Mother's Day or Special Female Birthday at Lexi's Creations

Hi Susan here...

Today we start a new challenge at Lexi's Creations and the challenge this time is a split one, you can choose which one you want to follow.

So here it is the theme is 'Mother's Day or Special Female Birthday', full details of the challenge are on the LC's challenge blog along with details of our sponsor and some amazing inspiration from my Design Team.

Now for my card....

For this card I wanted to make something special for a dear friend of mine. The backing papers were free off a magazine a while ago, but I really liked them and the texture of the paper, I won't use papers and embellishments that are not good quality and although these were free they were produced on good quality paper.

The pearls and the ribbon are from Arc Trading here in Manchester, it is like a wonderland for trimmings and craft items.

I have used one of my favourite digi images designed by Lexi Lee, and available from her store, Fairy Dust Crafts, she is called Molly with Lillies.

I have used chalks entirely to colour the image as this is my favourite method for colouring and shading.

This also is one of Lexi Lees Sentiments available from her store Fairy Dust Crafts, it is called Special Friend. I have used a die to cut the shape and coloured the edges with chalks, then I added stickles to the edges and a few pearls.

Thanks for looking and for all your wonderful comments

Love and hugs

Susan xxx

Snow at Lexi's Creations...

Hi Susan here...

We are having a new challenge at Lexi's Creations, and the theme for this challenge is 'Snow'.
Not a difficult one and it doesn't have to be a Christmas card it could be for a winter birthday.
for full details and some fabulous inspiration from my design team call across to Lexi's Creations and join in the fun with us. This will be our last challenge for this year, but we will be back again at the beginning of January.

Now onto my card....

A simple card from me this time, I had some beautiful backing paper with some gorgeous snowflakes all over it and I didn't want to  hide any of them.

I have used a snowflake die to make the snowflakes I have added stickles all over them and some china blue distressing ink to add some cold detail to them.

The paper lace I have had for ages, rows of snowflakes with a scalloped edge, really effective. 

The gorgeous digi image is from Fairy Dust Crafts and has been designed by Lexi Lee, it is called Pengy Free Snowballs, I have used chalks to colour the image then I added stickles to the snow for a little bit of sparkle.

Hope you like the design

Thank you for all your fabulous comments and for taking the time to look at my post.

Love and hugs

Susan xxx

Here I go again...more Christmas cards!

Hi Susan here...

Well I have said it before, and I bet a lot of you are the same...I can't stop making Christmas cards...

It's my favourite time of the year and my favourite kind of card. Plus I love giving them to people so I always need more.

Here are a few more that I have been making, hope you like them.

I have gone mad and used some totally different colours for this card. I can't lie I do love orange and brown together and these two backing papers have been in my stash for ages just calling out to be used on a card.

The ric-rak braid is from our local market, in a gorgeous rich shade of brown, I have used this on lots of things in the home, cushion covers and light shade trimmings, I bought lots of it, and its still going strong.

I had an odd size piece of card in my stash and when I was measuring up for trimming it to size I had a thought and this shape of card is what I came up with, different from my usual square ones but I was quite pleased with it.

I used a gorgeous Tilda edge die for the stripes, then I added stickles to the curves before adding the ric-rak.

The wooden snowflakes and tree are from packs that you can buy, they come in little wooden trays that I am sure I will find a use for once all the embellishments have been used!

I have added stickles here and there on them...well it is Christmas.

Don't you just love this image, it is a stamp from and I love it. Emma used to dress her dog up like this when it was a puppy, poor dog used to hang it's head and my grandson used to say that poor Rolo (that's the dog) must have felt like hiding away in case another dog saw her.

I have used chalks, my favourite colouring medium for this image and then added some stickles here and there.

For my second card today.....

This is the side view to show you the effect of the snowflake trim on the front of the card. I used a Tim Holtz edge die and added stickles to the snowflakes and then a strip of pearl trimming that I bought from a trimming store we have here in Manchester called Arc Trimmings.

Unfortunately as you can see I have not finished the inside of the card yet, couldn't wait to get it on the blog.

This is a close-up of the front of the card, I used a sheet of beautiful 6x6 scrapbooking paper from, it already had snowflakes all over it and a wonderful prancing stag.

I added stickles all over to highlight various snowflakes and some glossy accents on the stag to help him to stand out and be really shiny and because I haven't used any other backing paper I wanted him to add to the texture of the card.

The snowflakes are a set of dies from, I have used some Tim Holtz distressing inks to add a slight colour to them before added stickles to make them sparkle.

This gorgeous little fairy is a stamp from, I used chalks to colour the image then added stickles here and there and when completely dry I cut her out as carefully as I could before sticking her using 3D glue to the card.

Thanks so much for looking and for leaving any comments, I have really enjoyed making these cards I hope you like them and did you notice not a flower in sight, now that's a change from me!

Love and hugs

Susan xxx

Christmas is coming....

Hi Susan here....

I have a few more Christmas cards to show you that I have been working on...hope you like them.

I have tried to use a few different shapes for my cards this time, as I usually make my cards square, but couldn't resist having a change. So for this particular card I have used a 5x7 inch size which I think best suited the images and layout.

I have used a set of stamps from Chocolate Baroque for this one. I inked around the edges of the squares after trimming them with Tim Holtz distressing inks in sage green and then slightly inked the birds breasts.

The beautiful swirls are a die from Marianne Designs. 

I have used base card from Paper Mill Direct.

The flowers in this most gorgeous deep red colour are from Hobby Craft.

The magical sentiment is a stamp from Prima, I love this text stamp.

My backing paper is from my stash, it is originally from a 12x12 scrapbooking pad.

I have grouped a few cards for you to see on this post, so for my second card I have used a 4x8 inch size of card and set it up in a traditional tent style.

My backing paper was from an 8x10 scrapbooking/cardmaking pad from Papermania, it already had a fabulous design of baubles, snowflakes and the sentiment so I didn't want to cover this too much.

The flowers and berries matched my colour scheme really well, these are from Hobby Craft. I didn't want to use a solid block of colour for the flowers this time with the backing paper being really strong, these flowers matched perfectly and seemed to lighten the whole thing.

I have used an old favourite punch, for my snowflakes I have had this little punch for such a long time and use it such a lot that if it had a name on it well it isn't there now, so sorry I can't tell you who the maker is, I have used Tim Holtz distressing inks called china blue and then added some stickles and a tiny blue gem in the centre.

The beautiful china house button I bought on a trip to USA, I treasure these little china gems, I love them so much, I have tied some silk ribbon into the buttonholes.

This stamp is so adorable, it is from and I love it.

I have used chalks to colour it, then I added stickles to the dress shoes and wand, well you can't have a Christmas card without glitter can you.

The little gems falling from her wand are from my local market. I bought a little box of them, all different colours, they are a pain to work with because of their size but well worth the effort.

My next and last card for this particular post is again using this rectangular shape.

I had a lot of fun making this one, I have used several dies.

The backing paper is from a set of papers that was free on a magazine and the sad thing about this is I only have a small amount of this left over, I love the way it looks like traditional tartan fabric with stitches going through it, I have used a base Kraft card from Paper Mill Direct.

The snowman is from Tim Holtz, I used his distressing inks all around the edges using sage green and tea dye,  I stamped all over the die cut shape using tea dye distressing ink and one of my favourite text stamps.

The flowers are from Hobby Craft.

The beautiful ivy leaves are an embossing die from Marianne Designs, I have added glitter to the veins to give a bit of sparkle.

The snowflakes are a beautiful die from Memory Box, after cutting this out I glittered the whole thing using stickles.

I recently bought some small wooden embellishments and this little house was one of them, I painted it using white acrylic paints and distressed the edges with a tea dye distressing ink, then added stickles here and there.

The fence is a die from Marianne Designs I cut two of these out of Kraft card and joined them in the centre, using white acrylic paint I painted 'snow' onto the fence then added stickles to make snow glitter.

Well that's it, I hope you have enjoyed looking at my cards as much as I had making them. Funny thing about making Christmas cards, once I start I can't seem to stop, I think it has something to do with it being one of my favourite times of the year and I love to give everyone I know a card to celebrate. Now you know why I have to make so many!!

Anyway thank you so much for taking this time to look and if you would like to leave any comments I appreciate it very much.

Love and hugs

Susan xxx

A Special Birthday at Lexi's Creations...

Hi Susan here...

This is the start of a special challenge at Lexi's Creations, we are three years old this month and with that in mind we having a special challenge to celebrate this.
We have two great sponsors for this challenge and instead of the usual two winners we will be having three!
For full details of this amazing challenge call across to Lexi's Creations Challenge Blog and join in the fun with us.

The theme for our challenge is....

'Special Birthday'

now for my card....

I made this with my youngest daughter in mind, who will be thirty this year. This is one of her favourite colours I hope she likes it!!

The backing papers are all left over bits and pieces from 12x12 scrapbooking pads, I have used an edge punch for the pale pink background piece and a gorgeous die for the hearts from Marianne Designs, which I cut out of white card and then used Tim Holtz Distress Inks over the top of the embossing to bring out the details.

Some of the background pieces I have sewn around the edges for extra detail and because I know my daughter loves sewing on her cards.

The ribbon has come from our local market.

This is to give you a close up of one of my favourite images designed by Lexi Lee and available from her store Fairy Dust Crafts, it is called Christmas Shopping Phoebe.

I have used chalks to colour and shade the image.

The sentiment is my own but set into one of Lexi's tickets, I have coloured and stickled the edges of the ticket. The flowers are from Hobby Craft I really love the colour of these flowers just right for my colour scheme, the leaves are a punch I then shaped them using a ball tool, the heart pins are from Hobby Craft.

Thank you for taking the time to look at my card and for all your wonderful comments

Love and hugs

Susan xxx

Lexi's Creations.....Pink

Hi Susan here....

Time is passing by so quickly can hardly believe it but here we are at the beginning of October and the start of a new challenge at Lexi's Creations.

The new challenge theme is 'Pink', based on the fact that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. Full details of the challenge and our special sponsor this time can be found on the LC's Challenge Blog. I hope you will call across and join in our challenge, the inspiration from my design team is amazing I do hope you will take the time to take a look at their work.

Now onto my card for this challenge...

The backing paper is from my stash, the flowers and buds are from Hobby Craft, the leaves I made myself. The butterflies are made using a punch and coloured with some Tim Holtz distressing inks and stickles.

The ribbon, rik rak and lace is from our local market.

One of my favourite of Lexi's Lees designs, Christmas Shopping Phoebe, available from Fairy Dust Crafts Store. Coloured using chalks, I then cut out the image really close and slightly shaped it with my bone folder and glued it onto a topper of textured card from Paper Mill Direct.

I hope you liked my creation and thank you for taking the time to look and for your fabulous comments.

Love and hugs

Susan xxx

Autumn Colours at Lexi's Creations

Hi Susan here...

I hope you are all well and looking forward to the Autumn season...those beautiful colours of autumn when the countryside takes on a whole new look and even the trees get a chance to make it look like we are having a second spring.
I love the rich vibrant colours of autumn they are so warming and comforting to look at. Over at Lexi's Creations today we are starting our new challenge and the theme is

'Autumn Colours'

We want to see all those fabulous rich colours on your creations, really show us what Autumn means to you!
For full details of the challenge and our fabulous sponsor please call across to Lexi's Creations and take a look at what my design team has produced for this challenge.

Now onto my cards.....yes I have made two for this challenge, hope you like them.

My first card is using a digi image available from Fairy Dust Crafts.

Backing paper from a 12x12 book. Beautiful shiny mottled paper with autumn leaves in the design.

The flower is from Prima, the leaves I made myself using a stamp that I embossed with clear embossing powder then carefully cutting out coloured with inks and then shaped.

The tiny silver charm is from Ebay.

The beautiful woven ribbon is from East of India.

I have used the digi image Lady Bug Mushroom, designed by Lexi Lee and available from Fairy Dust Crafts Store. Coloured using chalks and edged using distressing inks.

My second card is using a digi image available from our new sponsor My Hearts Pieces

I have used some basic Kraft card cut to shape in scallops, edged with distressing inks, the checked paper is from Nitwits.

This is to show you the side view. The pearls are from our local market.

The flower is from Prima, the leaves have been made using a stamp that I embossed with clear embossing powder then cut out and coloured with distressing inks.

The sentiment is using a stamp I have had for ages and a die from Whimsey.

This is a beautiful digi image from our new sponsor My Heart Pieces and is called Bird House. Coloured using Promarkers and edged with distressing inks.

Thank you so much for taking the time to look at my creations and thank you for your wonderful comments.

Love and hugs

Susan xxx

Lexi's Creations.....Back to school or college

Hi Susan here....

Time is passing by so quickly school and college is about to start again. Exciting times for our children. To start them off on the right track how about sending them a card to wish them well in their first few weeks, or even for their teachers to say hello to the start of the new year.

Over at Lexi's Creations Challenge Blog we are starting a new challenge today relevant to this time of year.

For full details of the challenge and fabulous sponsor, please call across to Lexi's Creations and join in the fun with us, there's lots of inspiration from my design team to help you with this challenge.

So the theme is 'Back to School or College'.

Now onto my card...

I chose some beautiful textured card from Paper Mill Direct, I tried out an idea using some chipboard letters and embossed the card by putting them through my big shot machine, I then rubbed them down gently with sandpaper and used distressing ink to highlight them and the edge of the card..

The ticket has been designed by Lexi Lee and is available from Fairy Dust Crafts Store, I altered it by blanking out the centre of the ticket and putting in my own computer generated sentiment, I used distressing inks around the outer edge. 

The side strip is the negative of some letters that I die cut using a sizzix die, I edge distressed the strip with inks and put a dark brown strip of card at the back to show through.

This very cute digi image has been designed by Lexi Lee and available from Fairy Dust Crafts Store, it is called Baby Giraffe. I coloured the image with chalks, the topper has been edged with distressing inks.

Thank you for taking the time to look around and for leaving me your wonderful comments

Love and hugs

Susan xxx

Lexi's Creations....At the beach

Hi Susan here...

Today a new challenge has started at Lexi's Creations and the theme this time is...

'At the Beach'

You can interpret this challenge as a summer birthday card, a scrapbook page for a visit to the seaside or a fun going on holiday wish you were here card......the choice is yours as long as it is a beach themed creation that will be fine.
For full details of the challenge and our sponsor this time please visit Lexi's Creations and check out the inspiration from my very talented design team.

Now onto my card....

This was such a fun card to make...I don't make many summer cards but I was pleased with the finished result of this one!

The background papers are from a CD Rom from Joanna Sheen called 'Messy Rabbit', it's brimming with the most fabulous papers and toppers. I added glossy accents to the drink in the glass. Then I glittered the sun so that it shone down nice and sparkly!

The sentiment is from a Daisy Hill vellum swatch book called 'Travel', it's full of summer time themed sentiments.

This fabulous image has been designed by Lexi Lee, called 'Fun Time Ollie' and is available from Fairy Dust Crafts Store.

I used chalks to colour and shade the image, then used a nestabilities die to make the topper. I have glued it to the backing papers over the top of the image that was from the CD Rom. I used distress inks to colour the edge of the topper. I also added some glitter to the splashes of water, the palm leaves on the trees and the ocean. I also added glossy accents to the glasses.

Thank you for looking at my design and for all your wonderful comments

Love and hugs

Susan xxx

A bit of fun.....

Hi Susan here....

It is nice to have some time to make cards just for fun....and I really enjoyed making this one....it is for no special reason other than I have not used a Sara Kay image on a card for ages and I love this particular one very much!

The main background paper is from Bo Bunny, wonderful paper, loved using it. It is a 6x6 pad with some of the most amazing papers.

I used two of Tim Holtz stamps for the text paper and the butterflies, and I stamped them using Tim Holtz Distress inks and then aged the edges again with some distress inks.l

The ribbon is from East of India collection of ribbon, this is such a beautiful range of ribbons and accessories, I drool over this collection everytime we go to John Lewis's craft department.

The flower I made up using about four or five layers of flowers from Prima, then put a brad in the centre to hold them together.

I love this little stamp from Sarah Kay, it always reminds me of my daughters when they were little and makes me smile.

I have used chalks to colour the image and distress inks for the edge of the topper.

That beautiful little butterfly that I have fell in love with is from a collection from Craft for Occasions it is laser cut with an embossed design that looks like it is layered on the front.

Thank you for taking the time to look at my work and for all your wonderful comments

Love and hugs

Susan xxx

Fussy and Fancy....Make a gift/anything but a card

Hi Susan here...

We are half way through our current challenge at Fussy and Fancy, so Group B has its chance to give you some inspiration.

The theme is Make a Gift/Anything but a card

For full details of the challenge, our sponsor and to get some fabulous inspiration from the rest of the design team call across to the Fussy and Fancy Challenge Blog.

Now onto my 

I decided I might make another gift to give to one of my daughters, we all love handmade gifts and all of us get a lot of use out of notepads, so making this was not a hard decision to make.

The small amount of backing paper and cardstock is from our stash. The calendar jumble is our own digi design.

The flowers are a mix from Hobby Craft and Crafty Emma's Store. The leaves have been made from white cardstock, deckle scissors, inks and a ball tool.

The ribbons are all from our Local Market.

The beautiful snowflake charm is from Crafty Emma's Store.

I used some red mirri card and dies to cut out the letters that spell the word 'lists', something me and my family do a lot of. A list for this, a list for that....lol!!

This is to show you the side view of the notepad.

This cute digi image 'Jolly Josie' has been designed by Marina Neira and available from The Stamping Bazaar Store.

I have used chalks to colour the image, to give a soft effect.

Thank you for taking the time to look and for all your wonderful comments.

Love and hugs

Susan xxx

Challenges entering

Little Red Wagon - Christmas

Stampavie and More - Anything but a square

Digi Doodle Shops Best - Animals

Lili of the Valley - Anything goes

 

Fussy and Fancy....3 B's

Hi Susan here...

Another chance today to join in the on-going challenge over at Fussy and Fancy.

The on-going theme is '3 B's'....Border punch, Black, and Bling. 

For full details of the challenge, our sponsor and for some fabulous inspiration from the design team call across to the Fussy and Fancy Challenge Blog.

Now onto my card.....

My backing paper is from my stash, I have used some black cardstock and punched a design around the four sides leaving the corners plain. This is where I have stuck some dark green buttons on. I have used Stickles on the edges of the punched borders.

The tiny little 'bling' crystals are from my stash, I have used them on the leaves on the tree and to represent flowers on the foreground.

The ticket sentiment is from Raindrop Echo Designs.

This gorgeous image is a stamp from Lili of the Valley and is one of my favourite images for boys/mens cards.

I have coloured the image entirely with chalks.

Thank you for taking the time to look and for all your wonderful comments.

Love and hugs

Susan xxx

Challenges entering

Digital Tuesday - Buttons and/or twine

Lothian Crafts - Anything goes

Digi Doodle Shops Best - Anything goes

Charisma Cardz - Anything goes