Christmas Design 2010

Last year I struggled to make a different Christmas card for everyone, so this time I decided to choose one design that I could repeat but changing the colours. I used a relatively simple design with elements I cut out on my Craft Robo. Even with Martin's help though it seemed to take forever to make 25 but i'm pleased with how they turned out and people seemed to appreciate them.

Boxed Cards to Sell

The girls at work keep asking when I'm going to bring in some homemade cards for them to buy, so I decided i'd make some Christmas cards to take in. I did four cards each of five different designs and boxed them up together. They were really well received and I managed to sell them for £10 a box, which I was really pleased with!





















I actually had to make this extra as a special request for my colleague who loves all things penguin related...

New Background Stamps

I haven't blogged for a while so thought i'd share with you my new background stamps i've brought from America. They are clear 5 inch square stamps by Impression Obsession and are an absolute dream to stamp with. There's over 50 designs I think and they work amazingly with Big & Juicy Ink Pads. The second photo is a quick example with a ruler to show the size...

Hobbycrafts Show at NEC

I had a great day at the NEC last Friday and was lucky enough to meet up with two of the lovely ladies from MSE. I got everything on my shopping list (plus a few extras) and my fingers were ready to drop off by the end of the day from carrying all my goodies! I love seeing what other people have brought so thought i'd share some photos of my stash:







I also got a Metric Scorpal which has been confiscated by Martin as he's giving it to me for Christmas...

Digi Scrapbooking?

I've never been overly interested in scrapbooking until I recently saw Digital Scrapbook Artist 2 advertised on Create & Craft. It looked so easy to create fabulous pages and there's loads of cool features! I downloaded the Compact version to have a play with before buying the full version. This is the first page i've done and it only took 30 minutes - what do you think?

World of Warcraft Birthday Card

This is a card I made at the beginning of the month for a colleague at work. He's a gamer and likes World of Warcraft so i've used his character, a background map from the game, WoW font and greeting. I'm happy to say he loved it though I think a lot of people were a bit confused when I passed it round the office to be signed!

Shaped Anniversary Card

So Martin asked if i'd help him make his parents a 32nd anniversary card. Suprise suprise that involved me making the card and him taking the credit lol! To give him his due though he came up with the original idea for the layout, which I then designed and cut out on my Craft Robo. I love the idea of shaped cards but they're a bit hard to write in...

Congrats Random Font Card

When I got back from my holiday I found out my colleague had got engaged so I decided to make him a quick card. I've always wanted to do one using a random mix of fonts and thought it would be quite easy. How wrong was I lol! It actually ended up taking me forever to decide which font and paper to use for each letter, but I'm pleased with the finished effect.

Cute Geisha Girls Card

I've been following Helen over at It's All Fiddle Fart for a while now and find her cards really inspirational. I love her 9 patchwork squares card design, especially with the cute little foam stickers. Every time I see the stickers in Accessorize I buy them but up until now I hadn't actually used them, so decided to make this card for my aunt - it's based on Helen's layout with my own twist...

Meerkat Birthday Card

My gran absolutely loves meerkats so when I saw this image from Delicious Doodles I knew exactly what I wanted to do for her birthday card. I've coloured the image with my trusty old Crayola coloured pencils, as I really struggled to get the right shades. I went out of my comfort zone by using a coloured base card, which I stamped directly onto to tie in with the image.



I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

• Crazy Challenge - Forest Friends/Back to Nature


• Delightful Challenges - Animals & Insects, Dots & Stripes


• Crafty Catz Weekly, Challenge 45 - Animals

Piece Of Quiet Card

My Mum is a really awkward person to buy presents for and whenever we ask her what she wants her answer is always "just give me some peace and quiet". I spotted this Penny Black image used on someone else's blog and thought it would be perfect to use on a tongue-in-cheek birthday card for her. The card was well received and made her laugh...

Cards Received For My Birthday

I was inundated with lots of gorgeous cards on my birthday from my lovley friends over on MSE. I just wanted to say a huge thank you to all of them and show off all their amazing creations...

Top row: Dragonllew, Rainmac, Hassy
Bottom row: TomsMum, Gemm



Top row: Marg, OAP, Jowri
Bottom row: Paddster, TiredMom, Bunbun



Top row: Flourgirl, Choccy, Mad-Frog
Bottom row: ArtyDoll, Wanna-b-rich, ScattyJan

Purple Engagement Card

My friend has just got home from Thailand where her boyfriend proposed to her. They're a lovely couple and i'm so pleased for them - plus she's asked me to be a bridesmaid and make all her invitations! I've made this card for them using a ring design and lettering cut out on my Robo. I stuck loads of tiny pearls everywhere as i'm a bit obsessed with them at the moment...



I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

• Alota Rubber Stamps - Challenge 39, Glitter and Pearls


• Alphabet Challenge Blog - L for Lace

Commissioned Wedding Card

I was asked to make this card by a lovely women at work for her nephew's wedding. The sweet image i've used is from the new Tilda Wedding collection and the stunning mulberry paper roses are from Wild Orchid Crafts. I spritzed almost everything with Glimmer Mist to create a gorgeous shimmery, pearlised finish and made a pretty matching box for it to be given in.


I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

• Wild Orchid Crafts - Challenge 1, Say It With Flowers


• Totally Papercrafts - Challenge 24, Swirls & Pearls


• Craftalicious - Challenge 3, Cute


• Creative Card Crew - Challenge 54, To Die For


• Your Next Stamp - Challenge 20, Flower Power


• Paper Sundaes - Challenge 26, Lots Of Layers


• Cowgirl's Sunday - Sherbet & Ice Cream Colours


• Allsorts - Challenge 60, July Love

Yay this card won Cowgirl's Sunday Challenge here.

Crafty Cardmakers GDT Card

I was really pleased to be asked to be a guest designer over at Crafty Cardmakers. The challenge I was given is to create something using a photo of Love Hearts as inspiration. Seeing as I've been given a Craft Robo as an early birthday present, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to have a play! Here's what I came with (everything has been cut out on the Robo)...





Pop over to Crafty Cardmakers here to enter the challenge and be in for the chance of winning a £10 gift voucher for Joanna Sheen's online shop.

Black & Red Skater Card

I've been asked to make a card for someone's nephew who's turning 13. Apparently he's into skateboarding, BMX, X-Box, Green Day, iPod and Facebook. She also requested that the colour scheme is black and red to match his room. I had the perfect background in mind but it was in shades of blue so a bit of editing in PhotoShop and voila! The image is from Bird's Cards.


I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

• Digi Doodle - Challenge 13, Anything Goes


• I Did It Creations - Challenge 10, 3-D


• Crafty Caz - Challenge 38, Let's Go Digital


• Corrosive - Challenge 69, Black & White With 1 Colour


• Cowgirl's Sunday - Challenge 5, Anything Goes


• Crafty Cardmakers - Challenge 23, Cards For Men


• Charisma Cardz - Challenge 25, For The Boys


• Crafts And Me - Challenge 7, Birthdays


• Sew Many - Challenge 19, Anything Goes

Fuschia Wedding Invites

My hairdresser is getting married next year and wants to hand make her own invites. She knows exactly what she wants in her head but doesn't know how to go about actually making them so asked for my help. I offered to make her a couple of mock up invitations to use as a starting point and this is what i've come up with based on her sketch. The wording is from a template online!

Masculine Cake Day Card

It's my colleague's birthday soon and as i'm in charge of cards for our team I've made one! I've used male Dovecraft papers then stitched around the edge. I haven't used a sewing machine since doing Textiles at school but with help from my Mum it's turned out quite good. I want my own mini machine now though, so if anyone finds one that does zig zag stitch then let me know...

Orange Lizard Birthday Card

It's my boyfriend's birthday today but I've already brought him a gorgeous leopard gecko as an early birthday present. He's named her Dora (as in Dora the Explorer) so i've made him this lizard themed card to represent his present. The backing paper i've handmade using lizards dicuts with my ProMarker AirBrush system and the tags have personal messages on the back.

MSE Music Challenge Card

The challenge this fortnight on MSE is to make a card with a musical theme. This is my entry using my new Sugar Nellie Rock Idol stamp which is fab. The backing paper was perfect so all i've added is thread for the guitar strings and completed the greeting with peel offs. I've distressed all the edges as i'm really loving this effect at the moment and it's especially perfect for male cards.

Jackpot Bag Charm

The super talented CraftyJuJu has recently been producing lots of stunning handmade jewellery. Last week she put a gorgeous jackpot themed bag charm for sale but it sold before I got a look in! She kindly offered to make another one for me though and when I got home today it had arrived beautifully packaged. Thank you soo much Julie! Check out her Facebook Fan Page here.

Doodled Thinking of You Card

Now I know this card has been received by the lovely Rusty I can post it! She's been in a lot of pain recently and ended up in hospital last week, so I wanted to send her something to hopefully cheer her up a little bit. I've used a gorgeous Mo Manning stamp and Basic Grey paper but because it's quite busy couldn't decide what embellishments to use so went doodle crazy instead...

MSE 3 B's Challenge Card

The current challenge over on MSE is to make a card with three things beginning with "B" on. This is my entry, which is a birthday card using a cute black haired tilda dressed in blue from the new fairytale range. The backing paper is from Basic Grey and is matted on to pearlescent blue card. I've used black card candy and the sheer ribbon bow has been coloured black to match.

DIY Dad Birthday Card

It was my Dad's birthday on Friday and as he's a builder I made him this card. I found it really hard to make and it took me about a week in the end - I had an idea in my head of what I wanted but then it didn't look right! Cue attacking it with my Distress Inks to try and bring everything together lol. It hasn't turned out too bad and I'm definitely loving my new Woodware button punch.

18th Birthday Football Card

It's my six foot something "little" brothers 18th birthday on Friday, so i've made him this card as he's football mad. I got to play with Martin's Mum's Craft Robo at the weekend and i'm in love - it's soo amazing and the possibilities are endless! I cut out the pitch outline for this card, which would have taken ages by hand. I'll definitely be looking to buy myself one soon...

Altered Sweetie Dispenser

My colleague at work asked me a while ago if I fancied a commissioned project. Intrigued I said yes so he gave me an old metal and glass Jelly Belly bean dispenser. His request was for it to be "blinged out" with a Union Jack theme, as he wants to give it to a friend for her birthday. I spent all day yesterday sticking on about 1,500 4mm gems and this is how it now looks.

Striking Embossed Card

I just had to play with all my new stash from the NEC so made this card last night. The background was created by coating an embossing folder with ink from my new Big and Juicy pad using a brayer. I've then outlined the embossing, added pearls to the centre of the flowers and stamped a butterfly and dragonfly. The mini easel was a bargain for £1 from Tiger!

Hobbycraft Show at NEC

On Friday I was lucky enough to go the Hobbycraft show at the NEC, where I met up with 14 of the lovely ladies from MSE. I got gorgeous handmade gifts from some of them, so a huge thank you - they already have pride of place on my mantelpiece! Anyway there was soo much stash there and loads of great techniques being demonstrated. Here's what I brought:


I shall definitely be going to the one in November, though i'll be taking a trolley next time as my back ached like mad after carrying everything around all day!

Purple Doggy Birthday Card

It was my best friend's 21st birthday yesterday so we went to see Alice in Wonderland in 3D. The film was brilliant and I think i'm officially hooked on the 3D effect as it's soo cool (even if you do have to wear goofy glasses)! Anyway I wasn't really happy with this card but, seeing as my friend's favourite colour is purple and she's just got a little Westie puppy, she absolutely loved it.

Homemade Sweets

This weekend I roped Martin into helping me make some handmade sweets for a "bake-off" we're having at work tomorrow. There's cherry cups, chocolate brittle and almond truffles all laid out on cute cupcake plates from Tescos. The recipes came from this great blog - definitely check it out as she's made some yummy looking things!

New Baby Girl Card

A family friend had a baby girl last week and we're going round to see them at the weekend, so i've made her this card. I brought the decoupage ages ago in preparation but then wasn't too sure what to do with it! It's quite busy for me but i'm pleased with how it's turned out - the little shoe charm is so cute and the roses very appropriate.