Enjoy your Day

Well I didnt have any dream or thoughts on the lottery numbers, so I'm still here crafting........mind you, even if I DID win the lottery I would still be crafting as I've have more time to do it, and be able to pay people do all the other stuff..............no harm in dreaming I suppose!

In the short time I've been awake today I've made a card to enter in to the Clean and Simple challenge # FTL156 where they have this sketch.

My trusty Big Shot is still on the table from yesterday so it was my influence on the makings for the card.

I started with a white card and stamped the sentiment on the left hand side in green. Then through the BS I put some brown card and a pendant die, some green card and a border die, yellow card and a flower die (twice), and some  bright green card with 2 leaf shapeabilities. All these bits were layered on the border which was placed on the right hand side. The finishing touch was the bumble bee which had been stamped on some acetate and was left over from a project a few days ago.

Here is the end result, have a look and see what you think?

I hope you liked it.

Recipe : Card = SU Pumpkin Pie, Garden Green, Green Galore, Yo Yo Yellow, and white card from my stash

Inks = Handsome Hunter, Adirondack Black, Butterscotch and Espresso

Tools = Big Shot, SB Border, Pendant, and Shapeabilities

Stamps = Verve sentiment and Inkadinkado Bee

Thanks for dropping by, and I'd love it if you could leave me a comment if you have the time.

Hope to be crafting again soon so I'll see you then

Round card

I knew I should have turned the TV off, once I saw the Death on the Nile film was on, I just had to watch to the end.


Anyway, while I sat in front of the TV, I dabbled with the Mojo Monday challenge #206 with a sketch and choice of square or round.


As I've not done one before I thought I would have a go at a round card.

The next decision was what colours to use. A week ago Clean and Simple had these colours as inspiration, and I loved them but didn't get chance to use them for their challenge, so I thought I'd use them for this project. One other snag was I don't have any Kiwi Kiss or Summer Sun so I substituted them for Certainly Celery and Yo Yo Yellow.

So I started by putting a cream card in the BS with a scallop circle die, and layering it with a semi circle of blue and brown card that had been embossed and wrapped with a blue ribbon. I then cut 2 labels, a green one stamped with script in brown, and a yellow one stamped with a blossom stamp, which were then overlapped on the front. A smaller label was stamped with a sentiment and 2 blossoms (positioned with the Stamp-a-ma-jig)and stuck with 3D pads for dimension. The finishing touches were 3 gems and brown spots in the centers of the flowers.

Here's the result and I was quite pleased how it turned out, what do you think?

Recipe : Card = SU Soft Suede, Yo Yo Yellow, Certainly Celery, Very Vanilla, Bermuda Bay, and cream from my stash

Stamps = French Foliage, Garden Silhouettes, and Verve sentiment

Inks = Soft Suede, Certainly Celery, and Bermuda Blue

Tools = Big Shot, SB Nestabilities labels and Scallop Circle, and Budding Vine embossing folder

Extras = Ribbon, 3D pads, and gems

That's it for me today, thank you for dropping by and I hope you enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Death on the Nile

I dont believe my eyes!!!!! 

I've just woken up ( I know its 2.15pm, but I'm not well, honestly) and put the TV on and what do I see......???

Only Death on the Nile !!!!, which was my inspiration for my card yesterday for Cas-ual Fridays.

I can hear the Twilight Zone music again, how very spooky. Perhaps if I can get back to sleep I may dream, or see, the lottery numbers?? Here's hoping

Bye for now

Bon Voyage

I've been in hospital today having my IV drip, and I'm feeling too sick at the moment to sleep, so I'm sat here trying not to think about the nausea but to concentrate on the Cas-ual Fridays challenge. It calls for us to get our inspiration from a book, and then use Black,White, and Read/Red!!

I love Murder Mystery/ Crime novels, so of course one of my favorite authors is Agatha Christie. So I chose Death on the Nile as my book ( I love the film too! )

I started with a white square card and stamped some script in red across the bottom as the Nile. I then cut a triangle in a piece of scrap paper and brayered over the hole in red ink, and then covered a section on the left side of the triangle and brayered over the hole a few more times. This leaves a shape like a pyramid, which I did a second time with a smaller triangle slightly behind, smaller, and paler than the first one. I then sponged across the bottoms of the pyramids to ground them. Next I stamped some grass and the sentiment in black ink, and unfortunately I made a few smudges so I stamped some fern leaves as a palm tree over them at the edge of the card. The placement of nearly every piece on this card would have been a nightmare if it was not for my Stamp-a-ma-jig!.

Anyway, smudges covered, here's the finished card

Recipe : Stamps = SU French Foliage (Nile), Inspired by Nature (grass), Organic Grace (Palm tree), and Woodware letters

Inks = Real Red and Basic Black 

Tools = Stamp-a-ma-jig and brayer

Card = from my stash


I'm going to bed now so hopefully I'll get some sleep.

Thanks for stopping by and looking at my blog, and I hope to be back soon.

Whimsical Wings

Yaaaaaaaaayyyyy, I'm Top 3 at Make My Monday again, Thank you DT!!

Hi everyone, Hope you've all had a good Bank Holiday and are enjoying the last few days of the summer with the children before they start the new school term...........can you believe that tomorrow is officially the first day of Autumn??? Scary isn't it??

Also, I must tell you all that the Gremlins are still interfering with my blog, and I cannot leave any comments, so I apologise now and hope that Blogger can sort it out for me soon. Thanks for your understanding, and although I'm silent ( some might hope!!), I'm still looking at all the wonderful projects you are creating.


Anyway, I've not had much chance for crafting myself, but I started a card on Tuesday afternoon at my friends, and have finally managed to finish it so I could enter it in Make My Monday's last challenge on the theme of Things with Wings.

This week we had this photo as inspiration



I started with a white square card, rounded the corners and sponged the edges before layering it with green card with a torn corner, and then a cream card also torn and sponged. I then stamped the foliage and bird from Whimsical Wings using my Stamp-a-ma-jig. The bird cage was stamped and heat embossed on the cream card, and a second cage stamped and embossed on acetate so I could cut out a section to create a cage door so as to suggest that the bird has escaped. The roses were again stamped and placed with the Stamp-a-ma-jig, with 3 being raised on 3D pads for added dimension. The finishing touch was the gem for the birds eye, the cream bow on the cage, and the Verve stamped sentiment.

Here it is. I adore this bird and love to use the whispy feathers stamp for his tail. I hope you like it

and here is a close up of the cage door

Recipe : card = SU Green Galore, Whisper White, and Very Vanilla

Stamps = Whimsical Wings, Baby Blossoms, Papermania, and Verve.

Inks = Regal Rose, Melon Mambo, Certainly Celery, and Versamark

Tools = Heat Gun, and Stamp-a-ma-jig

Extras = Gold embossisng powder, acetate, cream ribbon, and green gem from my stash.

One reason why no crafting has been done, is because we had a family day out to Gloucester Docks on Sunday to see the Tall Ships and the re-enactment of the 1801 war where the Gloucester Regiment fought off the French at Alexandra in Egypt. Here is a photo of one of the ships.                                                                                         

 

 Here Nathan and Nana ( My mum, Mary ) are talking to some of the volunteers dressed as the soldiers would have in those times.

There was a circus style show put on for the kids, but alot of the jokes and one liners were aimed at the adults ( well at least I hope the kids didn't understand what was going on!!!???) . This is the act called 'The Black Eagles', who were acrobats that did a bit of fire eating, juggling, and gyrating of hips that didn't leave alot to the imagination of what lay beneath their loin clothes!!!!                 

I wont bore you with any more photos,  but boring as it sounds, it was a lovely day out.

Now, I'm not making up excuses, but, I'm in hospital on Friday for my next RA treatment, so I may not feel well enough to do any crafting, but I'll be back as soon as I can to show you anything I do manage to create.

Thank you for dropping by, and I'd love to read any comments you have if you get time to leave them.

Back soon

Just Believe it's Mojo Monday

Hi everyone, What a funny old day it is today!!!  One minute it's blue sky and sun, and the next it's grey sky and rain??, it cant make up its mind what it wants to do ( a bit like me with challenges?)

Anyway, this weather gave me an idea as I sat and tried to make a card with an hour to myself in the middle of a chaotic day.

I thought I'd have a go at the Mojo Monday Challenge #205 before the weekend turns into Monday again!! Their sketch looks like this

and my card looks like this, what do you think?

I started with a white card and layered it with some yellow card that had been roughened around the edges with my scissors. I then stamped the flourish from the Bliss set in black on some grey card and put it in my BS with a labels die ( I just had to use it, I'm sorry!). While the beast was out, I cut another label in black, yellow, white, and a yellow butterfly. I then stamped the flowers and grass  from Just Believe on some white card. The grey and black labels ( with added stitches drawn in a white gel pen ) were tucked under the white panel and a grey ribbon was wrapped around it and a knot added. The Just Believe sentiment was stamped in black on the white label and sponged around the edges, and then it was placed on the yellow label which was then stuck with 3D pads to give some dimension. The finishing touch was the butterfly that also had been sponged and yellow gems added along the body.

Recipe : Card = SU Whisper White, Daffodil Delight, Basic Black, and grey from my stash

Stamps = Just Believe and Bliss

Inks = Sahara Sand, Daffodil Delight, and Basic Black

Tools = Big Shot, SB Nestabilities labels and Shapeabilities butterfly

Extras = white gel pen, 3D pads, yellow gems, and grey ribbon from my stash 

I've seen this colour combo used by others crafters, but never felt brave enough to try it myself until now, and I really love the result. I hope you like it too.

We're all off to Gloucester tomorrow to see the Ship regatta, so no crafting for me ( nor the Grand Prix, but thankfully I've got Sky Plus! Phew! ) but I hope to be back in a day or so.

Thanks for dropping by

Punched Peacock Side Step

Well that's nearly another week gone, and I've still not had any real time for crafting!!

Hello to my new follower Helen T, how spooky is it that you and my last joinee are both Helens??  Anyway, you both are welcome and Thanks for becoming a follower.

I have had a go at the Simply Stampin challenge though. They call it "Punch it Up", and requires using punches in the design.

After a long think, and ignoring the urge to reach for my Big Shot, I decided to use my Blossom Petals punch to make one of my favourite birds, a peacock.

Here's what he turned out like

I started with a cream card from my stash, scored, cut and folded a strip at the side to make the side step. I mounted some aqua coloured card from my stash onto some Garden Green to create the front and 3 side panels.I then used my blossom punch to cut 5 large petals (for the tail), 1 long petal (for the body), 2 plump petals( for the wings), and 1 small petal ( for the head) from GGreen. 6 long petals were punched out of Taken With Teal, 5 for the tail and 1 to be cut in half for his neck and breast. I then used a borrowed Owl Punch ( Thanks Jacqueline) to punch 5 Whisper White circles ( Owls eyes) and 5 hearts from stash card, and one Crushed Curry Owl was cut up to make the legs, head crown and beak. The white eye came from the Owl punch and I drew his pupil with a black pen. Before sticking together I sponged each petal with Archival Opalite Cypress Frost and Sterling Frost, to try to give the bird the shimmery tinge to the feathers that the real peacocks have. It didn't quite work as I'd hoped, but I've run out of time before the challenge closes, so I hope to try the peacock again soon. The body was stuck with 3D pads to give him more dimension.

Here's a close up of the Opalite on the petals/feathers

The side panels were stamped with a Verve sentiment and a Peacock feather which I had designed and had made for me by TandaStamps. in Handsome Hunter, and coloured with a white gel pen and Bermuda Bay SU marker.

Recipe : Card = SU Garden Green, Taken with Teal, Whisper White

Punch : Blossom petals and 2 step Owl

Inks : Archival Opalites in Sterling Frost and Cypress Frost, Crushed Curry marker, and Handsome Hunter

Stamps : Peacock Feather and Verve sentiment

Extras : 3D pads and White gel pen

Right, I've minutes before the challenge closes so I'm rushing off to get this posted but I'll be back soon.

Thanks for dropping by, and I'd love your comments on my bird if you get a few seconds spare.