Something a bit different

 

 

Good morning all.  Hope you are all well.

 

Today's card is a bit of a departure for me, but I was inspired by a card from the current Craft Stamper magazine.

 

I used the Serene Snowflakes stamps from SU (I'm so glad I bought these), with pink and bronze Brilliance ink.  I added a piece of pink satin ribbon and mounted the panel on to some brown glitter paper, which I then mounted on to the base card.  I stamped the sentiment (Paula Pascual) in the pink ink and then punched it out with the Word Window punch from SU.  I also punched the Modern Label from brown glitter paper and mounted the sentiment on to that.  I then die cut the two flourishes from the glitter paper using Die-Namics Fancy Flourish, and added this to the card before finally 3D-ing the sentiment on top.

 

 

What do you think?  I'm really pleased with it, the colour scheme in particular.

 

How's you week been?  Mine has been long and busy as usual, although yesterday our school was shut for an occasional day.  I went Christmas shopping with Mark to Milton Keynes.  We had a really productive and successful day, and apart from a couple of bits and bobs, I'm done!  We had time to meet my best friend for lunch and then to call in at my sister's for a cup of tea before heading home.  We really spoilled ourselves by stopping for a meal at Pizza Express before getting home at 10pm.  We were out of the house for 13 hours!  The kids and dog were well looked after as my parent were at my house.  It was lovely to have a day with Mark, we don't get a lot of "us" time.

 

Well today is a day of Christmas card making (I hope), as well as an overdue appointment at the opticians.

 

Have a great day, thanks for dropping by.

 

Michelle x

Happy Anniversary

Yesterday was my parents' wedding anniversary and they celebrated 48 years of marriage.  Here is the card that I made for them.  The paper and the die cuts that make up the flower are from the Vintage Flowers and Papers Pad from Craftwork Cards.  I love making these flowers, they are quite addictive.  I did make three different flowers to go on this card but it was too much so I settled for just the one.  The ribbon I already had in my stash.  The sentiment is from a Paula Pascual set which I cut out using the Bitty Banners Framelits from SU.  I love these Framelits and they go through my Cuttlebug beautifully.  I'm getting quite a collection.

 

 

Today I have been making some more Christmas cards.  I've not made as many as I had hoped.  The design I have used is quite time consuming, both in colouring and in cutting out.  Hopefully they will be ready to scan soon (they're drying) and I may be able to post them tomorrow.  I'm still in shock that I have posted something everyday for the past four days!  Obviously this is not me turning over a new leaf, as soon as half term is over, I will be back to my old intermittent ways!

 

I found it quite tricky working today as the light has been awful.  I'm also struggling a bit with my eyesight - I think I need to wear varifocals but have not yet plucked up the the courage to take this step.  Consequently, my glasses are on and off depending on what I am doing - it's quite frustrating.  Getting older is such fun!

 

Hope you are all having a good day.  I'm out tonight with some friends - apparently we are going to be drinking cocktails, so maybe tomorrow won't be very productive!

 

Have fun

 

Michelle x

Anniversary Card

Hi all, hope you are having a pleasant Saturday.  I have been at my scrapbooking crop today and have had a thoroughly lovely time.  I went without any plan whatsoever, but did manage to complete a layout (in between chatting, drinking coffee and eating cake!). Emily's scrapbook is coming on slowly, but I am confident it will be finished on time.  I'm planning to get so much done at my retreat at the end of August.

As promised, here is the card I made for my sister's wedding anniversary.  I am particularly pleased with this one.

I stamped the text image from the Charming set by SU in Blushing Bride, then stamped the flower (also from Charming) over the top in Concord Crush.  I stuck it to a rectangle of Blushing Bride textured cardstock that I had already torn to size.  This card stock looks great torn, I really like the texture.  I then made a ribbon effect from Concord Crush pattered DSP and stuck it to the card.  I added the stamped element  using 3D foam pads.  I finished it off with a sentiment from Paula Pascual's All Year Round set, mounted on Blushing Bride.

I really like the subtlety of the Charming set and I am enjoying using my Stampin' Up products.  I joined a Stampers 6 club back in January run by Vicky Hayes (check it out here ) and I thoroughly recommend it.  Vicky is so inspirational, and really supportive, and she always pops a little something extra in your parcel.  My final month is June and I will be the hostess - I can't wait!

Well, that's me done for now.  As always, I really appreciate your kind comments.

Michelle x

Craft Fair Goodies

Morning all.  Phew, it's been quite a busy weekend in the Frecklepuss household this weekend - well mainly for me actually.  With just one week to go before my craft fair, I have been frantically trying to get everything finished off and packaged.  I'm now finally able to show you some of my creations.

These six packs of cards are my new designs of note cards.  Apologies for the quality of the photo.

Here are all the note cards in more detail.  For this first one, I used some paper that was a free gift from a magazine. These free papers are ideal for this sort of thing.  I made a paper ribbon from black card stock and punched the tag from my new EK Success punch (a really useful one).  The sentiment is stamped from a pack of clear stamps I have had for a while - not sure who they are by.

This next set is very Cath Kidston-esque!  The papers were another free gift, but they are actually from Craftwork Cards.  A bit too floral for me personally but ideal for this look.

I used up scraps from one of my all time favourite paper stacks - Making Memories Boho Chic.  This nine square style is so easy to make, but very effective.  I finished it off with some Prima flowers and a little bit of bling.

Another Cath Kidston inspired look, same papers as before.  The scalloped edges are punched with my favourite Fiskars punches.

Again. more free papers and Fiskars scalloped punch.  The daisy is a Martha Stewart punch which I haven't used nearly enough.  The sentiment is from a Marion Emberson set of stamps.  I added a touch of glitter glue in the centre of the flowers.

And finally, same as above really except that I added a couple of Petaloo flowers as a focal point.  I think the sentiment is a Paula Pascual stamp.

These kept me busy for a while as I had to make five of each design.  I have made matching notebooks which I will show you another day.

I did find time to go to the cinema to see the next instalment of the Twilight Saga - Breaking Dawn Part 1.  I had booked the tickets weeks ago because I wanted to see it the weekend it was released.  It was a great film and now I can't wait for Part 2.  I will probably have to read the books again soon (have lost count of how many times I have read them!).

I am definitely Team Edward - even before I saw Robert Pattinson in the role.  Mark is very tolerant of my obsession thank goodness!

Well off to get back to the mundane jobs such as washing and ironing - the penance for yesterday I guess.  Have fun!

M x

Bits and Bobs

Evening!  Well what a busy old week it's been this week.  I've made quite a few cards, been shopping quite a few times, been to the cinema, out for tea and walked the dog plenty.  Not to mention the boring chores of washing and ironing and planning meals.  I'm feeling pretty pooped to be honest.

Today Mark and I took Emily to Lakeside to buy clothes for 6th Form - not my favourite thing, shopping, but needs must.  Emily has had a rough old time in the last few  months and we did doubt that she would be able to go to 6th Form, but she is determined to give it a go.  So she needed kitting out.  Lots of clothes were tried on, a good many of them were discarded but we came home with quite a few shirts, trousers and cardigans, plus boots and a bag.  My bank account has taken quite a battering (the Ally Pally fund!!) but it will be worth it on Tuesday if she goes to school.

I wanted to share with you the card I made Mark for our Wedding Anniversary last week.  I've been meaning to post it on the challenge blog Less is More but haven't quite plucked up the courage.  I am running out of time for that one of my holiday goals, so I hope the challenge tomorrow is one I fancy!  Anyway, back to the card, it's a bit different to my usual style.  I inked all around the edge with Barn Door Distress Ink, and around the outside of the elements.  I also used Barn Door to stamp the heart border and hearts on the sentiment (which is a Paula Pascual stamp).  The main element is from a set of stamps by Marion Emberson - you know I am such a fan.  The grosgrain ribbon was from my huge (and I am not joking) collection of ribbon and the "Just For You" sentiment is from Craftwork Cards.  I wasn't too sure of the finished card at first, but I've come round to it.  Mark liked it anyway.

This next card is another departure for me too.  I'm not such a fan of cute images and rarely use them on my cards, but what can you do when you have to make a card for a 2 year old boy?  I don't really have any stash that fits the bill, until I remembered this set of paper that was a free gift from Scrapbook Magazine.  I thought the pirate boy was perfect.  I cut it out and used a strip of the waves backing paper, plus a little bit of plain card stock from DCWV and Bob's your uncle!  The button embellishments were part of the paper pack too and fit in quite nicely.

Have any of you read this book - One Day by David Nicholls?  If you haven't, I can't recommend it highly enough.  I couldn't put it down and was reading it every available minute of the day (just as well I am on holiday!).  I am toying with the idea of going to see the film version, but I have a feeling I may be disappointed - I hope Anne Hathaway can carry off a convincing Yorkshire accent.  We'll see.

Talking of the cinema, we took Emily to see The Inbetweeners film on Wednesday while Edward has been staying with my parents for a few days.  The film was very funny but SO rude!  If you are easily shocked, I wouldn't recommend it.  It is all about four 18 year old boys on holiday in Greece and nothing is left to the imagination!

I'm off to have a facial first thing in the morning - using a voucher that the children bought me for Mother's Day - and I'm really looking forward to feeling pampered.

Take care

M x

New Cards 2

I'm on a roll now! More cards to show you.

These are very simple too and didn't take very long to make. I cut a panel of coloured card and embossed the bottom half with a Swiss Dots embossing folder through the Cuttlebug. Then I cut various circles/scallops with my Nestabilities and stamped some images and words from Paula Pascual's range of stamps with Stazon ink.

I really loved the embossed bit of the card. I mainly use my Cuttlebug for cutting shapes, but I think that there will be more embossing on my cards from now on.

Hope you are all having a fab weekend. We are off to take the dog for a long walk. See you soon.

M x

New Cards 1

Here are a couple of cards that I have made recently. I used Paula Pascual stamps called Simple Flowers and my trusty Cuttlebug and Nestabilities to cut the circles. The beauty of these cards is that they took minutes to make, and that they are very inexpensive. I finished the centre of the large flowers with foiled Candi from Craftwork Cards, and added a little bit of glitter glue to the centres of the smaller flowers.

I'm feeling very happy today as I have a new toy to play with - an early birthday present. It's a new laptop. My old one was a cast off from Mark's job and was painfully slow, sometimes it wouldn't boot up at all, other times it would just switch off with no warning - totally unreliable. Not helped by the fact that Chloe had bitten off one of the keys! Anyway, all my family are clubbing together and I am feeling very lucky indeed.

Take care everyone.

M x

New Design

As you know, I have been making quite a few cards for significant birthdays this year, and I have been getting a bit bored with the same old design. I thought it was about time I tried out my new Paula Pascual Simple Flowers stamps - and I just love them! I used Marvy Matchables ink pads in Violet, Orchid and Caribbean Blue and then highlighted some areas with a Sakura Gelly Roll pen to give a little bit of shimmer. The numbers are the usual Craftwork Cards chipboard and Martha Stewart glitter. The cards were very quick to make, but very effective I think. I think there will be lots of cards appearing soon using these stamps, they are so versatile. I can't recommend them enough.

Have a great day.

M x

P.S. Don't know what's the matter with blogger. My last couple of posts have not appeared as I have laid them out - peculiar!