A Very Happy Easter to You All

Todays card is one that Ive created from firstly a design on the Cute Companions Cd by Crafters Companion, and a Funky Kits, Sugar Nellie Stamp, its one of the Little Cotton Rabbits, as its Easter I felt that it was quite appropriate.

I stamped the image onto white card and coloured it with my Karisma Prisma Colouring Pencils, then I cut it out. The base card is a piece of A4 white card folded in half, and on top I have stuck a Pale Green Pearlescent Card, and then the image from the Cute Companions Cd. I actually printed it onto Photo Paper to make it stand out a bit more as on card is was a bit pale.

I then folded a piece of A4 Acetate in half and attach the two pieces together with some green Organza Ribbon on the spine.

To add a bit extra to it I have punched out some pink and yellow flowers, cupped them and stuck them on the tree and around the roots of the tree. Ive then stuck the Rabbit image onto the Acetate, and with a little piece of green ribbon left from the piece Id used for attaching the card together, made a knot and cut it to look like a ribbon, then attached it on the little rabbits head. To finish of the card Ive printed a greeting from one of Joanna Sheens Cds, but I put my own greeting on it and cut it out and stuck in onto the Acetate.

Im not going to be posting any cards till Tuesday now as I would like a bit of break for a few days, Ive no doubt a few of you will be doing the same, but I do want to wish you all a very Happy Easter and I will be back again next week.

A Very Happy Easter to You All, and a Thank You Card

Todays card is my way of thanking all my very special friends who I dont personnally know but feel that I do, like Rach, Sue, Bev, Julie, Poppy, Saskia, Enfys, Reit, Ria, Andrea, Marcea, Rozzy, Elizabeth, Carol D, Mandy, Janet, Debby, Linnie, Denise, Linda, Chris, Clairebelle, Debby, Marlene, Claudia and anyone else Ive forgotten and anyone who's visiting for the first time THANK YOU, I carnt give you all an award so this to me is the next best thing.

The card is a A4 piece of white card folded in half, for the first layer I have put a piece of Mauve pearlescent card, on top of this I have put a lighter piece of mauve pearlescent card on which I have used my roller stamp and a multi coloured inkpad. The third layer is another piece of mauve pearlescent paper on which I have used a Martha Stewart border punch.

Down the centre I have layered another piece of the lighter mauve pearlescent card, and the last layer Ive used an even darker piece of mauve card but this one is a matt one. The heart image was one of my Impression Obsession Stamps which I have used with the multi coloured inkpad, and then punched it out with my Heart Nestabilitie Die, and then the Scalloped one for the mount.

Ive then mounted this heart with foam onto the centre card positioned at the top, and stamped a Flourishes greetings onto a piece of white card with again the multi coloured inkpad, this I have cut out and mounted this onto some mauve pearlescent card, then positioned this below the heart at the bottom.

To finish of the card I have used a ribbon across the centre and made up a Multi Mauve flower with a silver spacer and pearl brad, and for an extra flourish I have used a heart bead on some jump rings and attached it to the brad, this was then stuck to the card at the top left hand side.

If you would like to know what the words say its, "Friendship is Precious not only in the shade, best in the Sunshine of Life" thank you so much for your continued support and I would also like to wish you all a very Happy Easter as well.

A Birthday Card for Sarah

After chatting to Sarah about her program yesterday it seems she will be actually on air on her birthday so I thought Id better get my fingers out and make her a birthday card especially from her new Cd, so I hope you will forgive me for using an easy way out this time, no stamping and definately no colouring.

Ive used Sarahs favourite design on her cd, the Poppy, and this time I have used the decoupage sheets though I did adapt it to fit the size card Ive made, what Ive done is to cut the picture edge off the first layer and just use the oval design in the centre.

I printed two background designs, one for the insert on paper and printed a verse on to that, and the other design I printed onto white card and printable acetate, then matched it up with the card design. After which I folded them both in half and with the insert in place, punched holes for the ribbon, I used a Red Organza ribbon to attach them together.

After cutting away the white edges left after putting all the pieces together, I have stuck the base decoupage sheet onto the acetate sheet and built up the image with Pinflair glue, shaping it as I went. The greeting was printed onto photo paper and layered up onto a piece of red card, I didnt want to put it on the acetate top, so stuck it to the printed card under the acetate in the right hand bottom corner.

Another of my Pencil Drawings

I must apologise for not making a card today, Ive spent most of the day in bed, it seems I have caught some sort of tummy upset, anyway I thought you might like to see another of my pencil drawings this one is of Gladiolus's that I drew in 1990 while I was studying for my A level Art Exam.

I also have an apology to make on behalf of my friend Sarah Hallam if you watched her program this morning, I believe that she was taken ill and had to leave the show early, it looked as though Nigel was trying to bluff himself through in the hope that she would be able to carry on, as I havent heard directly from her I can only surmise that this is what happened, which is a terrible shame though I did get to see my samples being shown, hope you did to.

Sarahs New Craft Cd Secret Garden

I forgot to remind you that my friend Sarah Hallam of Peerless Designs, is going to be on Create and Craft, Sky Channel 671 at 9am tomorrow morning with her new Craft Cd Secret Garden, you will remember that I had the honour of making 6 samples for her to use on the show.

I thought I would give you a surprise and show you the original drawing of the Rose that Sarah has used for her design on the new Cd. The second photo is one of the papers Sarah created from my drawing, I hope that you will be watching and enjoying her show, and wishing her good luck.

Karens Easter Card

Todays card has been specially made for a very special friend of mine, and I wanted to give her something a bit special.

I have stamped my images by firstly stamping Tilda and making a mask of her, then stamping the little cart afterwards. Ive then coloured her in my usual way with my Karisma colouring pencils, afterwards I have used my new Deckle Edged Nestabilitie Dies for both the stamped image and the mount.

The base card is a piece of A3 card cut to a 8" x 8" size, Ive then put a piece of green pearlescent card as the first mount, and used My Craft Studio program to make up the first patterned paper to fit this first mount as it was only a small piece of paper (from one of my magazines) originally. On top of this I have used another of the patterned papers and my Martha Stewart Border punch, over this I have layed another piece of yellow pearlescent card, and around this I have wound and stuck two colours of Organza ribbons, green and yellow, (unfortunately its not so easy to see the yellow one in this photo). I then stuck these on top of the punched patterned paper down the centre of the base card.

I mounted the stamped image with foam tape, to raise it a bit of the ribbons, and punched out with the smaller deckle edged dies the two pieces for the greeting, I have had to use a peeloff as it was the only thing that was small enough to fit. This was then mounted with foam tape below the stamped image to the right hand side at the bottom.

I punched out with my two EK punches the flourishes from another patterned paper, and arranged them down the two side edges of the front, but before sticking them down I made up two silk flowers and stuck these to the top on the left hand side. The flourishes were then stuck down, and some pearls were stuck randomly down in and out of the flourish curves.

My Magnolia Stella Bush

I sorry I havent had time to create a card today as Ive been food shopping it always takes my husband and I several hours to do it and then sort it out and put it away, and of course theres dinner to make as well.

Actually we always go to Cardiff and its a good 80 miles around trip, luckily we only go once a month so dont have to worry about it to often, and anything I run out of I can get locally. I must admit I find food shopping a chore so I am relieved we only go once a month, and although my hubby doesnt enjoy shopping, I tell him he eats it he can help me buy it and bring it home, as I dont have a car of my own.

Now getting back to my Magnolia, I took the photo on Friday when it was a beautiful day, but last night we had some frost so Im not sure how long its going to look as lovely as it is in the photo. Anyway hopefully I will be back to posting a card tomorrow or if not on Tuesday.

A Card for our New Granddaughter

Todays card has been made to celebrate the coming birth of our new Granddaughter, she is due any day now so I thought it was time to prepare ourselves and to be ready for the big event.

I have used one of Janet Roberts new stamps, to be honest I have used both the girl stamps, the second one Ive used on the inside but I havent taken a photo of that so you will have to excuse me for that one. Janet creates the most gorgeous designs and I absolutely love them and thought when I first saw it on her website that this is exactly what I needed to make a new baby card, you will find all her beautiful stamps at http://pinkgem-janet.blogspot.com/ she even has a blogcandy offer as well on the new ones.

Anyway I have stamped the image onto white card and coloured it with my Karisma colouring pencils, I also stamped an extra head to decoupage on top. Once Id done this I cut it out with one of my Nestabilitie Label Dies, and used a piece of Pink Pearlescent Card for the larger one Ive mounted it onto.

The base card is a A3 piece of white card cut to a 8"x8" size, and on top of this I have layered the Pink Pearlescent card and the of the patterned papers Ive used, I actually printed these out from one of my craft cds. Then for the second layer I have used my Martha Stewart border punch on another piece of Pink Pearlescent card and the second of the backing papers, the pearlescent card being the top layer and used a wide Pink Organza ribbon around the two, then stuck it to the base card.

Ive then stuck my mounted image on top of this with some foam tape. The stamped greeting is one of the Just-Rite oval stamps which I have done again onto white card and cut this out with my Oval Nestabilitie die, this also was stuck to the card with foam.

To finish of the card I have created some large multi flowers and with a pearl brad have attached them to the top right and bottom left of my card, but to add just a little something more on the bottom one I have used a Heart Jewel that I bought while at the NEC this year, I thought she could use it when she was older as a necklace maybe. The last little touch was the three pink heart buttons with a piece of ribbon threaded threw the holes and tied off.

The Young Artist

Firstly I want to thank all those lovely people who left such lovely comments yesterday, Ive not heard as yet from my daughter so I have no idea if Ive been forgiven for not sending her an Easter Card but I will definately keep you informed when or if I do. I didnt think that she would want one but it just goes to show that when mums make cards they do.

Anyway todays card has been made again with one of the Sugar Nellie Home Grown stamps, this one is the Young Artist, it reminds me so much of when I had two of my grandchildren staying when they were quite small, we made some handprint paintings, which I still have stuck up in my wardrobe. Thomas was then about 4 and hes now coming 16 and Chloe was 2 and shes coming 14 so how times flies but their little hands are trapped in the paintings.

Anyway I have again stamped the image onto white card and with my usual Karisma pencils I have coloured it, then cut it out with my Rectangle Nestabilitie Die, Ive then mounted it onto two citrus shades of card, but this time I have cut them out rather than use my dies as I wanted the edge to be a lot smaller.

Ive folded an A4 piece of white card in half and then turned it to the landscape side and layered it up with a piece of Orange Card and a patterned paper, on top of this I have layered another piece of Orange Card and a plainer paper, then the third layer is another patterned paper put this time I have used two different coloured cards, yellow and orange to layer it up.

I have then positioned my stamped image to the bottom right hand corner, and stamped a greeting onto white card with my Just-Rite stamps and cut this out with my Circle Nestabilitie Die, and used the Scalloped edged ones for the two outer mounts, Ive offset them to give it more sparkle and mounted them with foam onto the base card.

To finish of the card Ive again used some buttons and positioned them to the bottom left hand side and two stars at the top on the right.

Easter Card for Sarah

I should really be saying sorry to my daughter as I posted cards to my grandchildren but not to her, and I got into terrible trouble for not doing so, Ive been out this morning to post the above card of to her, so Im hoping she will forgive me for being so remiss.

Ive used two of the Magnolia images to make this card the large Egg and Tilda, I stamped both images onto white card by masking of Tilda and then used my Karisma pencils to colour them both. I know a lot of my followers use the prisma pencils so I will give you a tip that was taught to me, you have to build up the layers of colour by crosshatching them, I usually use a very light one first then the darker ones on top. I know a lot of you use the Sansdor solvent afterwards, but I dont mainly because I think it makes it darker but I find if I need to blend colours I use the blender pencil instead.

I then cut the image out with my Nestabilitie die, and actually cut around edge and used the same die again for the image to mounted on, as the next size was a to big a gap. The base card is another made with a A3 piece of card then cut to 8.1/2"x 8" size, onto this I have put a mount of green pearlescent card over which I have layered a piece of pattered paper, all these papers were taken from one of my magazines.

The second layer is a patterned one but this time I have used my small heart Martha Stewart border punch and layered it down the centre of the card, on top of this I have put a further mount with another patterned paper on, I actually used a cats eye inkpad to run around the edge. The stamped image was then mounted onto this centre piece with a small one made in the same way for the greeting positioned below, Im afraid I cheated and used a peeloff on this as I didnt think I had a stamp small enough to fit in.

To finish of the card I have made up two silk flowers from my Craft Stash, with jewel brads for the centres.

Boy Blue

Todays card has been created with one of the Home Grown stamps of Sugar Nellie, Funky Kits. I love this little lad with his dog and have used the image for a birthday card for another of my family.

I started by stamping the image again onto white card and coloured it with my Karisma Prisma Colouring Pencils, I have been getting some lovely comments about these pencils and should tell you that I bought them over 10 years ago while I was doing a A level Art course at the local college. I have seen that they are now not called by that name but are actually the same as the Prisma Colouring Pencils under a different name, you will find them beautiful pencils to use they are creamy if you could call them that but they are so easy to use and can be blended very easily with either the Sansdor solvent or even just with a blending pencil, to be honest I dont use either as a rule but occassionally I do use the blending pencil.

The base card is an A3 piece of white card cut to a 8.1/2"x 6" size, Ive then used 3 designs from Anice's Funky Cds. and layered them onto two different colours of card. Then Ive cut out the stamped image with my Nestabilitie die and used another piece of the blue card with the Scalloped die and layered it up. Then Ive stuck it to the base card.

Before actually sticking all the layers to the base card I stamped a greeting onto a piece of the blue card then run my black ink pad around the edge. To finish of the card Ive used several dog buttons at different places just to make it more boyish.

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.

A Watercoloured stamped Card

Todays card has been made with the Art Impressions Stamps and my Marvy Le Plume Pens.

I have created my card with just a few stamps and several different colour pens, the Birdhouses were stamped with the Sepia Pen and then with a damp brush its bled out to fill the white background. I have used quite a few colours to paint the little houses. The background was done by laying some dots of masking fluid and left to dry, then over the top I have used a Pine green pen, by scribbling a little onto a glass dish and mixing with water to create a wash then its brushed onto the background. I also did the same with a blue pen to create the sky.

Once dry Ive used a vine stamp with the same colour green and stamped all over the place, its been left to dry and afterwards Ive rubbed of the masking fluid and filled in the spaces with a bright yellow pen to give the impression of flowers.

The two birds were then stamped with the Sepia pen and again with the damp brush filled in and on the breasts Ive used a red pen, which again I scribbled onto a glass dish and diluted with water then painted onto the birds.

Ive mounted the painted piece into a aperture card that Ive created myself and stamped a few extra leaves around the edge, then stamped a greeting onto the front at the bottom right hand corner, and stuck three flowers to the top left.

As Im on holiday for a week, this card will be the last one that will posted till I get back.

A Card Just for You

Todays card again is created using one of the Gorguss Girls from Spring Stamp Set, and also one of the Whiff of Joy Accessories Stamps.

I stamped the Gorguss Sitting Girl on to a piece of white card, then I stamped the girl again onto a piece of paper, cut her out then used it as a mask to allow me to stamp the chair behind her. This is a bit tricky but with a bit of luck and several attempts, I eventually managed to get it right.

I then coloured her with my Derwent Watercolouring Pencils and again used a damp brush to take away the pencils lines and to make it look more like it had been painted. This was then cut out with one of my Nestabilitie Label dies, I also cut another one in the dark red card to mount her onto.

The base card is a piece of white A4 card folded in half, I have mounted on top of this a piece of the Red card, the second mount was a paler pink patterned paper and over this I have stuck a piece of patterned paper, before which I have punched both edges with one of my Martha Stewart Border Punches.

Across the centre I have stuck a piece of Pink Pearlescent card that I had put through my Cuttlebug Machine with a embossing folder, this particular one is the heart design. Around this card I have fixed a piece of Red Organza ribbon, then this card was stuck across the centre of the base card.

I then positioned the stamped image in the centre of this and printed a greeting onto semi-gloss photo paper, and cut this out also with one of the Nestabilitie Tag Dies. I punched a hole in the top and fed a smaller piece of the same colour organza ribbon through it and attached this to the right side of the stamped image.

On the other side I have stuck three of my Mulberry Flowers and on the bottom to the right I have stuck two heart shaped buttons.

Thinking of You

Todays card was created from one of the new Gorguss Stamp Collection, at the moment this stamp set doesnt seem to have individual titles, but this one is quite lovely.

Ive again stamped the image onto white card and then coloured it with my Derwent Watercolour Pencils and then using a damp brush I have painted the colours together. This image was then mounted onto a piece of pink Pearlescent Card, but before I did that I gently inked around the edge with a chalk pad.

The base card was one Ive created with a A3 white card by folding in half and then cut it down to the size 7.50"x 7.50", on top of this I have mounted a piece of the pink Pearlescent Card then I cut a piece of pink patterned paper and punched the bottom of it with a Martha Stewart border punch and this was then attached to the pink card.

I then used one of my cuttlebug folders and embossed a piece of white Pearlescent Card and wrapped a piece of pink ribbon across the centre. I then put the mounted image over the pink ribbon to the right of the card.

The Orchids were created with my Leone Em Moth Orchid punch, I also used her book to make the two flowers. These were then mounted onto two different sizes of ovals in pink and white which were made by using my Nestabilitie dies.

To finish the card I then printed a greeting onto semi-gloss card and this was mounted in the same way as the others were.

A Card for Annie

Todays card was created for a dear friend of mine, unfortunately she isnt in the best of health and I hope that this might be of some comfort to her on her birthday.

It was created from the New Spring Kit by Whiff of Joy, this one is called Willow sitting with a Floral Wreath. I have again stamped it onto white card and then masked it to stamp the tree stump behind her, this is also part of the Spring Kit. I have coloured them with a mixture of Derwent Intense watercolouring pencils and my Artquest paints, I had one hell of a job taking a photo without it causing flash-back, Im not the best at taking photos they always seem to come out on the squiff, so please forgive my attempts.

The base card is a white A4 card which I have folded in half and cut to 6.50"x5.50" and then on top of his I have put a dark pink pearlescent card and then a pink patterned paper which I have taken from the Creative Cardmaking Magazine, in fact all three of the patterned papers came from this.

Then I have cut another mount from the dark pink card and put a second paper onto it. The third mount is again started in the same was as the other mounts but this time I have used the flower pattern as a contrast. I then used both of these and arranged them on the base card at different angles, around these two I have attached the ribbon across the whole card.

The stamped image was also mounted onto a pale pink card and then onto the dark pink card, I then used a pink gel pen to go around the edge to give the effect of stitching, this was then mounted on top of the other two mounts and over the ribbon.

I also stamped a greeting onto another piece of white card and mounted this in the same way as the other mounts and this was then stuck to the card at the bottom right hand corner, I also used the pink gel pen to create the stitching effect. To finish of the card I have attached two flowers which I made from the Petals from http://www.poppicrafts.co.uk/catalog/paper-flowerscrochet-flowers-c-40.html.

Happy MiceDay

I have created todays card with one of the Whiff of Joy stamps, I believe this one is called Henry Celebrating Mouse.

I have stamped the image onto white card and coloured it in with my Derwent Intense watercolouring pencils, then used my damp brush to work out the colours, this I left to dry and then cut it out ready to mount onto my card.

The base card is a A3 light brown card folded in half and cut to 7"x6.50"size, and Ive then mounted on top of this a smaller square of light brown card. I then cut two pieces of patterned backing paper into triangles and pasted them onto a piece of darker coloured brown shinny card and finally onto the base card.

Again on top of this I have cut a further two pieces of the same card and mounted these on top of one another and finally I have cut one of the Joanna Sheen Messy Rabbit design papers and stuck this on top. I then positioned my mouse which I have mounted with foam tape onto this.

I printed a greeting onto semi-gloss photo paper and mounted this below the mouse and finished of the card with two of the Papermania Petals and two tiny button mice and one of the cat.

A Bit of Fun

Todays card was created for a neighbour whos absolutely dotty on horses and riding, so I thought the new La Pashe decoupage sheet from Flippin Women was quite appropriate.

The base card was created with My Craft Studio program, I used an A3 piece of card which I have folded in half and printed a scene onto, I then used the same scene for the insert as well but have put a white middle for the verse.

I did also print on oneside of the insert the whole design to put behind the acetate window that I have cut in the front. I also used the oval that I cut out from the front and put it directly behind the figure as it seemed to make it look right. To be honest I did take down the opacity of the insert so it looked a bit pale behind the figure if I had not put the oval over the area directly behind it.

When I had assembled the card I realised that I had the horse rather highly suspended in the air, so I found another picture that I have then manipulated to look like a fence and this gives the appearance of the horse jumping over it.

I did re-print the greeting onto semi-gloss photo paper and then mounted this onto gold mirri-card and then mounted this at the top of the card.

Coming Home

Todays post is something a bit different Ive decided to post a couple of photos of my eldest grandson whos been in the Falklands since last November and is due home in about 3 weeks time.

This has been his first long term posting abroad and its not been a particularly easy time for him, as a 28 year old man theres not a lot for them to do there, he sayes he's either been in the Pub or the Gym so heavens knows what he will look like when he gets home. But Ive been grateful that at least its been in a safe area unlike a lot of other poor service people.

Hes been in the RAF for 10 years this coming November, and has really achieved a lot, hes now a Corporal and even achieved Apprentice of the Year a few years ago. So you can understand why I am so very proud of him, I raised him more of less from a baby but definately for the last 10 years before he enlisted. And he did me the honour of giving me away when I remarried in 2000, as you can see from the second photo.

Unfortunately I wont be disclosing his name as I know that they really dont like you do that, and I dont want to put his life in danger.

Another Anniversary Card

This is the second of my Anniversary Cards that I created with My Craft Studio computer program. This one is for a young couple that are very precious to me, so I hope they will like the personnal card that Ive made for them.

Again I have used a photo and cropped it to fit the design frame that I chose, the background design is different to my last one as I have a number of different ones within the program, but Ive done exactly the same as I did before with the last card.

I printed the whole design onto a piece of A3 white card, which was folded in half to allow it to go through my printer, and then again onto a sheet of semi-gloss photo paper, which when dried I have cut out the photo with the frame and the greeting also with its frame, then layered them onto the base card with foam tape.

Ive printed an insert in the same way as I did before, and then printed a verse onto the paper afterwards. Ive then put two different sizes of Organza ribbon around the fold and tied a bow, below this I have put a bouquet that I created from some of my silk and paper flowers that I have in my crafty stash.

Mums little Helper

Todays card is again made with the Whiff of Joy stamps, this one is called Melinda washing up, but Id like to think of her helping her mum, my own helper in the kitchen is my hubby he loves to load up the dishwasher and doesnt like me interferring as he calls it, and he also does the hand washing-up as well. Though I wont dream of giving him this card Im not sure he would approve.

I stamped the image onto white card and coloured it with my Derwent Intense watercolour pencils, after which I have cut it out with my Oval Nestabilitie die and mounted it onto a larger Dark Pink Card Scalloped diecut.

The base card is a dark pink A4 card folded in half and cut down to 6.50"x6"size, and then I have mounted a pale pearlescent card, on top of this I have laid a pattern paper. The two papers Ive used are from my Making Cards magazine, and the papers were created by Nancy Watts. I used the second patterned paper for the two down strips which were also matt and laid in the same way as the main one.

On top of the layers I have stuck my stamped image, and then stamped a greeting with my Just-Rite Stamps and again cut them out using my Circle and Scalloped Circle dies. I did use my cats eye inkpad around the edge of the stamped image and the greeting.

To finish of the card I have stuck two of the mulberry flowers that I bought from HobbyCrafts, I do like these flowers.

Reading a Book

Todays card has been created from one of Whiff of Joy stamps, this one is called Melinda Reading Book.

I dont actually enter any of the challenges but I do like to have a attempt at using their sketches to see if I can create a card with them, this one is the Whiff of Joy Challenge.

Ive stamped Melinda onto a piece of white card and coloured her with my Derwent Intense Watercolour Pencils, and cut her out and inked around the edge with my cats eyes inkpads, then layered it onto a piece of the dark purple pearlescent card.

The base card is created from a A4 white card folded in half then cut to the size 8.50" x 6", onto top of this I have layered up a pale mauve pearlescent card and a dark piece of purple card which I have put through my cuttlebug and used the Paisley folder.

I then used a darker purple pearlescent card for the first matt, and this has been layered with piece of the DCWV Pocket full of Posies stack, I have also used this for the second matt across the other and have punched a edge with one of the Martha Stewart border punches on a piece of pearlescent paper which has been stuck to the bottom of this second layer.

Around the two has been stuck a piece of velvet ribbon. I then arranged the stamped image on to the base card, and used my Just-Rite stamp for the greeting, and cut this out with my Nestabilitie Classic Circle die I also used the same colour cats eye around the edge of this to, and cut a bigger one for this to be mounted onto. I then stuck this at an angle at the bottom.

To finish of the card I have stuck three mulberry flowers that I bought from HobbyCrafts.