New Year's Resolutions

I didn't do very well with my new year's resolutions last year. I wanted to buy less and use more stash...it lasted till February! Since then I have spent quite a bit, but I have managed to use some of the things I hadn't used in quite a while. The candles on this card are Non Sequitur stamps I hadn't used in about two years. My aim this year is to use more of what I've got. I will still spend, but I aim to go through my stamps and stash. If I can't bring myself to use it (like some of the papers I have) then I'm going to get rid of it. I will be trying to keep my stash to the space it occupies now. I will do my best to keep my craft space a bit neater so I don't lose things so often! I'm also going to make an effort to branch out from cards a bit more often. Tags, ATCs and Fat pages maybe. Finally, I'd like to meet up with a few more of the lovely people I've met in Blogland, and see the ones I've met again! Hope you all had a fabulous New Year!

And now for something completely different...

The past two evenings I've been having a play with the creative colour sprays and some Crafter's Workshop stencils (both available from Crafty Notions) This first card uses the Bliss stencil. The sheen on these are so beautiful, but it is a bit difficult to capture it on the photo. Even so I had a go...

I used flat backed gems to embellish the blue one. On the yellow and green card I used copper tulip paint and rainbow drops. I also did a bit of doodling with gel pens.

The stencil on this card is called paisley swirl. I am still surrounded by pieces of paper that have been sprayed, so I think there may be some more cards like this in the pipeline!

My Favourite?

Following Gina's post on her blog Soul Glo I decided to dig out a few of those cards that I couldn't bear to part with. This is possibly my favourite. It has a box made of Cream parchment card with a green panel on the top (mirroring each panel of the card.)

The first panel has a shrink plastic green man (Non-sequitur stamp) and a judikins leaf over a panel made using a rollagraph stamp.

The second panel is a K and co. sticker with a computer generated quote.

The third panel features a picture (no idea who by/ where from!) and another stamped judikins leaf from the leaf cube.

The final panel features a fern leaf stamp by Rubber Stampede. I have kept the card for about 3 years, and I was quite pleased that I still felt a little pride when I got it out of it's box today. I think it will remain in my collection. A little bit of my soul went into it! Have you made anything you couldn't part with?

Seed heads at sunrise...

I made both of these cards at the weekend and have been waiting to photograph them in daylight. The stamps on both are all Lavinia Stamps, except the butterfly on the base card of the first (Crafty Individuals) and the Greeting on the second (See-D's). The seedheads on the main image on both were clear embossed and then dotted with a little glitter.

I had brayered each circle with adirondack inks first, then stamped the background plants after the embossing. Not sure the top one works... Used my nesties again.

Mushrooms!

As a fan of Fungi I thought Steve would appreciate a card made with the Graphicus Nature's Table plate. I started off thinking 'Fly Agaric', but forgot to put the white spots on before I embossed it! These mushrooms are more like field mushrooms in shape though, so I had another go.

Stamps in the background come from the Arboretum and Wild Meadow plates (also Graphicus).

More ATCs

These are my final two ATCs for the Crafty Individuals competition. They both use stamps from the crafty elements range. The leaves are stamped over an adirondack colour wash background using butterscotch, lettuce and cranberry. I overstamped the leaves in versamark and brushed over with Blonde Moments pigment powder in Gold.

The last was meant to be a very quick stamp and sponge, but I made 4 before I was totally happy! This is not the one I sent, as I was hurrying to get them in an envelope, but it was the next best! Adirondack Dye inks in Butterscotch, lettuce and Red Pepper this time.

A Guitar and an ATC

I was asked to make another guitar card for a friend's daughter. She is seventeen and has just saved up and bought herself a Fender with polka dots! The shiny card was silver mirri card, put throught the cuttlebug and then rubbed over with stazon. I thought it looked a bit 'grungey' and suitable for a seventeen year old rock chick!

Here is my 4th ATC for the Crafty individuals competition. I used a stamp from one of the Crafty elements plates. Now I've sent my entries in I'm feeling all inspired to make some more, but I need to get on with Steve's birthday card and not end up making it the night before, as I have on numerous occasions in the past!

A birthday card and an ATC

My friend Kate asked me to make a card for her Neice who is forty next week. I resorted to the cuttlebug again, but used the paisley embossing folder on these numbers. The background paper is from the Artilicious cd called Filigree Fusion. I thought they complemented each other well.

This ATC is my second for the Crafty Individuals competition. I stamped the Swirl stamp over Direct to paper using broken china distress ink, and highlighted with a white pen. the butterfly is from their flowers and butterflies minatures book.

A productive weekend

It has been a very cold weekend and staying indoors has meant that I've got lots done. I now have 6 ATCs for the Crafty Individuals competition, I've done a couple of cards that people at work asked for and one I need myself. The card above uses a Hero Arts stamp called Dandelion. The photo doesn't do it justice, as it is stamped onto a background using crative colour sprays from Crafty Notions.

This is a cuttlebug card - the lettering is a sizzix sizzlet and the shoes are made using a brass stencil, then coloured with chalks.

Finally, this uses a stamp from Stamporium that I've had for years, but have only used a couple of times. I can't begin to tell you how much better this one is compared to the previous cards made with it! I used clear embossing powder over the dolphins to protect them from the ink. This is sponged rather than brayered onto a semi- shiny card stock. I will post pictures of my ATCs when I've had the chance to photograph them in daylight.

Babies and Birthdays

I've been busy trying to make a few ATCs for the Crafty Individuals ATC competion. This is my first. I'm rather pleased with it!

This was the card we sent to my mother-in-law. She loves pansies and violas, and I just had a small piece of this lovely backing paper left. the stamp is from Hero Arts.

When I returned to work, one of my friends asked me to make a card for her niece who is due to have twins on Friday. After a bit of thought I decided to make a gatefold, as she is having a girl and a boy, and use one side for each. No stamping at all on this one, but lots of use of my cuttlebug, embossing folders, a sizzix sizzlet, a circle punch and a heart-shaped punch. I'm quite surprised I managed to make it without stamping once!

Happy New Year!

I thought I'd look back through my photos and select the best of what I've created this year. I feel I've come a long way creatively, particularly with stamping. I have taken inspiration from Michelle Zindorf, Glenda Waterworth, Jean Hardy, Deby at Just add Love and of course my good friend Lynne. I'm not sure about New Year resolutions - I'd like to get fitter, lose a bit of weight, create more, spend less... I'd also like to wish a Happy New Year to everyone who reads my blog. I'm always thrilled when people leave comments or rate my entries. It is so good to get feedback. Blog-wise I've had help and inspiration from Guzziesue and Biker Ted - many thanks!

Age, and how people feel about it

Two of my workmates have asked me to make special birthday cards this week. One is for a 90 year old Mum and one for an 80 year old Mum. Both of these ladies are quite happy for everyone to know exactly how old they are, so the ages on the cards I've made are anything but small!

Funnily enough, the daughter of the lady who is ninety refused to tell anyone how old she was when she turned sixty! My Dad is going to be 80 in February and is quite happy for people to assume he is in his late 60s! I have been trying to persuade him to have a party, but he isn't sure at the moment. I'll have to think of a subtle way of including his age on his card.

Well, I guess I should get back to the Christmas cards now. Someone has asked me to make a humorous one, so I need to look for ideas. Megan is quite a lot better, but still coughing at night. She was supposed to be going to a sleep over birthday party tonight, but I couldn't inflict her on anyone else! She has gone ice skating with them and is going back to her friend's house for a little while and then will ring me as they are going to bed. I think I'm blessed with a very sensible daughter, as she was quite happy with this compromise.

At home

Megan has a really, really bad cough. Steve took her to the Doctors yesterday, but they weren't able to give her anything to help. She has been coughing all day and all night since Friday now - every few seconds. It is a real bark too. Sleep deprived and muscles aching she was in no fit state to go to school today, so I've been looking after her at home. Not alot I could do though, other than making sure she was warm enough and plied with drinks and hugged from time to time. She decided to watch a couple of dvds, so whilst she did I made a few more cards.
The christmas cards all feature some Magenta puzzle self-cling stamps I bought last year. The copper and brown toned papers are also Magenta. The papers on the birthday card are from the Canon Creative Park website, and the stamp is a woodware one.

Card for Mark

Here is the card I decided to make for Mark. I did a cake in the end. I used some chocolate scented embossing powder that I got from Craft Central at Derby Garden Centre, so the cake smells of chocolate! Now some of you might think that is a bit cruel, but he will no doubt be getting chocolate for his birthday! I got some red cinnamon scented and some white vanilla scented too..mmm...I feel some more christmas cards coming on! I also managed to cut my finger with a very sharp craft knife - silly me!

Reflecting on last week and what's left to do

I never mentioned did I? the school panto was a huge success. We totally sold out for all the performances. The children were amazing - every single one of them. My class were little stars and we had no mishaps. There were a couple of comic moments , one involving a child lifting his head as a girl was leapfrogging over him and they both sat down with his head up her skirt! Fortunately everyone saw the funny side and no one was hurt! The two ugly sisters were year six boys in drag - completely out of character for them, but they were phenomenal. I take my hat off to all of them. Over the next two weeks we have a nativity with carols, an achievement assembly, christmas parties, christmas cards to make, calendars to make...the list is endless. I also have a new child starting in my class on Monday - that's 6 since September, although 2 have left. we normally get a few extras, but not this many so early on! Well, can't complain - more chidren means more money in school and less chance of any redundancies, which is more than can be said for most lines of work at the moment. It's not the biggest class I've ever had - I had 36 four and five year olds once.

Anyway, back to the present. I have written letters to post in cards (a round robin cheat I'm afraid), most of the Christmas presents are bought and I've made a card for a friend who has a birthday a week on Monday. It features a butterfly stamp from Aspects of Design range by The Stampman and the crafty notions creative colour sprays. I'm now trying to decide what to put on a card for Mark, who also has a birthday a week on Monday, and was our best man. He has had cards featuring a chocoholic stamp, cats and computers in the past and I just don't know what to do for him. A tree would be a cop out! I'm wondering about DIY or a cake...I'll post it when I've done it.

Oooh, that's better

After five days away from my craft table except for marking books at it, I needed to spend most of last night sat at it making cards! I'm now feeling very relaxed and quite happy with my creations. The first of my cards uses a lovely penny black stamp I bought last year. I bought it with Steve in mind as he loves ducks!
The second and third are variations on cards I have made already this year. The top one uses another Lavinia stamps tree, and the next uses stampin' up 'lovely as a tree' and the Nellie Snellen snowman. My final card from last night uses a Stamporium stamp from one of their A4 rubber sheets. I'm not sure if it is still available or not, but I love it's simplicity. It works well embossed in clear embossing powder on black and then painted with Blonde Moments pearl pigments.

A couple of teddies and some Wise Men

Here are a few more christmas cards. The teddy bears are a Hero Arts stamp and the verse and Wise Men are both from Lavinia stamps. The wise men are stamped on shiny card using Stazon then sponged with Adirondak inks. It's very quick and easy, and I love the intense colours. Different colour schemes for Christmas too, unlike the Teddies.
This weekend I am determined to start my preparations for Christmas. I have made lists, but I still am not sure what to get everyone. I have four friends I need to make birthday cards for too, so it is going to be busy. Next week is School Panto week, so I won't have much time to do anything in the evenings. My class are singing a song and preparation has been smoother than usual... hope it goes alright on the night(s)!

Snowmen

Today we had snow - not more than a sprinkling and it didn't last long. With snow in mind, here are two snowmen cards I have been working on over the weekend. I love the snowman image (Nellie Snellen - Kars and Co.) which seems to come to life with the watercolour pencils and the embossing. I'm not sure about the stickers round the first one or the ribbon on the second though. Ah well, I can always have another go!

I've been a busy bee!

Five more christmas cards made and a birthday card too. I'm also working on a cute snowman, but he isn't quite finished yet. Meg and I popped into 'A bit more than...' yesterday on the way to visit Dad, and found some lovely 'cute' Nellie Snellen (Kars & Co.) stamps. I'd been looking for a snowman and one on the sheet of five fit the bill perfectly. Very reasonably priced too. However the stamps featured in the cards above are Hero Arts (Teddy), Magenta (ornamental christmas trees) Anita's (Night snow scene) and Dovecraft (flowers).