On Route to South Africa

Well it's 5.15 in the morning to us but we are sitting in a bar in Dubai airport waiting for our connecting flight to South Africa!  We have been looking forward to this trip for so long and are meeting my sister and brother in law there tomorrow as they are making their way from Spain.
We have so much planned for while we are there, I am sure I will come home brimming with ideas to turn into cards!
Just wish I was able to sleep on the flight here. Mark slept all the way, but I didn't sleep a wink! Hopefully adrenaline will keep me going until we get to our hotel later today!

On A Roll Now!

I have been busy making cards over the summer, just haven't had chance to put them on my blog, so here is another one I made for Joanna Sheen, using her gorgeous 'The Age Of Elegance' CD.

I used an 8 x 8 base card and layered green card on top.  I then cut some white card to size to layer over the top of the green card and embossed it with the Spellbinders M bossabilities 'Dainty Dots' embossing folder, which is just so versatile and elegant.  I tied a length of green ribbon towards the bottom of the white cards and then stuck it to the base card.
I printed one of the topper sheets from the CD and cut the main image using one of my Spellbinders dies, layering it onto cream and coffee coloured layers before fixing it towards the top pf the card using foam pads.
One of the smaller images from the topper sheet I punched out using my Epiphany tool from Crafters Companion and attached it to the ribbon with a tie, using the same ribbon as before.
I finished the card with some artificial flowers I had in my stash.

I am entering this card into the following challenge:

Joanna Sheen - Coffee and Cream
 

It's Been A Busy Summer!

Phew - what a summer!  It's been amazingly glorious of course, but also extremely busy both at work and at home and this is the first time I have had chance to blog for ages!

I just thought I would show one of the cards I designed for Joanna Sheen a while ago using one of the Grufflies stamp sets - 'Bearytastic Day'.

I wanted to show how a card can be made just using the small images which come on these stamp sets.  I randomly stamped the paper cases and chocolate image on white paper and coloured them in using Promarkers.  I cut the paper down to size to layer on top of a square card blank and brown card, colouring the edges of the paper with Antique Linen Distress Ink before sticking it down.
For the main image, I used the smaller images of the used coffee cups, which I stamped to the side of a computer generated sentiment and coloured again using the Promarkers.  I then cut the image down to size using Martha Stewarts Punch Around The Page punches along the bottom edge and top two corners.  I stuck a piece of striped coffee and cream ribbon towards the bottom edge and layered it onto another piece of brown card.
I stuck this onto the main card using foam pads, with a small doily placed to the top left hand corner.
I finished the card using paper flowers I coloured with my Promarkers and stuck pearls to the centre.
The colour combination for this card would go lovely with the blog giveaway by The Ribbon Girls  - use this link to visit their shop and see the amazing goodies they have on offer.

I am entering this card into the following challenge:

Joanna Sheen - Coffee and Cream

Wedding Belle

I haven't had chance to blog for a while as I have been busy with orders and work, but I thought I would show you one of the cards my sister asked me to make for her friend that is getting married in September.

They all live in Spain, although the wedding is in England and, as his job is arranging golfing holidays on the Costa del Sol, and she works for my sister getting apartments ready for their owners arrival, the brief was to have the bride and groom walking through a guard of honour of golf clubs and something to do with cleaning!

I had a golf club in my stash and managed to find this cute broom on Ebay from the dolls house section.  The figures were cut using my trusted Cricut and the background is a picture of the actual church they are getting married in.

I added to the theme by giving the groom a buttonhole of golf ball and tee and the brides bouquet is a feather duster! Finally, a sentiment was added to the top using a spellbinders banner die.

I hope they like the card as much as I enjoyed making it.

I have entered this card into the Bearly Mine Challenge - dies or punches

Also make sure you check out the great giveaway by The Ribbons Girls
giving you everything you need to beautifully embellish any wedding card.

Pennies from Heaven

I found a really sweet poem on the Katy Sue Designs 'Grandma's Button Box' CD, which inspired me to adapt it a little and create a card based on the old Bing Crosby song - Pennies from Heaven

This lovely Magnolia stamp, aptly named 'Beautiful Tilda' seemed to fit the theme perfectly as my little Angel, tossing down the penny, which has landed in a flower bed!

I'm not sure if you will be able to read the poem, but here is the inside of the card with the poem written in it

Talking of things Heavenly, The Ribbon Girls are giving away a fantastic blog candy this week of hemp twine and vintage pink Anenome flowers.  Have a look and put your name down for a chance to win by the 18th.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:
 
Joanna Sheen - Music and Lyrics
Time For Magnolia - Mothers Day
Bearly Mine - Lucky Dip - I used Diecuts, gems and flowers
Tildas Town - Something Old, Something New

Ice Cream Tilda

Well, summer still hasn't arrived properly yet, although we had a brief taste of it last week, so I thought to get in the summer mood, I would make a card using the lovely Tilda and big ice cream stamp.

 

 The flowers on this card were made from tissue paper which had been wrapped around something I had bought previously.  I punched three layers for each flower from two different sized flower punches.  I found this worked best if you sandwiched the tissue paper between two pieces of copier paper and you can easily cut out the three layers in one go.

The leaves were cut using the Magnolia Doo Hickeys fern die and the swirl for the top flower was also a Doo Hickeys die.

I made it into an easel card to fit the criteria of the 'Time for Magnolia' challenge.  I hope you like her!
 
I am entering this card into the following challenges:

Joanna Sheen Challenge - Recycle
Tilda's Town - Happy May Day/Flowers
Time for Magnolia - Easel card & a Magnolia stamp
Ribbon Girl - Magnolia Only, add a die cut
Marvellous Magnolia - Special Lady

 

House Mouse Fun

Where has the time gone recently?  I have been busy making samples for Joanna Sheen's new Triple House Mouse CD, which is adorable and sure to be a sell out, and due out at the beginning of May - so keep your eyes out!
But making the samples reminded me of some samples I made before for some House Mouse decoupage, which I thought I would show you.

This lovely image of the two mice caught up in a ball of wool just cried out for a 'wooly' embellishment, so I set out to make a couple of 'knitting needles' using two cocktail sticks, cut down to size, and stuck a pink bead to the top of each.  The sticks may need to be sanded slightly at the top to let the bead slide on easily.  I then rolled a length of wool into a ball and, when happy with the size, run a length of glue up the ball to hold the end in place and also to stop the ball unwinding.  Then just push the two needles in at an angle and you have your perfect embellishment!
 

On Your Special Day

Having recently got back from a trip to see my sister and her family in Spain over Easter and getting a bit of warm sunshine, and then seeing the sunshine this morning, I thought I would make a bit of a spring-like card.
The usual spring themes are daffodils but, looking out of my window this morning and seeing our Magnolia tree starting to break open its buds, inspired me to use the beautiful Tilda with Magnolia Branch stamp, together with the pretty Magnolia background stamp.

 As I am entering this card into the Bearly-Mine Challenge, I based the design on a sketch required for the challenge.  The smaller panel of background paper was taken from Crafters Companion Humphrey's Year CD.

 The images were coloured using Spectrum Noir pens.  Now I am off for a walk on the seafront and a late lunch to make the most of this springlike weather!

I am entering this card into the following challenges:

The Ribbon Girls - Add flowers
Marvelous Magnolia Challenge - Anything Goes
Crafters Companion - Flowers
Spectrum Noir - Spring
Bearly-Mine - Follow a sketch
Tilda's Town - F&F or U&E

Spring Has Sprung!

Well, in my card it has anyway!  Fed up of the gloomy cold weather I decided to make a nice bright card with the lovely Magnolia Cuddly Siblings stamp and background.

I cut out the image using the Spellbinder Wonky Squares die and layered it on to some orange card.  The butterflies were cut using the Marianne Topirary & Butterfly die and the swirl with the beautiful Memory Box Riviera Corner.

I hope this helps to brighten your day.  Something else which might is the lovely candy giveaway the Ribbon Girls are offering until the 30th March.  Pop over and take a look.

I have entered this card into the following challenges:

Tilda's Town - Think Spring

Time for Magnolia Challenge - Spring with main colours orange/yellow with image of Edwin and Tilda

Marvelous Magnolia - Dies

Where did Spring go?

It was supposed to be the first day of Spring the other day, only someone forgot to tell the weather man!  We have actually been very lucky on the Isle of Wight, with none of the white stuff, just plenty of wet stuff and cold with it.  So my card today is probably more seasonal and correct than it should be for this time of year!

For this I used the lovely House Mouse stamp 'Snuggle Up' from Joanna Sheen.  The image is so lovely I decided to keep it very simple and just use one of the Martha Stewart punches around the page stamps and layer it on to a base card of deep copper brown.  The image was coloured with Promarkers and highlighted with glitter.

I have entered this card into the following challenge:

Joanna Sheen - Come Rain or Shine

Underwater Birthday

For a long time now I have been meaning to try out the effect of using hair gel in a sealed plastic bag to give a squidgy, touchy feely effect to a card, and I thought this idea went well with an underwater theme. 

 So I gave it a go using the lovely Swimming Tilda stamp.  I coloured her in with my Promarkers and added a couple of 'seaweed' branches cut from green card with the Magnolia Leaf and Swirl die.

I put a small amount of gel in a bag (which I checked had no holes!!) and attached it to the underside of the frame I had made using the Spellbinders dies.  This was layered on top of an 8x8 card and embellished with the lovely Ahoy Tilda and Pair of Lighthouses Stamps from Magnolia.

I was really pleased with the result and have entered the card into the following challenges:

Tildas Town - Anything Goes
Bearly-Mine Challenges - Anything Goes

Bath Time

I have made this card today for my sons girlfriends birthday.  She's a great fan of the colour green and relaxing in a nice bath full of bubbles!

I used an 8x8 scalloped edge card blank because they added to the impression of bubbles, but the background papers I wanted to use came from a 6x6 pad from First Edition.  So I cut both papers into quarters and attached the first four into each corner of the green base layer.  The other quarters were attached each end to a strip of green card and attached in a cross shape to the first layer.

 The 'hole' in the middle was covered by the stamped image of Tilda with Bath Cap and Bath Tub.  I cut a frame from green card and randomly dotted 'pearls' around the edge with Cosmic Shimmer Cosmic Pearl PVA.  The image was coloured with promarkers and Spectrum Noir and the additional bathtime buttons are from Craft Time.

I have entered this card into the following challenges:

The Ribbon Girls - Green and White

Tilda's Town - Anything Goes

Joanna Sheen - Mums the Word
The Crafter's Cafe - Green and/or St Patrick's Day

A Vintage Birthday

I wanted to have a go at making a vintage looking birthday card for one of my husbands colleagues, as I've not really made one before, and I must admit, I was quite pleased with the way it turned out.

 I used the Magnolia Birthday Tilda stamp for the main image and coloured her in using Promarkers.  I then cut her out using the Spellbinders Nestabilities Floral Oval die.

The backing papers are from the Prima Botanical Collection papers.  The lace edging was in my stash and I threaded a length of what was thin white ribbon, but coloured it to match with Promarkers, through the holes in the lace.

The flowers are from Celebrate It and are from the Occasions fabric flowers collection.  I used Kort & Godt green pearls for the centres.  The swirl is cut using the Memory Box Elegant Scrollwork die.

I have entered this card into the following challenges:

Joanna Sheen - Mums the Word

Time for Magnolia - Happy Birthday

While on the subject of challenges, pop over to the Ribbons Girls blogspot and have a go at their flower giveaway, it's for a beautiful collection of flowers - good luck!

Beginners Luck?

Hi Everyone

I was so excited to find out today that my 'I Do' card had come in the top five picks for Tilda's Town - Understated and Elegant challenge.
As I have only just joined the world of blogging and challenges, I was so pleased.  Let's hope I can be lucky again one day! 

Mother's Day

Who can believe it is March already and Mother's Day is almost upon us?  I made this card for my Mum using a decoupage image from the brilliant 'Best of La Pashe' CD, which I love.

It was extremely quick and easy to make, as the image says it all, but I layered the image onto a Magic Mirror Die'Sire Decorative Die, cut from green card and highlighted the corners with gems.

The flowers are from Wild Orchid and also some I bought from the NEC.

The background paper is from the Dovecraft Aquamarine floral print paper pack.

I am entering this card into the Bearly Mine - Mothers Day Challenge.

Happy Anniversary

Making the wedding card in my previous post reminded me that it will be mine and my wonderful husband's 13th wedding anniversary soon, so I also made this card.

I wanted to use the lovely 'Together Forever' stamp from LOTV, which I hadn't had chance to play with yet.  I stamped the image twice and cut one out using a Spellbinders Labels 20 die, inking the edges with Weathered Wood Distress Inks.  I coloured both images identically with a mixture of my Promarkers, Flexmarkers and Spectrum Noir's (you see, I knew I needed all those pens!)

I glued a length of Bakers Twine over the swing ropes on the base image and then cut out the second image and stuck that over the top with pinflair glue.

I cut out a branch using my Sizzix 'Branches and Birds' strip die and glued it to the top of the twine to look like the swing is hanging from the branch.

The base card was layered in brown and green card and then some green backing paper I had in my stash (free from a magazine, I think).  I then made another panel with brown and green card and layered this with paper from the Trimcraft Helz Cuppleditch Neighbourwood paper pack.

Towards the bottom of this panel I attached a length of green organza ribbon and stuck the 'Forever Together' sentiment,which has also been cut out with a Label 20 die and edged in Distress Ink.

I added some small butterflies cut from lemon card with the Marianne Topirary and Butterfly die and added some small green gems to the bodies.

I have also entered the card into the following challenge:

The Ribbon Girls - Add ribbon or twine

I Do!

At last - Spring has arrived! (Well, at least for today!)  After a very chilly start, we had bright skies and warm sunshine (or should I say warmer!), and it started me thinking that wedding season will be apon us soon. So I thought I would make a wedding card to be included in my next batch to go to the Cafe where they kindly display my cards for sale.

I chose this beautiful Magnolia stamp, Bride and Bridesmaid because I think it is adorable.  I coloured the image with Promarkers and highlighted the dresses and flowers with glitter, adding pearls to the brides neck.

I used a backing paper from the Dovecraft Wedding Designer Paper Pack and a Martha Stewart Punch Around The Page punch for the lace detail.

The image was cut out with a Spellbinders Labels One die and the flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts.

I have entered this card into the following challenge:

Tilda's Town - Fussy & Fancy or Understated and Elegant

Happy 9th Birthday, LOTV

This card was made for two reasons, One, for the LOTV 9th Birthday Competition

And two, for my friends birthday as she also happens to love the LOTV images.

I have used the Rosie with Cake Stamp and coloured her in using Promarkers.  The background papers are from a Lucy Cromwell Designstax pad from Papermania. I put a doily behind the main image and cut the image out using a Spellbinders Labels 27 die.

The sentiment is from the LOTV Calendars Stamps set, and was cut out using the Spellbinders star die.  I edged the cut stamps with Tim Holtz Spun Sugar Distress Inks.  The pearls on the background strip are from Kort and Godt.

The flowers are either from my stash or came from Wild Orchid.  The small butterfly die was the Marianne Topirary and Butterfly die set.

I made the candle by tightly rolling a small strip of paper with a small length of black cotton glued to the inside.

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

LOTV 9th Birthday Card Competition

Joanna Sheen Challenge Blog - Layer it Up

Drip Drop Tilda

I recently bought this lovely stamp from Creashop Duymelot, it is one of their own special Magnolia Stamps, and she is gorgeous!
I thought I would use a rocker card cut form the largest of the Spellbinders Grand Scalloped Circles die, folded in half, as I felt it somehow added to the watery theme.  I carried the theme on by using the Memory Box Bid Splash border die, Elegent Scrollwork and Chesapeake Scrollwork dies.  The glittered backing paper is from the First Edition Summer Breeze paper pad.

 

I coloured the image using Promarker and Spectrum Noir Pens, highlighting the water drops and giving Tilda a small puddle to stand in, with Anita's 3D Clear Gloss Finish.

The ribbon was a white ribbon I had, coloured with the Spectrum Noir pens.  I attached a small umbrella charm to the bow.

The flowers are from Wild Orchid and I added light green Doodle Drewdrops from Polkadoodles.  The leaves are some I found in a shop on my travels in Vietnam!

I have entered this card in the following challenges:

Drip Drop Tilda - duymelot.blogspot.nl

Anything Goes - Magnolia Only Challenge - The Ribbon Girls

'Layer it Up' - Daily Talent Spot, Joanna Sheen Challenge Blog