Hi All.  Wow, it's been a busy old time recently.  Work's been mad, and it's been pretty busy at home.  I did find time to make a couple of anniversary cards using the fab Mixed Bunch stamp set and matching punch from Stampin' Up.  I love these so much and will be using them lots (as soon as I get a bit more free time).  I stamped one of the images in Pumpkin Pie, Tangerine Tango and Real Red, then punched them out.  I then punched them in matching card stock.  I gave the stamped flowers a little but of a curl before I stuck them to the matching punched flowers.  I stuck a thin piece of ribbon around the middle of the card before I attached the flowers.  I couldn't decide which order to have the flowers, so I did one of each.  The centres of the flowers are Candi coloured with matching markers.  The sentiment is from a set by Paula Pascual.

One of these cards is for an old college friend who has been married 20 years.  I was a bridesmaid at her wedding and I had only just started going out with Mark.  It doesn't seem possible that so much time has gone by.

Talking of time passing quickly, my little boy was 13 on Thursday.  It doesn't seem 5 minutes ago that he looked like this.

And now he looks like this (complete with a bruised nose, from being bashed in the face by a tennis racquet!).  He had a lovely birthday, and was very happy with his Nintendo 3DS and a huge pile of books.  We went out for a lovely meal, and then had a big family party yesterday.

I made him a mini album instead of a card, which I will share with you soon, just haven't got round to photographing it yet.

We've also had to help him choose his options in readiness for Year 9 in September.  His school start their options courses a year earlier than most schools.  That was also hard to believe, he seems too young to be making these choices, although I am impressed by his mature approach to choosing his subjects.

We were blessed yesterday, for Edward's party, with the weather.  I know we shouldn't complain, but does it have to be this hot?!  My poor little Chloe, she doesn't know what to do with herself in the heat.  She has even gone off her food, which is virtually unheard of!!

Well, that's me for tonight.  Thanks for dropping by and I really do appreciate your kind comments.  Look after yourselves in this heat, and take care.

Michelle x

Candi Stamps

Two posts in two days!  Don't get used to it, it wont last!

Here are the two cards that I made yesterday with my new Craftwork Cards Candi Stamps.  I love this flower and have been looking for a stamp like this for a while.  I stamped it in three colours on digi-smooth card stock and cut each one out (a bit of a faff!!), then stuck them on in a wavy fashion.  The centres have Candi in them.  The ink pads I have used are my new Stampin' Up ink spots.  They are divine!  The colours are lush and they have such gorgeous names.

 Stampin' Up ink spots - Rich Razzleberry, Tangerine Tango and Melon Mamba

SU ink spots - Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie and Regal Rose

Hope you like them.  I'm really pleased with how they turned out and I'm looking forward to having more of a play (less than 3 weeks until half term!!).

Off to bed now to make up some sleep that I lost out on last night.  Chloe decided to keep us up until the early hours, howling for no reason.  In the end I caved in and let her come upstairs.  Wish me luck for tonight!

Michelle x

Fifty again!!!!

Apparently yesterday was World Card Making Day (or something like that), so what better incentive is needed to get the crafty stuff out!  This card is the penultimate one from a long list of significant age cards commissioned by a good friend of mine.  It was quite difficult to come up with a new design but I am very happy with how this one turned out.

Ingredients

Base card : Large scalloped - Craftwork Cards

Papers :The Bloomsbury Collection - Kanban

Candi : Craftwork Cards

Glitter : Martha Stewart - Golden Beryl

Thanks for visiting.  Enjoy the lovely sunshine, and fingers crossed it lasts a bit longer.

M x

Lots and lots of goodies!

Good morning!  How are you all?  I'm fine and feel nice and rested after yesterday's exertions lol! So after doing a bit of housewifely duty by doing some ironing, I have been taking photos of my lovely purchases.

My first photo is of the lovely and talented Julie Hickey from Craftwork Cards.  She is such a star, so friendly and helpful, always ready for a chat.  Craftwork Cards is always the first stand Mum and I stop at, whenever we go to a stamping show. 

I wasn't actually going to buy anything from Craftwork Cards this time, but as you can see from the photo below, I changed my mind.  I think I must be one of few who don't actually like their Warren the Rabbit images, and I'm not so keen on Frosty the Snowman either - I don't really do cute.  But I was taken the colours of the papers and card stock that go with Frosty - love the contemporary colours.  Also bought some delicious new Candy - gorgeous metallic, holographic colours.

I got a really good deal on Promarkers - 10 for £15.00, so I bought two lots to take advantage of the offer.  I won't be buying anymore for a while now so why not?

Another must have stand to visit was Sugar and Spice - I am such a fan of Marion Emberson, as I am sure I have mentioned once or twice!  So it was nice to meet her and say hello.  I bought a couple of sets of her stamps - alphabets, as well as a retro flower punch that I have wanted for a while, some silver Glamour Dust, and some crystals and a couple of packets of buttons.

These masks were  a bit of an impulse buy, but I thought they would be really handy for journalling, using Distress Inks and spray inks.

I bought some journalling spots and tags, some plain Manila tags, memo and bingo cards, as well as a script stamp from Paperartsy.

Some more Glamour Dust (crystal), some calendars and a memo stack, some glue pens and some Pinflair glue (everyone is raving about this, thought I would try it out).

The Craft Fairy is a such a great stand to visit - lots and lots of beautiful ribbon, in every colour you can imagine.  It was really hard to choose.  They are so reasonably priced too - about £1.30 for 3 metres. 

Any finally (well nearly!), two new Nestabilities, some magnetic sheets, Promarker fine nibs, a new acrylic block, some Diamond Glaze and even more buttons.

Well, that's all the purchases that I made for me.  As you can see, I had a really successful day.  My only disappointment was that Art From The Heart wasn't at the show.  I had intended to buy some more spray inks, a pack of Moleskin Journals and some pre-printed images.  I also wanted to take some photos of their beautiful artwork for inspiration, but it was not to be.  I have made an internet order since I have been home, so I am sure the products will be will me in a matter of days.

My final, final purchase at the show wasn't for me, it was for my mum, for her birthday in November.  She was umming and ahing between two designs of Martha Stewart Punch Around The Page punches - they were a really good price from Stamposaurus, so I bought one for her and she bought the other.  I'm really glad because she wanted them both so much, and now I don't have to worry about what to get her for her birthday.

If you have stayed with me until the end, thank you!  Hope you haven't been too bored.  It was so exciting to spread all my goodies out this morning and see what I spent my money on.  I won't be having anymore splurges like this for a while now - got to think about Christmas (urgh!).  Just need to find some time to have a play!!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, take care.

M x

Special Commission

Although I am trying not to take on any special commissions at the moment, I was asked by a very good friend to make a few cards for some special birthdays happening over the next few months, the first being for her mum who is going to be 80 in October.  She specifically asked for one of my concertina type cards and I thought I would ring the changes by using two pre-scored scallop edged cards and join them together.  I dug out some really old papers, firm favourites though, and used a rub-on on the Candi to subtley add the age.  What do you think?

Card blanks and Candi : Craftwork Cards

Paper : Boho Chic - Lauren from Making Memories

Stardust glitter glue

Prima flowers

Off to watch the new series of Downton Abbey, am very excited!

M x

What a week!

Boy, am I glad this week is over!  It's been such a long, busy week and I feel absolutely wrecked.  Mark has been on a four day jolly - oops!  I mean business trip - to Spain and only got back last night.  He did bring me some chocolate, a bottle of gin and a bottle of perfume, so he is forgiven, but I am so tired with being virtually a single parent.  It was a big help that my lovely mum came to stay for four days (thank you Mum!) and she took care of Emily during the day, as well as Chloe, and kept my house clean and tidy - she's a star!  I haven't even had the energy to pick up my crochet in the evenings, not that there has been that much time, what with dog walking, school meetings and dog training.  Anyway, it's the weekend now, time to recharge the batteries.

So now I have the time, I'd like to share a couple more cards with you.  These were a bit experimental but I am so happy with how they turned out.  I bought a bag of mixed flowers in the sale from Craftwork Cards and these matched up with some blank cards that I already had in my stock.  I teamed them with a bit of ribbon and a sentiment, and added Candi to the centres - couldn't be simpler.  Hope you like them.

Have a great weekend.  I plan to make a few more cards, do a bit to my blanket and generally chill out a bit.  I'm off to have a rather large G&T.  Cheers!

M x

Stampin' Up

Hi everyone.  Hope you are all having a good weekend.  I think everyone's thoughts are centred around the events on this day 10 years ago, and I am sure like me, you can all remember vividly what you were doing when you heard the news.  I still can't watch the footage without feeling very emotional.  My thoughts are with the families and friends of the victims and all those brave people who risked their own lives to save people.

On a lighter note, I wanted to share with you, a card I made yesterday with my Stampin' Up stamps - Pocket Silhouettes (6 stamps in the set).  I am very impressed with the quality of the stamps, although slightly dismayed to have to assemble them myself!  For this card I stamped the image with a Distress ink pad - Dusty Concord and was very pleased with the results.

I really like using these landscape A6 cards, it makes such a change,  The problem is, I don't know where I got them from!  I have used some purple grosgrain ribbon from my stock and the ubiquitous Candi and sentiments from Craftwork Cards.  The style is a bit new for me, slightly adventurous, but I'm really pleased with the effect.

I've had a pretty bad week with things not working out how I needed them to.  There has been a lot of stress and upset.  Today is a better day and I have my fingers crossed for tomorrow.  I have been feeling very low and I have found it difficult to read other people's blogs and see photos of lovely crochet, flowers, homes etc where everything seems to be perfect - it's particularly difficult when it is so far from what I am feeling at the moment.  Then I read a couple of blogs where people were questioning why they blog and what was the point.  I often feel like that, especially as I have so few followers after blogging for two years.  I do have three very loyal followers however and I thank them very sincerely for sticking with me - you know who you are :)

But I have decided that the reason for the blogging in the first place was for me and a record of what I have been making, and I can't pretend my life is perfect, and really, whose is?!  So here I am for the foreseeable future and thanks for bearing with me during this moment of self pity.

M x

Good morning!  Well, this is the last day of my summer holiday, so regular postings will now go out of the window!  Here are three more cards to share with you, all for birthdays in September.

 Ingredients

Card, embossed frame and sentiment : Craftwork Cards

Ink : Versamagic Spring Pansy

Ribbon : Craft Fairy

Glitter Glue : Stardust

Ingredients

Card blank, sentiment, Candi : Craftwork Cards

Flowers : Prima

Paper : Sugar and Spice by Dovecraft

Ingredients

Card blank, Candi, Digi Smooth cardstock : Craftwork Cards

Cardstock : From stash

Stamp : Time for Tea by Beth Gunnell (free with Quick Cards Made Easy)

Nestabilites : Large Classic Oval and Large Scalloped Oval

Promarkers : Duck Egg, Walnut, Lime Zest, Sky Blue, Meadow Green, Canary, Peach, Rose Pink

Sakura Glitter Gel Pen

I think it will be unlikely that I will get any more cards made today which is a pity.  My day will be spent getting myself and the children ready for tomorrow - checking bags, pencil cases, PE kits etc.  Making sure shoes are polished and phones are charged and locker keys are found.  I'm trying to eliminate the panic tomorrow - would like the morning to be calm, particularly for Emily - so no dramas would be good!  I'm off to chivvy Edward to get dressed (how is he going to get ready on time tomorrow??!!) so that we can walk the dog.

Have a fun day.

M x

Even More Christmas Cards

Morning all!  Here's another batch of Christmas cards to share with you.  All materials are as before. 

I can't believe it's the last day of August already and that the summer holidays are almost over. I feel like I need to start them all over again, as I haven't achieved everything that I wanted to.  I am not looking forward to getting back on the treadmill of being back to school, the routine of packed lunches, uniform, homework etc.  The holidays have not been that great, due to personal reasons, and it's only this last week, just when it is nearly over, that things have started looking up. I guess that's the way life goes, but sometimes I wish things were different - ah well, never mind, just feeling a little bit sorry for myself.

Have a good day everyone.

M x

More Christmas Cards

Hope everyone has had a great Bank Holiday weekend.  Mine has been very productive.  I've made all my September birthday cards, no mean feat because there are so many of them.  I've also spent a lot of time helping Emily declutter her room.  So far we have filled the paper recycling box and 2 black sacks as well.  Still nowhere near being finished yet!

Mark has been a busy bunny and had a mad scanning session yesterday (he moaned a lot!).  I think he scanned about 35 cards.  I did say that he should have scanned as I made them and not left them all until the end - but would he listen? Lol!!

The following cards measure 10cm x 10cm and are all made from the Trim the Tree paper collection from Craftwork Cards.  I don't know if you can tell from the photos but the trees are 3D.  They are made from 3 diecut trees, all scored down the middle and stuck together.  They fold flat when they are in their envelopes.

The next four cards use the fancy edge cards from Craftwork Cards.  I wasn't too convinced about these at the time.  I've only just come round to scalloped edge cards!  But now I love them and use them all the time. The Candi suits them too.

I hope you like them and I look forward to showing you some more tomorrow.  Make the most of my regular posts - it'll all go to pot when I go back to work!!

M x

50th Birthday

This is a card I made for my friend who will be 50 on Tuesday.  I decided to make the 50 quite discreet, not that she has a problem with her age, and used white rub-ons for the purpose.  I love this paper, I think it is so pretty.

Card blank : White hammered landscape C6 - had for ages

Paper : Sugar and Spice by Dovecraft

Cardstock : DCWV

Flowers : Petaloo

Candi - Craftwork Cards

I'm really pleased with it and hope Katrina likes it too.  I've actually made another one without the 50 for a friend whose birthday is in September.

I haven't been able to make any cards today, despite that being the plan, because I have been helping Emily sort her room out, clear her desk etc, in readiness for 6th Form.  This is not a small task as her room resembles the aftermath of a tornado, typical teenager bedroom.  She has decided to be ruthless and we have filled a black bin bag already and we have barely started!  Wish me luck.

M x

And the end of another busy week . . . .

Thank goodness! As we near the end of term, work is just getting more and more frantic. This week I have been making props for our Year 6 production on The Wizard of Oz, backing display boards, mounting work, painting a rainbow and making an Emerald City for the display, not to mention dressing up as a Victorian school teacher. It doesn't look like it's going to ease up anytime soon. I've got a list as long as my arm of jobs to do on Monday. Two more weeks and counting.

I never got round to posting some photos of my birthday presents. This first one is from a friend at work who knows me so well. Unfortunately they have all gone - boy could I have done with some of these yesterday!

Mum and Dad, as well as contributing the lion's share to my laptop, also gave me some more Promarkers to add to my collection. The colours are lovely. I'm going to need a new storage box for them soon, as I can't get the lid on the tin I'm currently keeping them in.

My parents also gave me four packets of Candi, some fancy edge blank cards and a storage box for the Candi - all from Craftwork Cards.

Mark and the children gave me The King's Speech on DVD and a couple of packets of Thorntons chocolates, as well as a contribution to my laptop of course. Can't wait to find the time to watch the film, as it is fantastic (and the chocolates didn't last long!).

Hope you are all having a lovely, relaxing weekend. Ours is very busy - just what I need after an exhausting week, but heigh ho!

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

Freebies

Here is a card I made using paper that was a free gift with a scrapbooking magazine, and the stamp was also free with a card making magazine. Normally I'm not that keen on the free gifts that magazines tempt us with, but both these caught my eye. Of course, the magazines themselves are ones that I always buy, so I wasn't lured by the free gift alone!

The stamped image is coloured in with my trusty Promarkers. The little green circles are Candi by Craftwork Cards - really like their new range of printed Candi - these have little flowers on them. I cut the circles using my Cuttlebug and Nestabilities, and the scalloped border was done with a Fiskars border punch. Oh, and a little bit of glitter glue here and there! A very quick and simple card to make. Hope you like it.

Hope you are having a restful day.

M x