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.

Butterfly Mother's Day Card

I haven't been doing very well with my cardmaking recently as I never seem to have time or am too knackered! This is my latest make and is obviously a mother's day card lol. My Mum loves purple and i've been itching to use these gorgeous Funky Vintage papers for ages. I die cut the letters, layered them on squares and then stuck alternate ones on with 3D pads to add dimension.


I'd like to enter this card into the Mother's Day competition over at Creative Craft World.

Poinsettia Stamped Candles

It was Martin's Mum's birthday yesterday and she absolutely loves candles and her favourite flowers are poinsettias. I decided to put together this arrangement after seeing this fab tutorial here for stamping on to candles. The candles/dish came from Tiger and the paper flowers from Hobby House. I've finished off with Anita's gold butterfly dimension stickers.

Valentine's Card

This is my Valentine's card for my boyfriend. As soon as I saw the Valentine Penny Black stamps I had to have them as they were so cute and I've put them to good use here! Martin has kept everything I've handmade him so far and treasures them (bless,) so I always try to make something a bit special and different. This card opens in an unusal way to reveal the message!

Little Musings Canvas

A little while ago I came across the blog of a really talented lady SJ. She does fantastic drawings called Little Musings, so I emailed her with a few photos of me and Martin and asked if she could paint a canvas for me to give him for Valentine's Day. This is the result and I absolutelty love it! The detail on his knecklace is amazing - I can't wait to give it to Martin and see what he thinks...



This is the photo which it's based on:

Boxer Get Well Card

I've made this card for my Granny as she's obsessed with Boxer dogs (I brought the dies especially) and has been in hospital for the last month with heart problems. She had a valve replacement and triple bypass on Tuesday so i'm going to visit her on Saturday. I wasn't happy with it at first then added the punched hearts and think it's growing on me.

Girls, Girls, Girls Card

I've been lacking inspiration for the last two weeks so figured i'd enter the "girls, girls, girls" challenge over at Passion for ProMarkers. This is my entry - i've used K&Co paper, a Miss Anya coloured with ProMarkers (15 colours, mix of old and new) and 3D letters from 24Studio. I'll be saving this to give to one of my good friends for her birthday in March!

Anniversary Celebration Card

This card was supposed to be for Martin's Aunt's birthday but i've since decided that it looks more like an anniversary card! The backing is vellum and I never know how to stick it without the glue showing through so cut little slits in the corners to hold it down instead. The Forever Friends stamp was free with a magazine and i've coloured it with ProMarkers of course.

Swirly Girly Birthday Card

My first card in 2010 is for my friend's birthday. I've used my new Miss Anya Love stamps, which are absolutely gorgeous and I've got loads of ideas for. The backing paper is K&Co and i've hand-written the sentiment (scary!). Hopefully i'm going to start building up a collection of cards i've made ready for when I need them, but have too many birthdays this month...

Tea Bag Holder

My Granny is in hospital as she's been having heart problems, so i've taken a half day tomorrow and am going to give her a suprise visit (she lives an hour and a half away). I've brought her a big bouquet of flowers and made her this little tea bag holder as she is always so chuffed when I give her handmade gifts. I made the measurements up and used a poem I found online.

Green Winter Flip-Flop Card

Again I first got introduced to flip-flop cards (aka swing cards) over on CraftyPlace. It was a bit fiddly working out the measurements and then cutting the central square but makes an awesome effect. This card is for my brother and on the flipped side has a die cut Merry Christmas in green mirri card. The cute stamped image is from the lovely Rusty.

Hidden Message Card

This is the Christmas card i've made for my boyfriend. It's a hidden message card so when you pull the ribbon either side it flattens out revealing the message in the middle. That's the idea anyway but the matted layers seem to stop this working so well and it needs a little persuasion but it's the thought that counts! I found the instructions for it here if anyone fancies trying their own - they're really easy to make.

Christmas Fairy Tri-Fold Card

This tri-fold card is for my Gran and I got the idea (along with links to instructions) from one of the CraftyPlace card swaps a few months ago. I love how this turned out but almost seriously harmed myself when trying to get a photograph of it to put on here! I managed to knock a huge painting off the wall which smashed over my head - luckily I only cut my hands though.

Fairy Cracker Card

I came up with this great idea of making a card shaped like a Christmas cracker but it turned out slightly harder than I thought (always seems to be the case lol)! This is what I came up with and it pulls apart revealing the message in the centre. It turned out better than I thought and the girly pastel colours make a nice change - I love the backing paper.

Teddy Carrying Presents Card

This was a reasonably quick make using Forever Friends Christmas decoupage, the matching backing paper and a die-cut sentiment from the same pack. I've added some ribbon and some little punched holly leaves with berry gems coloured with ProMarkers. I love the Forever Friends teddies as they're so cute and these kits make it so easy to do great cards.

Customised Photo Baubles

I found this pack of plastic photo baubles for £6.99 in Boots and brought them to make a keepsake Christmas present to give to my Granny. I've used four photos of me, my brother and Mum in black and white then decorated with sequins and glitter. I think they look great but was disappointed to see that my Granny has only put up a small fibre optic tree this year...