29/08/2012

WOYWW 169

Please help - can anyone tell me why it is that the past couple of weeks I have found it impossible to leave comments on lots of people's WOYWW posts?  Some of them were blogs I have commented on before, but for the last two or three weeks, when I type in my comment and click publish, it comes up 'Navigation to this webpage was cancelled' and doesn't actually publish my comment at all - very frustrating!

Now back to my desk this week - not much happening really, I've been too busy decorating Hannah's bedroom and preparing schemes of work for going back to school.  You will see some paper, ribbon, pins and stamps - I'm planning another card with a sewing theme, for this weeks PFP challenge - 'pins and needles.'  I punch out wee ovals of various card sheets and make myself swatches, so that I have all the shades to hand, instead of having to pull the actual sheets out to match up with paper.  The bee was recently rediscovered when I was down at Mums - he was part of an assignment when I was doing my teacher training a VERY long time ago - and he's lost an eye, but still smiling! Mind you I think those wings look more like ears now!  You might just notice a new flowery memory stick - well I 'needed' to get something new and girly for going back to school!!
To visit everyone's desk go to Julia's blog HERE.

23/08/2012

Back to school

This weeks Simon Says challenge is 'Back to school.'  So as this card was made for someone who passed their GCSE's and so is going back to school to do A levels, I thought I coud enter it!  The card, paper and ribbon are all from SU and the image was a free download, coloured with Promarkers.  The 'well done' is from a clear set of LOTV stamps and it was then die cut using a Nestabilities die.  The flower was made using punches.  Unfortunately, it IS almost time to go back to school - we have to go in for a staff meeting next Friday and then everyone goes back on the Monday - mind you, I will probably have a few weeks off almost straight away as I have surgery on the 14th, and will need some time to recover (and craft) afterwards!

22/08/2012

A very late WOYWW 168!

I'm a bit late with my WOYWW post this week - but it's still Wednesday, so I'm sure it's OK!  The reason for this is that I have been down at Mum's for few days, making the best of the last few days of holiday, before we go back to school.  Consequently, my workdesk this week, is actually Mum's kitchen table! I brought down the wedding stationery to finish it off.  I had double sided tape on the back of all the panels and had made up all the wee bows while sitting out in the sun last week, so it was just a matter of putting it all together.  The tags are for the place cards - I was able to cut them out on the Cricut machine and then the names will be printed on cream card and stuck on top.  The strange looking stuff on the plate in the background was a bit of lobster my uncle gave me yesterday - he caught eight of them yesterday morning! (I don't think he eats them all - he sells most of them!) Anyway, it was something to snack on while I was hard at work!!
Thought I should show you this wee pic of my twin nieces after eating jaffa cakes - I'm not sure how Katie managed to keep so clean, while Lauren ended up with it all over her face!

17/08/2012

Oh so girlie

This weeks challenge on the LOTV blog challenge is' Oh so girlie', so I have used this cute baby image to make a dedication card.  The pink card is 'pink piroutte' from SU and the image was coloured with Promarers and Flexmarkers.  For the layout I have used the sketch from the latest Friday Sketch Challenge.  The label was cut using a spellbinders die and the flowers and leaves are punches.  I coloured the pearls using a Promarkers - a tip from Edna (thanks!).  I think the pearl heart came from Mei Flower.

15/08/2012

WOYWW 167

Back to WOYWW again - to find out what its all about, visit Julia's blog HERE.  I wasn't able to leave many comments last week as on a lot of blogs when I tried to comment, it came up 'navigation to this webpage was cancelled' - did anyone else have this problem, or is there something else I can do? 
This week I'm trying to finish my niece's wedding stationery - just 160 orders of service to do now! I have printed and punched out the labels, layered them and now I'm sticking on the wee pearls at each side.  To the left of the photo you can also see the embossed panels all waiting to be layered up, then I  have the ribbon, bow and pearl embellishment to add.  I would like to get them finished this week, but as we're in the middle of decorating Hannah's room, it might not happen! I spent today tearing off wallpaper and removing skirting boards and architrave!

10/08/2012

Baby bear

Another baby card today - following the layout on the Sketch Saturday challenge.  The card and paper are both 'bashful blue' from SU and the cute image is a LOTV stamp, coloured with Promarkers.  The flowers are punched, as are the squares of paper, and then sanded around the edges.  The sentiment stamp is from a clear set (Woodware, I think).  I have followed the Allsorts 'recipe' for this week - 3 flowers, 2 stamps, 1 paper, - so I can enter it there and as I have just used blue, I can enter the LOTV challenge for this week also - as its 'monochrome.'  The CCT challenge for this week is 'Tag, you're it!' - I thought initially that you had to make a tag, but from looking at the DT examples, I think a card with a tag on it is OK, so I can enter it there as well!

09/08/2012

Sewing Tilda Thank You

The name of this Magnolia stamp is 'Tilda makes blueberry blanket' - but I thought they looked like wee roses and coloured them red!!  The red card has come out very deep in this photo - it must be to do with the lovely sunshine were having at the moment.  Anyhow, its actually Riding Hood red from SU and the paper is from a free pack that came with the Simply Homemade magazine a while back.  The ribbon is from SU and the rose was made using a Tim Holtz sizzix die.  The challenge this week on Just Magnolia is to make your own flowers, so I will enter this card.  The layout is this weeks Sweetstop Challenge sketch, so I can enter it there as well.

Pen Storage

At 'Show your stash' this week they want to see different ways in which pens are stored - so here is a photo of my Promarker storage.  I bought the cube from Vixx Craft Storage - they come in an unfinished chipboard, which you can then paint to match your colour scheme.  They also do larger sizes - but I wanted one which wouldn't take up too much space on my desk.  I always stick a white adhesive circle (available from most stationery shops) onto the flat end of the Promarker and then colour it in to show at a glance which colour is which.  I also have one of the blank charts printed off from the Letraset site, coloured with the markers I have and then I use this to choose which pens I will need to match up with the paper I've used on the card.

08/08/2012

Engagement

Another quick card today using a LOTV die cut square.  The paper is from the Papermania pad - well its been sitting out on my desk, so I've been using it for everything!  The little felt flower and leaves is a retired pack from SU (I hardly ever use them as I don't want to use them all up when I know I won't be able to get any more!! - I'm afraid I do that a lot - that's why my craft room is stuffed full!). Anyway, it means I can enter this weeks Papertake Weekly challenge as it's 'Anything goes', with the option of adding felt.  The sentiment stamp is from LOTV and the oval punches are from SU.  The doily heart came from last years craft fair at the NEC - speaking of the craft fair at the NEC, we have recently found out that Easyjet are starting flights to Birmingham in the Autumn and we have been able to book flights with them for the Friday (9th Nov) of the craft fair for under £50 return - if anyone else from NI was thinking of going, you should check it out.  We were very diasappointed when BMI Baby pulled out of Belfast, but at least this should make up for it - Flybe seems to be much more expensive.  The only disadvantage is that the flight leaves at 7:10 am and when you live as far from the airport as we do, it will be a very very early start!!  .

WOYWW 166

A bit of a mess on my desk this week - this comes from trying to make baby cards and men's birthday cards all at once! I have stamped the motorbike using a SU stamp and the ties are a Great Impressions stamp.  The ship is a Hobby Art stamp and the fisherman is by Personal Impressions.  I now need to choose paper and colour them in to match.  The wee drawers contain various baby images and bears, rabbits etc.  You can also see a big roll of double sided tape - I buy these rolls in packs of 12 from Viking Direct as I use them for sticking together all the layers on my cards.  You might be able to see a wee pack of heart shaped pink and green paper clips - not sure what I'm going to do with them yet - but I saw them in Monsoon and thought they would come in useful for something!

To find out what everyone else has been making this week, visit Julia's blog HERE.

07/08/2012

Quick wedding card

I had to make a wedding card today but didn't have much time to do it, so out came one of the last of my wee pack of LOTV cute squares - I really wish they still made these as they are just so useful.  The paper came from the Papermania pack I've been using for all kinds of cards recently and the sentiment is from Craftwork Cards.  The flowers were made using one of my favourite punches, with a gem in the centre.  As it's quite plain I think it would be suitable for this weeks CCT challenge - 'Clean and simple.'

I had made 6 baby cards for a customer at the end of the week, but can't believe I gave them to her having forgotten to take any photos - it must be my age! My little sis was a big 40 at the weekend - so that makes me really OLD!

02/08/2012

LOTV Baby Girl

I have the pink version of the LOTV bear today, using the pink papers from the same Papermania pad.  For the layout I used the Friday Sketch Challenge sketch. I didn't have the right shade of plain pink card so I used the Carnation Pink Promarker to colour white card and also the card candi.  The image was coloured using Promarkers and Flexmarkers.  The sentiment stamp is also from LOTV and the oval punches are from SU. 

01/08/2012

WOYWW 165


On my desk this week you will see a couple of cross stitch pictures I was asked to stitch.  They were kits from DMC and all the threads, needles, etc were included in the pack.  I haven't been able to contact the lady who owns them yet, to tell her they are finished (I think she has gone on holiday) but hopefully she'll be pleased with them when she collects them.  The good thing about showing you these pictures is, that they hide all the clutter on my desk! - I have at least 30 cards to make this week, for a range of occasions, and that means my craft room tends to get very untidy!  Mind you, I came home the other day to find a man with a clipboard in the middle of my craft room and it turns out he had been measuring it (and everything else) to re-evaluate our house for rates - we're a bit anxious now that we'll be getting a large bill, as the extension was built five years ago and they're only getting round to assessing it now - hopefully they don't backdate the bill for five years!
To find out what everyone else has been up to this week visit Julia's blog HERE.