Easter at Lexi's Creations...

Hi Susan here...

Well hello everyone, it's been a while since I blogged, but I have still been creating, I lost my mojo for a while and oh boy it has been hard work getting it back, but here I am.

I have been making jewellery since Christmas and soon I will show you all just what I have produced.

Over at Lexi's Creations my challenge blog we are starting a new challenge today and the theme is 'Easter'. For full details of the challenge and for details of our sponsor please call across to Lexi's Creations and take a look at all the fabulous inspiration from the Design Team. They truly are a talented lot and never let me down. They produce creations for all levels of skills and make everything seem so easy for every challenge.

Now on to my card....

I have used my own backing papers. I produced the main background by putting a harlequin stencil through my bigshot and then I used some Tim Holtz embossing inks to colour the embossed areas.

The small square was produced using promarkers and Tim Holtz distressing inks. The flower stamp is from Chocolate Baroque.

The lace I was given as a Christmas present from a friend. The ribbon is East of India I love this soft green coloured ribbon, such fabulous quality.

The crocheted flowers were a Christmas present from a friend, the covered buttons are from our stash.

I have used one of the cutest digi images that has been designed by Lexi Lee and available at Fairy Dust Crafts Store. It is called Lillie Under an Easter Egg. I used chalks to colour the image and then added Stickles to various parts of the finished card.

I hope you like this first card from me this year.

Thanks for looking and for your fabulous comments

Love and hugs

Susan xxx

A few simple notebook presents....

Hi Susan here...

I have made a few more notebooks and thought you would like to see them. Keeping my notebooks very simple this year was hard, I usually do very fancy over the top ones, but I found the more I made of these simple ones the more I liked them. I hope my daughters will like them at Christmas time.

This is the side view of my first notebook.....I have used similar colours for the notepaper as I did for the cover. I like to do this then the notebook looks more finished off and professional.

This is the notebook cover....I used a new method for constructing the notebook, I have glued the backing paper onto the stiff card then distressed the edges with a pair of scissors. This made the book covers really easy to make. I of course cover the inside of the covers as well as the front, they look quite good, but I did have to make sure that the covers were glued right to the very edges or the paper started to lift.

My backing paper is from a 12x12 scrapbooking pad that I have had for ages. It is two sided and I have used both sides of the paper for this book.

The lace and fine Georgette ribbon is from our local market.

The lettering 'EM' is a die cut from an old Sizzix die, I then coloured the letters with Promarkers and then added stickles. You can tell this notebook is for my daughter Emma!

This is a closeup of the beautiful stamp set from Chocolate Baroque. I have used Promarkers to colour the images, I cut very close to the image for the tulip bunch before sticking it in place.

My second notebook  was made very simply, using one of Emma's favourite owl stamps.

I took the colours from the backing paper on this notebook to determine what colours I should use for the notepaper.

The backing paper was from a 12x12 scrapbooking pad that has been in my stash for ages.

The lettering for the word 'Notes' is a die cut from Tim Holtz.

I added Glossy Accents to the paper after I had cut the letters out.

The ribbon is from the East of India Collection.

This little stamp of an owl is an old wooden stamp that has been in our stash for ages...The name of the manufacturer of the stamp is Funstamps, it was designed by Lindsay Mason and is called Fluffy Owl.

The leaves are also a wooden stamp that I cut close to the stamped image and then coloured with Distress Inks.

I hope you have enjoyed looking and many thanks for your comments

Love and hugs

Susan xxx

A Fairy Merry Christmas...

Hi Susan here...

I am making Christmas cards like mad now....I sit in my craftroom and say I'll not make any more...but then I see a stamp and there you go I start on another card....

I have used a base red card from Paper Mill Direct and then put a piece of vellum on the top.

My flowers are from Hobby Craft, I have used stickles on the edges of the petals.

I have used some new die cut wooden leaves with my flowers for a change and a beautiful tree behind my sentiment. They come in a little tray, I am sure you will all have seen these in your craft shops.

The ribbon is East of India, this is beautiful ribbon such fabulous quality, it spoils you for any other.

My sentiment is an old wooden stamp that I have had in my stash for years, it's such a versatile stamp and I use it often. I have used a die for the backer of my sentiment, this was designed by Ann Vento for her ticket sentiments, I coloured the edges with distressing inks and then added stickles.

This gorgeous fairy is from Sugar Nellie, I have used chalks to colour the image very delicately and then added stickles to her wings and wand etc....

I have used a beautiful die cut backer in a pale pink slightly shiny card from Paper Mill Direct, this card is gorgeous, it has a beautiful sheen to it and even embosses absolutely fabulous, I have used Tim Holtz distressing inks to colour around the edges.

I hope you have enjoyed looking and thank you for your comments.

Love and hugs

Susan xxx

Santa Claus Post Office...

Hi Susan here...

Busy, busy, busy making Christmas cards, but I love making these and sometimes once I get started I find it hard to stop!!

The backing papers are from my stash....I cut a strip for the base and folded it into a frill then added the ribbon to it.

The ribbon is from East of India, love this really great quality ribbon.

The flowers are from Hobby Craft, the leaves have been made using a punch.

The gorgeous sentiment stamp is from Lili of the Valley set 17 Grunge Christmas Postmarks.

The image is Crafters Companions Mulberry Wood, I have used chalks to colour the image and then added stickles to the snow and glossy accents to the fairy lights.

I hope you have enjoyed looking and many thanks for your comments

Love and hugs

Susan xxx

A Christmas Card ....

Hi Susan here..

I have started early this year with my Christmas cards and I am now well on the way to having a full box to choose from to give to family and friends, I will definitely be doing this again, there has been no stress and I have really enjoyed designing my cards.

We recently bought some new stamps and this one was no exception, really got me started with the inspiration flowing....

I have had the backing papers for ages and do not know the name of company all I can say is that it is from a 6x6 scrap pack.

The ribbon is East of India...love this ribbon, I know its more expensive than my usual stuff from our market but the quality is amazing I really love it.

My flowers were a new find from Hobby Crafts, the leaves I made using card and inks.

The gorgeous sentiment is from Whimsy and has been designed by Ann Vento.

This is a close up of that gorgeous new stamp from Crafters Companion from the Mulberry Wood Collection. I used chalks to gently colour the image and then added stickles to the snow and glossy accents to the little fairy lights.

This little 'inchy' tile was made using fimo and then gluing a piece of paper to it I used a scrap of backing paper that was just lying around, you then have to rub the edges with a piece of sandpaper and add ink to the edges. These are really simple to make but look so effective on your cards and scrapbook pages.

Hope you have enjoyed looking and many thanks for your comments

Love and hugs

Susan xxx

Lexi's Creations....For a friend

Hi Susan here...

We are having a lovely challenge starting today at Lexi's Creations...the theme is

'For a Friend'

I love making cards for my friends and seeing their faces when they open up the card box.
You can see full details of the challenge and our wonderful sponsor at Lexi's Creations Challenge Blog.
If you're in need of some inspiration for this challenge then look no further than the display of talent from my design team...amazing work as always.

Now onto my card....

You always need Birthday cards I think, and I love to make them special for my family and friends, I got this design in my head just as I was falling asleep a few nights ago and I just had to make it to see how it looked!

The background papers are from my stash, these were loose 12x12 papers I bought one year on holiday in USA. I only have a few small pieces left now but I love them, the designs were really nice.

I have aged all the edges using Tim Holtz distress inks.

The beautiful woven ribbon is from East of India collection, love this range, I can never resist buying something from it everytime we go to John Lewis's Craft Department.

The sentiment is a rubber stamp.

This is such a gorgeous little digi image, designed by Lexi Lee and available from Fairy Dust Crafts Store, it is called 'Ladybug Flower'.

I have used promarkers to colour and shade the image, then I decoupaged the flower head cutting out different layers of petals and glued micro beads to the centre of the flower head. Up close and personal it is quite effective. I have aged the plaque with distress inks.

This is one of the gorgeous fimo birds that I made a while ago using Emma's cake decorating moulds, I love them. I have slightly inked it using distress inks to take away the starkness of the white fimo, I'm going to try making some more using different colours of fimo.

Thank you so much for taking the time to look and for 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