To finish of the card Ive created three daisies from white paper with two sizes of daisy punch and a small flower for the centre, the leaves were punched out with my fern leaf and oak leaf punches, which were then mounted above the topper to the left hand side of the card.

Sample No.4 A Quiet Place

Todays sample from Sarahs new Cd The Secret Garden is called A Quiet Place.

I used two designs of backing papers for this card, which is an A3 white card folded with a gatefold to the size of 8"x 7.3/4" size. The outside two folds of the card Ive used the same paper and on the inside as well, but used a different one for the large centre space. I have also used this same paper in strips on the front but have used my Martha Stewart border punch to give it a pretty edge. Mind you its a bit difficult to see in this photo. Around the edges of the paper Ive also used thin gold peeloffs and corners just to give it a better look. I should have also said that Ive used pink pearlescent card to mount the outer two papers on these folds to give it a bit more stability.

The two toppers were first manipulated in My Craft Studio program to resize them to fit the two front folds, these were printed onto photo paper and left to dry, Then I cut them out and mounted these onto pink pearlescent card. The greeting was also printed on my computer and mounted in the same way as the toppers, Ive also run a gold pen around the edge of both the topper and greeting.

To finish of the card Ive used 3 different flowers with a pearl brad and stuck them to the left handside at the top. Ive still to print a insert to fix to the inside centre panel, and Im trying to decide the best way to mount it.

Sample No.3 A Gerber Daisy Card

Todays sample is one that Ive created with the Gerber Daisy papers. I firstly printed the topper onto photo paper and left this to dry, then mounted it onto red card.

I then printed one of the backing papers onto A4 white card for the base card, then printed a different design onto printable acetate, and used a third design for the insert. I fixed all three papers/acetate together and made two holes along the middle and threaded some dark red ribbon through to hold the card together.

I mounted the topper under the acetate straight onto the front of the card, then printed a greeting onto another piece of photo paper and cut and mounted this onto red card as well, then stuck it below the topper.

To finish of the card I made two Gerber Daisies with my large and middle Daisy punches and two different sizes of the sun punch, these were moulded with my tools and then layered together, once dry I placed them to the left of the topper on top of the acetate outer jacket, I also punched out some leaves with my oak leaf punch and placed them under the daises.

I want to pass on my award to some very special people

Today I was awarded my very first blog Award, I am so thrilled and want to thank Sue so much, and would very much like to return it to her as a special thank you, thank you Sue, the gift is very much appreciated.

I would also like to pass it onto the lovely people who have been leaving me some really lovely comments as a very big THANK YOU, especially, Rachel, Bev, Marcea, Mandy, Denise, Ria, Reit, Rozzy, Debby, the other Sue, Tracy, Andrea, Donna, Julie, Card Addict, Lizzymayfairies, Janet of Pink Gem, Linda from Linanna designs, and last but not least Mary of CraftyDevils. These lovely people have been following me for quite awhile so Bless you and thank you with all my heart. Love and Hugs Shirleyx

The Second Sample for Sarah

Todays sample is something that Ive never made before and I do hope the end result pleases not only my many lovely followers but also my friend Sarah.

Its a Notelet and Envelope Set, its been made from Sarahs new CD called Secret Garden, and this set of papers are the Hydrangea ones.

The base of my folder has been made from a piece of A3 white card cut and folded into a 9"x 6.1/2" size, I have even put a spine in the centre to allow for the envelopes to be put in the pouch.

I made the notelets first with one of the scrapbook pages, I used My Craft Studio program to manipulate the size to fit two onto an A4 piece of paper, printed then cut these in half. The envelopes are another of Sarahs creations and I printed a set of these then cut then out and folded and stuck them together. After making them Ive wrapped a piece of a narrow organza ribbon around them and tied a knot.

Ive printed 4 pages of the backing papers and stuck two to the inside and then printed another design paper for the pouch, I have put thin silver peeloffs around the edge and put corners in as well. I didnt want to make the inside to thick so I didnt mount the papers that I used.

But I did mount the two I used for the outside, these were mounted onto pale mauve pearlescent card, then stuck to the front and back of the folder. I then printed a topper onto photo paper and mounted this also onto pale mauve pearlescent card and put several pieces of foam tape on the back, but before sticking to the front of the folder I have laid a wide mauve organza ribbon around the folder then stuck the topper over it to keep it firm.

I then used a greeting from one of my Art Impressions Clear Stamps set and used a mauve inkpad to stamp the greeting straight onto the folder.

More Blog Candy on Offer

http://crafterskitchen.blogspot.com/ Jak Heath of Crafters Kitchen has some really gorgeous blog candy on offer, and not just one lot but two, so pop along and see her beautiful cards and you never know you might be lucky. love Shirleyx

The Pink Rose Card

Ive been given the OK to post my first sample for you to see from my friends new Cd Secret Garden. As this Rose image is one of my own pencil drawings it has manipulated by Sarah, and the clever girl that she is, has created the most beautiful image you can see, I do so hope you like it.

Ive created the card as a cross over front, this has been done by using two pieces of A3 card, and these were first folded in half then cut to a square size, you then have to stick the two back pieces together and the front ones are then folded across the centre.

Ive used all Sarahs creative papers on this card even her decoupage sheet, Ive printed and mounted them onto the card and used silver peeloffs around the edge. I also printed a insert that has been surrounded by the silver peeloffs to, and Ive done the same on the back of the card.

I printed a greeting on my computer and cut it out with my oval Nestabilitie die, this was then stuck on one half of the front opening, on the other half, I have created a rose with my medium pear punch and a small circle, the leaves were created with oak leaf punch.

Ive mounted the decoupaged rose onto a piece of silver mirra board and stuck it halfway across the centre making sure that the other half will open easily, I also before mounting this wrapped a piece of pink organza ribbon around the centre and tied a bow, then mounted the decoupaged image over it.

Im very sorry

For a few days Im not going to be able to post any cards as Im in the throws of making some samples for a friend, she has her 3rd Cd being shown on Create and Craft on Tuesday 7th April at 9am, her name is Sarah Hallam, you will see all her beautiful cds at http://www.spanglefish.com/peerlessdesigns This new Cd is called Secret Garden, and its absolutely beautiful Im sure you will love it as much as I do.

More Blog Candy is on Offer

Becca of Amazing Paper Grace http://www.amazingpapergrace.com/blog-candy-word-hunt/#comment-12855 has some really smashing Blog Candy on offer, you have to work at it to get it but you will definately enjoy her blogspot as it really is most classy. Love Shirleyx

Blog Candy

Bev is offering some gorgeous Whiff of Joy Blog Candy to celebrate the new stamps due out on Sunday and I carnt wait to see them, the Candy being offered is really lovely and I hope I get a chance of winning it. http://bevscrafts.blogspot.com/ Please take a look at Bev's beautiful cards as well, shes such a very clever lady.

Little Gem with a Rose

Todays card is created again with one of Janet Roberts stamps, this one is called Gem with a Rose.

Ive stamped the image onto white card and coloured it this time with my Karisma colouring pencils Ive discovered they are a much easier and creamier pencil to use. Ive cut him out with my Rotatrim again and mounted him onto two different shades of pearlescent card.

Ive created the base card in a similar way to the one I made yesterday, creating the layers in the same way, but this time Ive put the ribbon down the card rather than across. I printed a greeting onto white card and mounted this onto the dark brown card and punched out a tag with my Wizard die and mounted this onto it.

The card was made up with the stamped image positioned to the right hand side and the greeting was then stuck to the ribbon with a brad. Ive again made up some flowers from my craft stash, and to finish of the card I have stuck some dog buttons across the bottom right hand side and one on top of the image.

Meg

Todays card has been created with the Pink Gem stamps, this one is called Meg with Flowers, I love Janet Roberts stamps they are so easy to colour and give such gorgeous results, if you want to visit her site you will see lots of different designs, its http://pinkgemdesigns.blogspot.com/.

Ive again stamped the image onto white card and coloured it with the Derwent Coloursoft pencils, then I have used a blender to soften the edges. I couldnt find a Wizard die big enough to cut it out so Ive actually just cut it with my Carl Rotatrim. I also mounted this onto a square of the blue pearlescent card.

The base card is a A4 piece of white card folded in half and Ive used a blue pearlescent card for the first layer. The paper Ive used on top of this wasnt quite big enough so Ive scanned it into my computer and used My Craft Studio program to cut and paste another copy then Ive printed it of and cut it to fit on the first layer.

Ive then stuck a flowered ribbon across the centre of this and pasted it all to the base card. I used some foam tape to stick the stamped mounted image across the ribbon. The greeting was stamped with one of my greetings stamps and the little fish is one of the Stamps by Judith peg stamps. Ive also used a Sakura clear glitter pen over the greeting and fish just to make them pop out a bit, this was then cut out with one of my oval Wizard dies, and mounted onto a piece of blue pearlescent card cut with my Scalloped Wizard die.

To finish of the card Ive again used some of my Papermaina flowers with a brad in the middle for embellishments.

Hugs and Kisses

Todays card is to introduce you to the new mini Tilda's, I do so hope that you like what Ive done with one of mine.

Ive stamped the two images onto white card and coloured them in with my Karisma colouring pencils, then Ive cut them out with my Wizard Rectangle Dies. The mounts were made using a pink pearlescent card but this time Ive used the Scalloped Rectangle Dies.

The base card has been made from a piece of A3 white card folded into a gateleg card, and then cut down to a 8"x8" square. For the first layer Ive used a pink card and on top of this I have used one of my Elusive Images papers, this one is one that comes from one of the Artylicious Cds, of hand Im afraid I cannot remember which one, as I am a guild member I get a pack of papers sent me and I choose one of them.

The pink piece of card across the middle was first put through my cuttlebug with the small heart folder, and that I used my small heart Martha Stewart border punch to break up the straight edge. I then positioned it across the centre of each of the sides and stuck it down.

Ive mounted both of the two stamped images onto the card with foam to slightly raise it, and then stamped a greeting onto another piece of white card and the cut it the same way with the Nestabilitie dies and mounted this on the card at the top right hand corner.

To finish the card of Ive made up some of flowers from my papermania stash and put a brad through the centre, these were then stuck to the left side bottom corner.

Mini Tilda's

Todays contribution Im afraid isnt a card as Ive been rather busy cutting out stamps and not quite got around to mounting them up, but thought you might like to see some new stamps. They are the same as the original ones but are mini, they are our old friend the Tilda Stamp, so I thought you might like to see the ones I bought yesterday while at the NEC, Ive put them beside the original size ones that also bought to give you an idea of their exact size. I hope that you like them as much as I do, the chap on the stand who turned out to be Swedish said that theyd not been put on their website yet.

Hopefully I will get around to mounting them today and even get a card posted tomorrow, but as the weather is so lovely I hope you will forgive me if I spend more time outside in the fresh air than indoors in my craft room.

Ive also still got to catch up with my washing as it seems to have piled up again.

Of to the NEC

I want to express my sincere thanks to all my followers and especially Rachel, Sue, Rozzy and all the others that leave such lovely comments for me, I dont know that I always deserve them but they do give me such pleasure to read. I want to say that all your own creations are by far the most beautiful that Ive seen and congratulate you on them.
The reason for this extra blog is to let you know there wont be any posting tomorrow as Im of to my own bit of heaven, my hubby is taking me to the NEC hopefully to spend, spend, spend on some lovely crafting goodies. Anyway again thank you with love Shirleyxxxxx

Feeding the Chickens

Todays card was created using the Pink Gem Stamp called Milly with Chickens. Ive stamped this onto white card and coloured it with my Karisma Colouring Pencils these are the original Prisma pencils and work exactly the same way as they do.

Ive cut the base card from a folded A3 piece of white card to the size of 8"x8" and mounted on this a piece of green glittered card for the first layer, on top of this is a pale green embossed card, after which I have used another colour of the glittered card for third layer. Ive then used a plain piece of pearlescent green card but put it through my cuttlebug first and used the small dot folder. Ive then used another piece of the embossed card in a yellow colour with the same pattern as the pale green one. All this card except the pearlescent one is by Michelle Marsden of HotBed Creations.

I cut the stamped image out with my Rectangle wizard die, then a Scalloped one to mount it on with a piece of the green pearlescent card. Ive also stamped a greeting onto a piece of white card and cut this out the same way as the stamped image and mounted this also onto the green pearlescent card.

The card was finished of with some flowers, these are the papermania flowers layered and with a brad put through the centre. The last thing Ive done is stuck two cat buttons at the bottom, and three small pearls at the top.

Braveheart

Todays card was created with one of Sugar Nellie's homegrown stamps, this one is called Braveheart but my name for it is Scaredy Cat.

The image was stamped onto white card and coloured with my Karisma Colouring Pencils these are now being sold as Primsa Pencils, Ive had my set for a quite a time and they are still going strong. After colouring the image I used both a blending and burnishing pencil to blend the colours together. I then cut it out with my Rectangle Wizard Die. I did use a cat's eye ink pad around the edge to take the white away.

The base card has been created from a A4 white card folded in half and cut to a square size, on top of this I have layered two different sizes and colours of green card. I then used my small heart Martha Stewart Border punch to a piece of patterned paper that I had left from my last card. On top of his patterned piece I have put a piece of the dark green card again Ive used my Martha Stewart punch along the edge.

The card was layered as shown and to finish of the card I have stamped a greeting onto white card and this was layered on a piece of a dark green card. The last things I have done to finish of is to stick a multi layered flower to the top and a piece of green cord around the fold and two pieces of glass necklace was then threaded onto the end and a small bead was then used to secure them on the cord.

My Friend and I

Todays card hasn't come out as well as I would have liked but I thought you might like to see what the end result is.

The stamp is one of the Lelo Design stamps, I believe its called You go First, but as I have sat them onto grass I changed it to my friend and I.

The image has been stamped onto white card and coloured with my watercolour Bruynzeel pencils, and then with a damp brush painted out. I left it to dry before cutting it out with my Wizard Die, I also cut a larger mount with a Scalloped Die to mount it on to.

The base card is a piece of A4 white card folded in half and cut to 6"x6" size, I have stuck a green flowered backing paper on top of this and then made my mounts from several different pieces of paper from the same set of papers, these I think were from one of my magazines.

I stamped the greeting onto another piece of white card and mounted it in the same way as the image and positioned in onto the base card, after which I have stamped some flourishes from my Stamp Tapestry clear set of stamps around the right edge.

To finish of the card I have stuck two of my Yellow Mulberry flowers from my crafty stash. As I said I am not particularly pleased with the image as the one I wanted to put on there was the wrong size so I rather rushed to colour this one and I havent made a very good job of it, never mind it will teach me not to do things in a rush.

Im so sorry

I do apologise for not posting again, its been a really hectic day today, firstly I had ten shirts to iron and then I had three pairs of trousers to repair and so its taken me a lot longer than I expected. This afternoon I had to go for a breast screening and if you know what they are like you will understand why I havent got very far, anyway I will try and get myself into gear and start blogging again tomorrow this time with a card.

To make amends I will post another of my photos taken while Ive been away, I should say the weather on Lanzarote wasnt as we were expecting it was extremely windy, showery and cold which is a great shame as we were expecting it to be at least warmer than the UK, but it looks as though the odds were against us anyway it was a change from the norm and we enjoyed the break.

Hi Im back

I want to Thank you so much for the lovely comments that my visitors have been leaving on my blog, you dont know how much it means to me so I really want to THANK YOU.

Im afraid that I havent been able to make a card today as Im still rather jet lagged from the flight back from Lanzarote, and the weather there wasnt as brilliant as we were expecting. We did enjoy our break and I will post a photo for you to see what weve been up to, I hope it makes you laugh, I must admit it was rather uncomfortable but fun.

Im hoping to be able to post a card tomorrow so I do hope you will bear with me and give me time to sort myself out, so far my poor washing machine has been working non stop, and added to that I had a terrible thing happen to me while Ive been away.

The maids in our apartment used neat bleach to wash the shelves in our wardrobes, and its damaged some of my clothes, the thing that really upsets me the most is my three quarter length chocolate needlecord skirt that I loved, its been ruined as you can image, I just hope that we manage to get some recompense from our Travel Insurance claim, keep your fingers crossed that I dont have to much trouble sorting the claim out.