Trees Are For Life, Not Just For Christmas!

This li'l tree won't do much to alleviate the effects of greenhouse gases but it will enhance the environment, aesthetically speaking of course.
I have to say, I am rather pleased with it as it is my first. I used over 6m of ribbon & that really hasn't made a dent in my stash ... maybe when I've done a couple more? I have had rather a busy day today & finished up a whole bunch of projects. But rather than bombard you with a huge post, I'm gonna schedule some for the next couple days ... little & often - that's the key! Hopefully, by the time you've caught up with the latest bunch of projects, I should have some more ready to go ... love this time of year ... so much to make!!
I've listed these ribbon trees in my Misi store ... tell me, what do you think?

Sew Far Sew Good

I have been a busy li'l bee this weekend working on a custom order for an etsy customer & cutting loadsa li'l felty things for my new Misi store, here in the UK. You might remember the li'l pink camera case that I made myself back in August ... & now I have been asked to make them in lilac & blue too ... OMG! I think I might need a lilac one now! LOL

So I made a few extra to list on the Misi store ... have you joined the forums there yet? There's a fab li'l community building!
I also made a bunch of these cute li'l ribbon flowers ... soooo pretty I think. I had quite a lot of this ribbon left from a previous project (some time ago now) & I didn't think I was going to use it again, then I spied these cloisonne beads in my pink bead jar (oh yes! I have an entire jar just for pink beads!!) & the flowers just came together after that! The 'petals' are wired on the outer edge, so you can manipulate them to the perfect puffiness!
There should be a whole bunch of li'l Christmas softies tomorrow ... if I get them finished ... Can you say tree decorations????

Easily Distracted! LOL

I was supposed to be working on a bunch of these journaling spots, which I also have for sale on Etsy. That meant my desk had allsorts of interesting stuff on it ... Journaling stamps, inkpads, smooth white cardstock. How could any normal (!) person not be distracted?

So I took a break to play & this is what I came up with. Maybe I'm getting old but I'm definitely finding myself drawn more and more to vintage, shabby chic, ephemera, collage ... & anything as old as I am! I'm gonna put some of these online when I've made a bunch more. I'm thinking £1.25 (around $2 USD) for 12 - what do you think? Is that reasonable?
I shall probably pretty mine up a li'l bit ... maybe a strategically placed flower or two, some pearls nestled into the loops at the ends of the scrolls but the ones online will be just like these, all ready for use or altering.
So do you want some for free? Don't forget to sign up as one of my followers on this blog & there will be some up for grabs at the end of the month (with a few other goodies too I'd expect!)

MMMMMmmmmmm Chocolate!

SEI Jolie Chocolat, that is. I bought this paper pack when it first came out I think - with absolutely no idea what I would do with it. But it is gorgeous & girly & sparkly & I neeeeeded it! & it has butterflies! LOL. A li'l while ago, Nina asked me if I'd make her wedding guest book (I have a BIA & she doesn't) & I just knew these papers would be perfect. So last night she (finally) came to pick it up ... & now she has seen it, I'm ready to share with you. It didn't exactly go to plan (a common story!) ... I decided on the pages first (pink record cards) & then I didn't have any covers the right size - what with record cards not being a standard mini-book size. So I cut a bracket shape & made the front cover smaller than the back ... good save huh? You can just see that I've inked the edges of every page (front & back) ... nearly lost the will to live - it gets a bit tedious after the first 10 or so. The front page is a mix of SEI stickers, paper (inked, of course) & Upsy Daisy rub ons, with a couple odd buttons from my stash. I did think about embellishing each page with a butterfly or two & then decided against it ... I didn't want to put anyone off writing in it!!

Maybe I'll make a wedding card with the same papers ... what do you think?

Christmas Cards ... & More

Here's my last two cards (sort of) for October's Challenges at CCAYR ... yup! I'm well aware that I've only just made it in time! LOL. The first is a fab pocket card with removeable bookmark - clever stuff & totally not my idea - the instructions were republished on the CCAYR Blog earlier in the week.

We made some of these in my card making group today & the ladies had some fab alternatives ... like replacing the bookmark with a shopping list & adding a magnet to the back to keep it on the fridge, or making a perpetual birthday list by adding 12 index cards to the pocket (I'm totally stealing that idea!!) This fits the CCAYR 'Christmas Is ...' challenge: Holly ... that's my thing! Sure, I might like to think of snow (or not ... the UK gets grey slushy stuff, not the fluffy stuff that holiday cards show you!), angels, trees etc etc ... but Holly (& Poinsettias) are the thing that most make me think about Christmas!
Luuuurve this bookmark & it was so easy to make with a freebie pack of paper from one of last Christmas's mags - artwork & alphas included! A big shout out to Wendy - she had the most ideas for alternatives - look forward to seeing them IRL! LOL


Technically this one isn't a card at all but a Christmas planner. Deanne had a link to it on her blog in a previous 'Blurfing Friday' post ... you seriously need to check those out - she finds the most fabulous links! Anyway, the Inspirational Tips & Techniques blog has instructions for making a planner from file folders & I have adapted that to make mine from A4 cardstock. The site also has a link for the free downloads for all the lists n stuff - I'm hoping Deanne is gonna let me get away with using it for my final CCAYR entry ... under the non-traditional colours category, even tho' it's technically not a card. Blue & green isn't my idea of traditional & isn't particularly a combo I'd have thought of - it's that same pack of freebie papers but I have to say I do like them together. I downloaded several shopping list pages & made them into a li'l removable pad (there's a staple hidden under the ribbon holding it all together). The other lists (gift lists, gift ideas, stocking stuffers & cards) are matted onto cardstock to give them strength but could be made into more removeable pads if you need additional pages. The last page just has a li'l pocket (there's actually another on the reverse) for receipts n stuff & the whole thing ties up with ribbon.
Hoping to get the 2 sketches for you challenges made & blogged by tomorrow's deadline - love doing them but I've been away this week so haven't papercrafted at all!

Auryn's Castle

This li'l castle is for Fish to store his 'treasures'. Really simple to make from some friendly felt, hemp string, a few brads & an odd embellishment ... altered with an orange CD pen. I made the holes with the BIA & just sewed it together with the hemp twine. The shaping at the top was also done with the BIA to make holes - & then I cut from the edge to the hole to form the butresses IYGWIM?

I Take Coolpix!

My MIL took me shopping to buy a new camera (an early birthday pressie) when I was visiting last week & I'm now the proud owner of this fabby (& Purple!) li'l camera. Obviously it had to be idiot proof ... with image stability & cool zoom features!
I am so impressed with it! LOL. I'm even taking close up shots of the details on cards etc when I don't need to ... just so as I get to play.
The guy in the store wanted to sell us a rather naff looking 'leather look' camera case ... lotta money for li'l style ... so I made my own that very evening! Granted, I didn't finish until 3 am but it was soooo worth it!
It's actually the prototype for the ones I'm planning on offering in my Etsy store (more about that nearer the time!) & the finished article will have a few improvements ... but it does the job rather well! And in case you aren't a pink kinda person (!) it'll be available in other colours too!

Nothing To Share Today!!

Ha! The clue is in the title! LOL. So I've nothing to share ... but I didn't want anyone to think I'd forgotton to post today!
See that li'l white chest in the piccy? I painted that for Fish before he was born. Funny story that ... I cannot draw (or paint) for toffee but I'm not bad at designing cross stitch patterns (remember cross stitch???) So I marked them out on graph paper, Cut them out to round the edges etc ... and then made stencils to help me paint them on! LOL - there has to be an easier way!!!!
Another yummy cosmo card to come tomorrow ...
in the meantime - can anyone guess what the deal is with 30th June? - go on, post a comment with your guesses - you won't get it you know! LOL

You Called?

I don't remember where I saw it (as I spend far too much time blog-hopping) but several people have been talking lately about bringing back old fashioned calling cards ... more than that, handmade ones. Well that seemed like a bandwagon I could happily jump on - so here's the first batch.
I made these as my DT entry for Di's sketch this week (April #5), using scraps left over from some of my recent Luxe Designs makes. Which also gave me the chance to break out the li'l icon stamps DH bought me about 4 years ago (yep! never used them before!!) & the brand new Spica glitter pen that Auntie Jane included with the goodies she brought me over from the US (gonna have to get me the whole set!!)
Really easy to make - just measure against a credit card for size. My cardstock is double sided, so I've just printed my deets on the PC & stuck them to the back - all that's left to do is to laminate them & hand them out!

Life Is Random

This is my DT project for this week's journaling junkie challenge, set by Debbie Tehrani: use fortune cookies. I have to say I was a bit stumped at first, having never had one! Anyway, a quick google found a couple of useful websites to generate my own fortunes and I had a fabulous time creating this shadowbox, supplied by C&T publishing, who are sponsoring us this month.
You'll find more images and a free tutorial (with links to the free cookie generators) to create your own on the journaling junkie blog.
And please do leave a comment to say I sent you, we have a very exciting competition there right now to 'Get The Word Out' - find out more here!
The papers, acrylic paints etc that I used are all available in the UK at Crop 'Til You Drop

Nearly Forgot This One!

So a while ago I posted about this calendar that I'd bought in the local £1 store & I know a few of you were wondering how I was gonna make it look fabby. Well here is the finished piece - I used the cropadile to punch the holes for the book rings & matted the cropped calendar pages on to A4 textured cardstock. The letters are die cut from scraps of the patterned papers & I doodled around the edges of the letters and the holes. Easy Peasy - and the papers/cardstock are all at least 1 year old (some much more)! LOL.
Supplies: papers, ribbons & blooms - Daisy D's; Cardstock - DCWV.

It's gonna be a mega blogging night tonight - Auntie Jane has been to visit: she's better than santa cuz she brings extra special scrapping goodies! LOL. I'll also be showing the 'before' photos of my new scrapping space (prepare to be shocked!!) & I have an exciting announcement or two to make ;o)

Check back later!!