Creative Bloggers Hop

Creative Blog Hop

I’ve been asked by my very dear friend Elaine to join in with the Creative Bloggers hop. It’s a continuous Hop Every Monday with a host of Different Inspirational Bloggers taking part each week.

Elaine and I are great friends and I can’t remember when I first met her but it would have been through our blogs, and over time we have come to know each other a lot more and last year I even managed a visit to her home to meet her face to face and her husband Phil, who’s a great photographer and their very handsome son Hal. Elaine is so brilliantly talented and her cards are so beautiful and stunning and shes such a inspiration to us all. And it’s been a great pleasure not only knowing her personally but also having such a wonderful friend as well and being able to chat by email and talk over things that are going on in our lives, and to let you into a secret I call her my adopted daughter.

                                    What am I working on?

I’m just about to make a start on some samples for another of my friends Sarah Hallam of Peerless Design’s, she is due to have a preview programme on Create and Craft in September with her brand new Tangletastic CD and I am looking forward to playing with all the new images she has created on it.

                  How does my work differ from others in my genre?

I suppose I am rather one of the old style card creators, firstly I like to find an image to use and then colour it with the colours that I feel look right for it.  I also like to have several layers/mounts and try to use different papers for them and layer them up to give the card depth. I also use my dies and punches if at all possible, and my greatest loves are flowers and ribbons and will try to incorporate them on my girly cards as much as possible. Though if it’s a clean and simple card I will just use a ribbon and probably a embossing folder. And the one thing that I will strive to find is a good sentiment and have been known to google my theme to find one that’s appropriate.

                           Why do I write/create what I do?

Often the reason I create cards is firstly because as I’m on three Design Teams and I have cards to make for the coming Challenges, the themes are chosen for me and I will then have to decide what I feel is the right image, paper and design for that card or project.  I must also admit that I do look around at other peoples designs to give me ideas and see what the “in” thing is at the moment and try and then create my own design from them, and I must admit that I always colour my image first and then look for papers that look best and appropriate to go with it, and of course then comes the Challenge to plan a card design with them.

Now its time to pick three bloggers that inspire me, unfortunately I have been unable to find anyone to carry on the blog hop post but I do have several wonderful crafters that I would like to showcase who I have found extremely inspirational to me, and they are firstly Heidy, who’s colouring is out of this world and one beautiful person who I worked with her as a Guest Designer on one of the Challenge Blogs, Marie, who I co-run as Design Team Leaders for The Paper Shelter, she works so hard and is a beautiful and stunning card creator even though shes not always in the best of health and Lorraine, whos one very beautiful and stunning card creator, I have worked with her on several Design Teams and have not only found a wonderful friend but also someone you can depend on in a emergency as she’s always willing to step in when needed. I do have several other very talented blogger friends who inspire me all the time and they are Marianne, Tracy, Julie, Gail and Patty Sue.

 I sincerely hope you will forgive me for not being able to carry on the Bloggers Hop but anyone of these beautiful crafters is worth following as their work is just stunning and they are such wonderful friends as well.