New Addition To Family

I know this is my "Craft Corner" but  I had to share my good news with you, my family has grown by one member and this new member has been taking up pretty much all of my time which means I haven't been able to get in my craft room for the last 4 weeks.

Let me introduce you to my latest addition, he's called Buckley and he's a Netherlands Dwarf and is 17 weeks old, he is a big girls' blouse and scared of his own shadow but is oh so cute, he's utterly gorgeous and has taken over my life.  I spend most evenings laying on the kitchen floor playing with him, trying to convince him that i'm not the big bad monster he obviously thinks I am!

Here's my boy.......

The problem is, that I think Buckley has more toys than my son!

Anniversary Card

On Tuesday it will be our wedding anniversary so I thought I'd better knuckle down and make my card.  I can't say that this was wholly my idea, it is based on a card we made at the Valentine Christmas Workshop last weekend and I just adapted it a bit for an anniversary card rather than a Christmas card.  Whilst rummaging for some polka dot paper, I discovered I didn't have any anywhere, so booted up the lappy and got inventive.  So using Word I found a "dot" in symbols and created my own polka dot paper!  The bow was an absolute pig as it's satin and wouldn't tie tightly and kept slipping, I almost gave up, but at the last moment, it succumbed!  The letters were a pack from Doodlebug that I've had for ages and came in very useful.

I then got onto the internet and googled for anniversary poems and found one that I was happy with and then printed it and decorated the inside of the card too.

I hope he likes it.  Thanks for looking x

Get Well Card

There are some advantages of having a box of "half baked" cards, so when the need arises for an urgent card one of the half-baked ones comes in handy.  Unfortunately hubby's aunt has had a stroke and is currently in hospital and I therefore needed a card urgently, fortunately this one was pretty much completed but without any sentiment either on the front or inside.  This is an easel card, the picture on the front is a cheat as it comes in a pack of 12 already coloured called "Bella printed panels" and the patterned paper is also from the same range.  It's almost impossible to go wrong when putting all these products together!

With a few coloured pearls and a "best wishes" from Craftwork cards matter with a SU scalloped punch, the card was pretty much completed.  Inside there is a white scalloped oval with a "Get Well Soon" stamped inside together with my own message.

Thanks for looking x

1st Birthday

Firstly, apologies for not updating my blog in a while, been very busy but I'm not sure exactly what I've been up to, I guess life just gets in the way!

Anyway, a friend of mine asked me to make her son a first birthday card, he is, apparently, a big fan of Mr Men and is having a Mr Men birthday party this week.  She was very specific as to what she wanted and then told me she was going to frame it afterwards, so no pressure for making a good one!

Unfortunately my beloved Cricut does not make a Mr Men cartridge, so I had to resort to dragging out my trusty Robo and dusting it down to then try and work out how to use the new software that had been released for it.  After numerous problems, including mat falling me (although i did discover that if you butcher a Cricut mat, it fits very nicely into the Robo and is a fraction of the price).  I eventually found some pictures on the internet and managed to trace them and turn them into cutting files.

Here is the result, and I think it turned out rather well.

Thanks for looking x

Friend's Birthday

I managed to get into my craft room this afternoon, making the most of a rare day off, getting "stuff" ready for school starting back tomorrow.  I would love to say that I designed this card, but that would be an outright lie.  We made this card (or rather one similar, and much better, in craft class last week, check out www.valentines-crafts.com to see how it's really done!) but I thought it was something different with a lovely gate fold opening so I tried to re-produce it for a friend's birthday tomorrow.  The back (and front) of the card, of course is from my Elegant Edges Cricut Cartridge, but in class we used a giant nestie and the patterned paper is from SU.

Thanks for looking x

Holiday - July/August 2012

Apologies for not being on here very much recently, but we've had lots going on, including an amazing holiday to Mauritius where I managed to introduced my 10-year-old to many wonderful water sports, including kayaking, water-skiing, snorkelling and scuba diving.  I was so excited to be able to introduce him to the undersea world as it's been many years since I last scuba dived but am so pleased he loved it and even got very excited when he saw a starfish.

I was very fortunate to be given an amazing waterproof camera by my lovely hubby which I used with great enthusiasm. Hubby and I also celebrated both our birthdays whilst on holiday (they're 5 days apart). I'm hoping to be able to scrap some photos shortly, but in the meantime here is my holiday video.........

I've also managed to complete one LO so far, and here it is.......

Hopefully there'll be more LO's to come and thanks for watching x

Happy 2nd Birthday

A friend of mine asked me to make her niece a 2nd birthday card, it was quite a challenge as she's not a girly girl, favourite colour purple, not into pink and loves animals.  With all that in mind I thought I'd try and make a tag card as I've never made one before.  Using Cricut Craft Room I welded some tags together.  Next challenge was colours and animals, and this is what I came up with....

To be honest I'm not that keen on the Boofles stickers that I used on the front page, they just somehow don't look right, but as I'd already stuck them down, I had to go with the flow.  I also finally found a use for the animal magnets that I had made for the school craft fair but remained unsold, so all the animals (except the giraffe) are attached with magnets and are removable.  In the end I was quite pleased with the results.

On the down side there was no way that this was going to fit in an envelope so I had to make a box for it to fit in, I just hope it's what she wanted, I'll find out tomorrow.

Thanks for looking x

Birthday Card

It's one of my best friends' birthday on Friday so I thought I'd better make her a card.  I recently went to The Glitter Pot and they are/were having a sale selling off their ex-demo stamps and I found this really cute rabbit holding an armful of hearts, it was probably an Easter stamp but I thought it would do for almost any occasion when you need to send love, so I bought it and had to use it.  There was no label on it, but someone had written "embraceable" on the back, so maybe this is the name of it, but couldn't say.

I thought I'd make an S-fold card as I hadn't made on in a while and reached for a Craftwork Cards paper pack called "Very Merry", I think it was a Christmas pack, but the paper still fitted for a birthday card so I carried on.  The round birthday sentiment is by Craftwork cards and the scalloped punch matting it is by SU.

Using my Cricut Elegant Edges cartridge I cut the oval scallop and shadow at 4.5" which covers the 4" oval scallop that's directly below on the inside of the card.  I stamped the inside with a mini clear stamp by kaisercraft.

I must get it in the post in the morning and I hope she likes it.

Thanks for looking x

New Home Card

A friend of mine is moving into her new home this week so I made her a New Home card, yup, you've guessed it, I have used the Cricut Create A Critter cartridge as I found this lovely house on it.

Thanks for looking x

Get Well Card

I've been very fortunate today and have found time to play in my craft room, that's in between waiting for coats of paint to dry in the bathroom!  I have been popping into my craft room and started playing with various bits of paper and then going back to do another coat of paint when the last one was dry, plus there was football on this evening, so that was another 90 minutes I could escape to my craft room!

 I thought I'd better make a get well card for my cousin who has just had a foot operation so I made this easel card...

The green mat and the patterned card stock came from a 6 x 6" SU paper pack that I had, I used a Martha Stewart edge punch for the scalloped edges, I found the frog on my Cricut Every Day Paper Dolls and gave him some goggly eyes!  The flowers came from Papermania that I found in my stash and thought they were lovely.  All edges have been inked with Tim Holtz Tea Dyes distressing ink.

Thanks for looking x

Valentines Colour Combo Challenge #9

This week's Colour Combo Challenge was to use the colours Basic Black, Daffoldil Delight and Old Olive, so I reached for my Cricut Create a Critter (this is an amazing cartridge, I am finding so many lovely creatures on it that i just have to make!)  I found this lovely duck and I guess the weather we're currently having is starting to affect me, as this is what I came up with....

Thanks for looking x

Valentines Colour Combo Challenge #8

This week's Valentine Colour Combo Challenge is using the SU colours Black Basic, Cherry Cobbler and Baja Breeze.  Having looked at these colours, I felt that they looked quite masculine so I set out with a view to making a masculine card.  I rummaged through my old faithful Cricut cartridges and came across this lighthouse in Life's A Beach

I tore a piece of sandy coloured paper and inked the edges with Tim Holtz tea dyed distress ink and inked the edges of the waves too to make them stand our more. I stamped it with "Wishing You A Lovely Day" as I haven't yet decided on what occasion I'm going to use this card for so the inside is still blank, apart from a wave I put along the bottom.

Thanks for looking x

Father's Day Card Part 2

I obviously needed to help Joshua make a father's day card so I cut out some bits and pieces for him, and yes, I did use the Create A Critter Cricut cartridge, but when it was going together I loved it so much I had to cut 2 of everything, one set I gave to Joshua for him to put together and the other set I kept, although the card started out life as a Father's Day card I think it would do just as well as a birthday card for a Dad.  Unfortunately I cannot take any credit for the design of this card as I saw it on You Tube and it was made by a very talented lady called Mary and I copied it because I thought it was soo cute, so here it is.....

Thanks for looking x

With Sympathy

I unfortunately had to make a sympathy card today, so I reached for my Storybook Cricut cartridge to cut out the butterflies, and used my nesties for the label and embossed it with the Swiss Dots folder.  It's very simple but hopefully effective.

Valentines Colour Combo Challenge # 7

Well, the football was on tonight so I had 90 minutes to escape to my craft room and have a go at last weeks' challenge as I hadn't had a chance to do it before.  So, challenge # 7 was to use Not Quite Navy, Basic Grey and Old Olive.  I used an Echo Park paper pack called This & That for the striped paper and the flower came from the Cricut Cartridge Pooh And Friends.  The sentiment stamp is from Personal Impressions and the birthday ribbon in Dovecraft.  If you're looking at the card and wondering where's the "Basic Grey"?, if you look really closely you'll see its the first mat on the sentiment stamp!

Thanks for looking x

Father's Day Cards

Now, it's not very often I say this, if ever, but I am sooo pleased with the way this card turned out!  I'm not one for the shabby chic look and I don't  "do" distressing but I wanted a particular look that I couldn't just "buy" off the shelf.  I started with the watch fob shape which is by Art Parts but it came in a regular chipboard colour so I used Tim Holtz Frayed Burlap distress stain to darken it, but it still wasn't the right colour for a watch so I added some Liquid Pearls in Buttercup and smudged it with my finger and it was then the perfect effect I was after.

The background paper is Bo Bunny "Time Piece" and using some Core d'inations I used the Clockworks Cuttlebug folder and then sanded it to distress it a little to show the embossing a little more.  I also used some Doodlebug twine for a little extra embellishment and I found a pack of DCWV bits n pieces where I found the key.

The cogs in the bottom right corner came from a die cuts sheet by Kanban, there are 2 sheets in a pack, one sheet of silver and one of grey.  I liked the silver ones but I didn't have enough of the right size for two cards (I obviously have to make two the same, one for my Dad and one for Father-in-law) so I set out to "alter" the grey ones, again I stained them with the Tim Holtz ink and dabbed a bit of Buttercup and actually I ended up liking the altered ones more than the silver ones which I initially liked!

I'm now feeling very chuffed with myself and I thank you for looking x

Birthday Card

Well, tomorrow is the birthday of two friends and as they don't know each other, I thought I'd cheat and make the same card for both of them (look, I've had a very busy week and didn't have time to get original, so I cheated), the card I have made, you workshop ladies will recognise from earlier in the year when we made something (very) similar for mother's day, so here is the card....

I used the SU stamp set 'A Rose Is A Rose' and stamped the foreground of the large rose onto plain yellow card stock and created my background patterned paper.  Using So Saffron and Pumpkin Pie I stamped the flowers.  I used the Elegant Edges Cricut cartridge I cut the white label and inked the edges in the same ink.  Then I decorated the inside in the same way....

Yes I know I cheated, but I have been very busy this week, but I think it turned out quite well.

Thanks for looking x

Valentines Colour Combo Challenge #6

This weeks' challenge was to use the colours Doffdodil Delight, Melon Mambo and Old Olive, I can't confirm that I've got the right colours but they're similar enough so i'm just going with it.  I sat at my desk with these three colours wondering how on earth I was going to get them to go together as they seemed so odd, however, Clair was right and I found a piece of patterned paper that (I think) had all these three colours in so off I went, as the Create a Critter cartridge was already on my desk.......

and this was what I came up with.  Hope you like it x

Valentine Colour Combo Challenge #5

I'm afraid I'm a bit late with this one but still wanted to participate in the challenge, this challenge was using the colours Rich Razzleberry, Soft Suede and Regal Rose, I did actually have all these colours but I found this challenge particularly difficult, I think my mojo took a holiday and this was about the third or fourth draft.....

I just about managed to use the Rich Razzleberry and the Regal Rose for the boarder and then the squirrel was using the Soft Suede, and yes the Squirrel came from the Create A Critter Cricut Cartridge.  I even managed to decorate the inside too using the same papers.

Hope you like it x

Renewal Of Vows Card

A friend of mine asked me to make her a renewal of vows card for a re-wedding tomorrow, this was not the design I set out to make, but it just kind of evolved!  Unfortunately the photo is not very good, but I now don't have the card to take another one.....

actually this IS a lousy photo, there was no yellow on the card, don't know where that came from!!  I can't remember who the stamp is by but as you can see from my previous post I think the stamp must have still be on my desk or within reach so grabbed it again as it always goes well for a wedding card.  Perhaps if you squint (no, squint more!) and tilt your head, then it might look a bit better!?

Thanks for visiting X

Wedding Card

Tomorrow I'm off to a friends' wedding and this is the card I made for them....

The text was done on my Craft Robo, I inserted a pink gel pen instead of the cutting blade and it's very glittery and rather pretty!  The oval in the middle is actually cut out but it looks like it's been stuck on top - in fact that would probably be easier next time!  I can't remember who the stamp is by but I stamped it a few times on different colours and the wedding dress is decoupaged, but that doesn't really show in this photo.

I hope the happy couple like it x

New Sexy Title

I would like to thank Clair from Valentines for my lovely new sexy title of my blog above.  I have no idea how she did it, but she just sent it to me, saying she hoped I did't mind.  Mind?  Of course not, , I'm so chuffed, I love it - Thank you Clair x

Valentines Colour Combo Challenge #4

I have been very busy this week but hopefully managed to get my Colour Combo Challenge submitted by the skin of my teeth!  This week the colours were Bashful Blue, So Saffron and Certainly Celery, so I headed off to my card stock stash and hopefully picked out the right colours.  I also fortunately had a couple of the matching ink pads to go with it, then the hard part began, thinking up something to make, and this is what I came up with.....

On the background paper I used a Stampin' Up Jumbo wheel, I think it's called "It's Beautiful" which I used all over the Certainly Celery, but I think the ink cartridge loaded into it is actually  Old Olive, but you probably wouldn't' have known that if I hadn't just admitted it!  The two pieces of Bashful Blue and So Saffron are stamped using the SU Greenhouse Garden two-stage stamp set, although I only used one of the stamps and then mounted onto some SU patterned paper with some ribbon wrapped round.  I used Penny Black "Hedgehog Kisses" and mounted using foam tape and the greeting stamp is a mini clear stamp by KaiserCraf. I stamped a small flower in black as that space looked like it was missing something, the flower stamp is from the same Greenhouse Garden set as the other flower stamp.

Hope you like it x

Birthday Card

I made this card last week for a friends' birthday but didn't post it until I'd given it to her, just in case she saw it on here first!  Hopefully she's actually opened the card by now, even though her birthday isn't until next week.

Here is the card....

This is a 6 x 6" card and I used the Cricut Heritage cartridge and the Elegant Edges Cricut cartridges, I inked the edges with Tim Holtz tea dye distress ink and adorned it with some bling and a ribbon, I think it turned our rather elegant!

Play Time

I've had a chance to get into my craft room and ended up playing with my Cricut Sesame Street cartridge which I absolutely love.  I've made these cards before but they're so cute and ever so easy to make and they can be used for children or last minute, because I've forgotten cards for almost anyone, even men.

Hope you like them

X

Valentines Colour Combo Challenge #3

I can't believe I actually forgot about this weekly challenge! I just happen to see Valentine's website and saw it, so I hot footed it into my craft room and dragged out my stash of Stampin' Up card stock and pulled out sheets of Old Olive, Night of Navy and More Mustard, well, at least I hope those are the colours I pulled out as they're not labelled!

Unfortunately I can't remember the name of the stamp I used, but if I remember, I'll look it up and amend this post!  I also used my Cricut Elegant Edges (no surprise there!) and did the frame, also matching the inside of the card with the same frame.























Hope you like it

x

Baby Card

I've been very lucky this weekend, I managed to get into my craft room again today which was fortunate as I remembered I needed to make a new baby card for a work colleague.  I cheated a little bit as I used my computer to print the background with the baby details and then reached for my New Arrivals Cricut cartridge to do the baby.  The baby's face is stamped using a Peachy Keen Everyday Faces stamp and is mounted on an action wobble so when you flick it, it wobbles all over the place, they're great.

I loved it so much that I made another two, another blue one but just with the words "Baby boy" instead of the baby details and anther blank one in pink....

These cards are so simple to make, but I hope effective too.  Hope you like them x

Play Time

Having had the wonderful opportunity of spending the afternoon in my craft room, I started playing with  a piece of brown Stampin' Up card stock that I cut in half which meant I now had two card blanks, so it would be rude not to make two cards!

In this first card I used the Notably Ornate Stampin' Up stamp set edged in Tim Holtz tea dyed ink, mounted onto the same colour card.  It was wrapped with two layers on ribbons and mounted upon a double sided piece of Stampin' Up paper pack and embellished with some twine and pink pearls.  Also embellished with the "Just Because" stamp mounted on the same paper as the background paper.

The second card I made is also the same size and using the other piece of brown Stampin' Up card stock, I made this card....

It was mounted upon some pink card stock and then I used a patterned paper from a Dovecraft paper pack.  The cake and  cake stand (which unfortunately can hardly bee seen in this photo) were cut from the Sweet Treats Cricut cartridge.  The flowers were cut and highlighted with a white highlighter and the centres were embellished with glossy accents and the middle layer of the cake was wrapped in a pink organza ribbon.

I have started on a few more cards, so you may be unfortunate enough to be subjected to those too very shortly.

Thank you for looking x

Valentines Colour Combo Challenge #2

This is my entry for this weeks Valentines Colour Combo Challenge, the challenge was to use the colours  Real Red, Baja Breeze and Crumb Cake.  I have no idea if I have used the correct colours, but I picked three colours which seemed to fit the bill out of my Stampin' Up stash and headed for my craft room.

The Stamp is from Katy Sue Designs and is called "Wine Buffs".  To be honest, i'm not convinced about this card so feel free to let me know what you think.

Football Fan Birthday Card

As I was leaving work last night my boss asked me if I could bring in a birthday card this morning for a colleague's birthday, this would not normally be a problem, but last night I was going out (to my craft class) so I had about half an hour to make something. As you fellow crafters know, designing a card takes way longer than actually putting it together, so I reached for my trusted Cricut (you will quickly notice this is a recurring theme, I just love my Cricut, it's an amazing machine!) and using my "Boys Will Be Boys" cartridge I made this football card.

Unfortunately, yes, Cricut is made by an American company and therefore they insist on calling football soccer, not ideal but I was on the clock.  The top part of the card, i.e., the football and the word is actually mounted on an 'action wobble' so the top part wobbles.  The card is a deckle edged 8" x 8" as I had to make it big enough for everyone at work to sign.  I stamped the inside with "it's your birthday, whether you like it or not!"

I hope you like it and feel free to leave me your views! Thanks for looking x

Valentines Colour Combo Challenge

This is my entry for the Valentines Colour Combo Challenge, the challenge over on Valentine-crafts.com was to create a card using the colours Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White and Pretty in Pink.  Unfortunately I did not have those colours so I grabbed card stock that I felt was similar and headed off armed with card stock, some double sided papers from a paper pack from Stampin' Up and a stamp and this is what I came up with.

The matt colour of the card is my equivalent to Cherry Cobbler and the matt for the stamp is my version of Pretty in Pink.  Using the Cricut Elegant Edges cartridge I cut a scalloped oval, cut it in half and used it top and bottom, this paper was was double sided with the patterned pink on one side an the background paper on the other.  I then cut the centrepiece also using Elegant Edges and stamped the hedgehog from Penny Black's Wonderful Day stamp set and coloured with copies and finally embellishing with a ribbon and some pearls.  The inside also got a bit of a decorating too.

Hope you like it and feel free to leave a comment.  Thanks for looking x

Tatty Teddy Cards

Here are a set of cards that are 6 x 6"that I put together using the Elegant Edges Cricut cartridge and Tatty Teddy toppers, they have different toppers and sentiments but the same bases.  I have these in a box just in case I have forgotten someone's birthday and need a card in a hurry.

Wishing You A Latte Luck

A dear friend of mine started a new job recently and this is the card I made for her, she is also a huge coffee lover and can always be found camping out in some corner of Costa Coffee or Starbucks so I thought this card was quite appropriate for her wishing her luck in her new job.

Good Bye Card

A friend of mine left work today for pastures newer, he's leaving the UK to become a dive instructor in Turkey, so last night I headed to my craft room and reached for my beloved Cricut and made a good luck card using Life's A Beach cartridge - and once I work out how, I'll upload the photo.  If there is no photo, it's because I haven't sussed that part out yet.......