A new technique!

I know I know, no posts for months then 2 come along at once! I just had to show this card because I'm so pleased with the results!

 I was just having a play around with some inks and thought ooooo I could make a scene using some old makeup sponges......so I did! Don't get me wrong its not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but I've never tried anything like this before so I was really happy with the result for a first attempt! I went around the edge with a fineliner like I've seen Barbara Grey do on C&C- luckily the wiggle affect looks good as I can't draw a straight line.

A couple of cards to show.....

Good Morning all and happy Sunday :). Looks like the sun has finally decided to come out and play but shushhhh let's not scare it away!

I haven't blogged for months, mainly because I haven't made many cards for ages- I went back to work in February and I just don't have as much time as I used to.

Anyway, I made these last night:

I am really proud of this one- I just look at it and think oooooo I love it! The image is Lili of the Valley- its one of the free coloring images from Papercraft Inspirations. They don't color with Promarkers very well as its the wrong sort of card, but work well with my koh-i-noors and blending stumps. I colored the edge with some Tim Holtz Walnut Stain and an old make up sponge. The papers are from a free stack by Serif called Picnic in the Park which were in Simply Cards & Papercraft aaaaages ago- they all have an aged/distressed look to them- totally lush!I framed the image with my circle Nestabilities and then cut a doily and a swirl from papers from the same stack- the dies are Marianne's and I LOVE them! I've come into the whole doily/swirl trend quite late so I'm making up for lost time! I stamped a butterfly on acetate and then covered it with Glossy Accents and Doodlebug glitter then added some corner peel offs and pearls to finish off. Looking at my shopping list it was a pretty frugal card really as lots of the ingredients were freebies :D.

I'm not really up on challenges at the moment but I do know that Little Claire's current challenge is 'Things with Wings' so I'm entering this card in that one :).

Onto the second card that I made yesterday:

I love this stamp- its by Sugar Nellie and if he was holding a cat it would look just like my son with our kitten. I stamped and colored with Promarkers and then went round the edge with distress inks. The paper is by Cloud 9 and I ripped and distressed the matt and then glittered it. I also ran the 2 bottom pieces through my Cuttlebug and then sanded over the top of them. I added some paper flowers and a couple of peel off corners- I do think it needs something else but I haven't decided what yet!

Thanks for looking :)

Long time no blog.....

Wow, its been a really long time since I've blogged isn't it! Computer (or mainly connection) issues are still plaguing me, but on the plus side it has given me more time to craft as I'm not on the internet so much!


I made a card for a friend of mine the other day- just a 'hello' type card that I thought she would like. I was really good, put it in my handbag to get a stamp and post etc etc and guess what....its still there! Smacked hand for me- good job its not a birthday card or anything!

 Even though I haven't sent it yet I know she will love it (who doesn't love hunky men?).

Its a really simple card, image came from google images and was colored with promarkers and I have used some shimmer cardstock for the background and mirri card for the mat. Added some black gems and that was me done- I did think about making a sentiment but I really wanted to do a circle type one but have no clue how to make one in word!

Anyway, hope you like the card- will add a few more later :)

Computer problems...and some candy :)

No blogging recently- been having major problems with my laptop. Hopefully its all sorted now & I have some cards that I will try and upload tomorrow at some point....

Anyway, Jacqui over at Cat's Whiskers is doing a fantastic giveaway of blog candy...pop over and take a look. Her blog is fantastic and so inspirational- her cards are stunning!

Here is the linky to the candy: Cat's Whiskers blog candy!

No WOYWW today.....

Well I finished sorting everything out, had it all organized as best I could. I sat at my desk and made some cards feeling very proud of myself.

I have a shelf above my desk that has been there for ages- I put my sprays, jars and cds on it. Yesterday evening I heard a huge crash, ran upstairs thinking my son had fallen out of bed, only to go in my bedroom and find that the shelf had fallen off the wall and my jars had smashed sending about 500 flowers and god knows how many pieces of card candy flying all over the bedroom!

So no WOYWW today as all I have done is pick everything up and put it on the desk......more sorting out to do now- will it ever end???

On a separate note, I found out yesterday that I am a candidate for a bone-anchored hearing aid. I've been deaf in one ear for as long as I can remember. As you can imagine its not particularly nice and causes big problems if I am somewhere with a lot of background noise so the chance of me being able to hear 'normally' makes me feel sooo excited! The op sounds pretty scary- when the consultant mentioned skull, bolt and drill in the same sentence I think I went a few shades lighter! Basically they drill a bolt into my skull behind my deaf ear which attaches to a small box on the side of my head which is the hearing aid and it picks up sounds from my good side and transfers them to the bad side. Now its just a waiting game for my appointment to be assessed....please let it come soon- I want to hear!!

Have a fab day everyone xx

A big ask....

As those of you who checked out my WOYWW will know, I am sorting out my craft space to try and make it more user-friendly. Storage is a problem as is budget. I am desparately searching for the Making Memories Desktop Carousel but as I understand it has been discontinued (why do they do that with popular items??). The closest match I have found is with Great Little Trading Company, but they are £40 each- I can't afford to pay that sort of money for one storage item- I don't even spend that much on food in a week!!!

Does anyone know where I could get one cheaper, or even better, if someone has one they no longer use that they would be willing to sell to me? I am doubtful that any avid crafter will be selling theirs but its worth a try- you don't ask you don't get and all that!

Here is a picture of said carousel- fingers crossed someone will know something!

Thanks for reading all xx

A christmas card....my first proper one!!!

As soon as my little one poodled off to bed I raced into my bedroom to make a card with this gorgeous stamp. Its the stamp of the month from Little Claire- isn't he gorgeous?  I grrrrd a lot while I was making this card because I have damaged the nozzle on my Glossy Accents, which meant that it was all squishing out of the sides. Its still useable, just a bit 'ahem' messy lol.

I have entered this card into the following challenges:

A Spoonful of Sugar- Sparkle & shine
I love Promarkers- Think Pink
Incy Wincy Designs- Sparkly Glitter
Just Inspirational- Make a Christmas card
Lothian Crafts- Make a Christmas card
Paper Sundaes- Something from your stash
Papertake Weekly Challenge-Choose a challenge from previous years- I chose Cool Yule


As I said the image is from Little Claire which I colored with Promarkers and touched up with Glamor Dust. I used my nesties for the layers and embossed one of the layers using a Little Claire embossing folder. The snowflakes are Quickutz covered in Glossy Accents and Glamor Dust. The backing paper is DCWV and the card is from Craftwork Cards.

Hope you like it xx