Still cardmaking!

Wasn't all the pomp and circumstance fabulous yesterday! Hope you all had a great time - we had a good day although we didn't watch all the wedding as it was going on (went to Ikea instead and am now sitting here waiting for my new craft room cupboards to be delivered sometime today - whoo hoo - I am going to be having a day sorting out new and old stash - can't wait!).

I have made yet another card and here she is:

My two best friends birthday's are in May so I thought I would get them done early - this one is quite similar to the other one I made (used the same papers!) but I don't see my friends together so I should be safe!  This is based again on sketch no. 5 at sketchandstashchallenge so I will enter it into their challenge - I don't usually enter 3 cards into the same challenge site in one week so this is a first for me!  but they have a choice of about 10 sketches to choose from this week so it's great to get your creative juices flowing so go and check them out if you have time (challenge closes on Monday). 

The new stash I have used is the butterfly and the Lili of the Valley stamps, the old stash I have used are all the flowers and the papers.

This card also fits in with my own challenge as follows:
Something old - the papers which I think are by DCWV
Something new - the Lili of the Valley stamps
Something borrowed - the lovely Magnolia stamp - thanks Jackie!
Something blue - the cardstock

Promarkers used were: duck egg, cyan, powder blue, sky blue, vanilla, mustard, ginger, baby pink, rose pink, pastel green, soft green, cool aqua, aegean, pastel beige, khaki, sunkissed pink, blush and saffron.

That's it for today then - off to take photos of my "old" craft room before the new cupboard arrives!  Have a great day everyone.  Oh and if you fancy joining in with my challenge the link is here challenge number 4 and this one runs until Tuesday so please join me if you can.

Thanks for looking :)

Card challenge

Have made a pact that Wednesday night is going to be craft night from now on.  With this is mind I had a look around at some other challenges and created this card last night:

The challenges I have taken part in are:  daringcardmakers whose challenge is Speaking Professionally - so I have used my new Magnolia travelling Tilda stamp to make a card for an Air Stewardess.  For the card I have again followed a sketch at sketchandstashchallenge this time sketch no. 5 so I will enter this into their challenge too.  I would also like to enter it into the delightfulsketches challenge which is distressing and the movingalongwiththetimes challenge which is Anything Goes.

Papers are Passport by Making Memories, Stamps are by Stampers Anonymous, Recollections and TPC Studio, Flowers and butterfly (sprayed with Jazz Blue Glimmer Mist) are Prima, Metal embellishment is an old Tim Holtz one, Bling, ribbon and hemp are just from my stash.  Promarkers used were: cool aqua, duck egg, pastel blue, blush, saffron, sunkissed pink, pastel yellow, baby pink, mustard, pastel pink, ginger, spice and gold.

Thanks for looking - am off to get ready as its soon school run and then coffee time at Starbucks this morning!  whoo hoo.

A peaceful day in

Children both went back to school today after the holidays and I have to admit I have missed them, the house has been very quiet! - I spent the morning catching up with housework and then settled down in front of the tv to catch up with some shows I have taped and made this:

it is based on a sketch (no. 42) over at sketchandstashchallenge so I would like to enter it into their challenge.  The new stash I have used is the butterfly and the Lili of the Valley stamps, the old stash I have used are all the flowers and the papers.

This card also fits in with my own challenge as follows:

Something old - the papers which I think are by DCWV
Something new - the Lili of the Valley stamps
Something borrowed - the lovely Magnolia stamp - thanks Morag!
Something blue - the cardstock

Promarkers used were: Powder blue, cyan, azure, aegean, sky blue, arctic blue, pastel beige, khaki, sandstone, caramel, cocoa, henna, baby pink, rose pink, sunkissed pink, blush and saffron.
Thanks for looking :)

Easter Weekend Layout

Had a lovely day on Saturday spent most of it scrapping this:

Yet another double layout in two days and 8 more photos scrapped too!  how happy am I :)

Layout is based on a pagemap - page 61 of Page Maps 2.  Papers used are a sheet of Basic Grey Basics and then the rest are from the new Echo Park Off the Record set along with the stickers and journal cards.  Have used some old Prima flowers, bling and some sizzix butterflies to finish it off.  Stamps used are my new Pink Paislee Daily Junque, Tims Mini Muse "The Journey" quote and the This Day in History stamp is by Glitz.  Also managed to use up a few pieces of metal on this one too.  Note that there is no distressing on this one either! unusual for me although I did crease up the journal card and This Day in History card a bit and used Brushed Corduroy and Old Paper distress inks.

Thanks for looking and I hope you had a great Easter too.

Challenge Number 4 second layout

As I am clearly in the mood to get some unfinished projects finished I took this (again been in the drawer for about 2 years!):

inspiring eh! and took a sketch some Nitwit papers I have had for a while and made this:

I know it won't win any prizes and there aren't really enough twiddly, hidden and dangly bits on it for me but it's another layout done and five more photos scrapped!  Notice how the photos are all very similar - does anyone else take loads of photos of the same thing and then just cannot choose between them?  I think this is what causes my difficulty in scrapping sometimes - there are too many photos of one thing for a layout or mini book - but just look at my little munchkins on these piccies- I have a typical Oliver dancing around being followed by Benjamin, two fabulous facial expressions from Oliver but not Benjamin, a great picture of Benjamin but Oliver looking down and then just a daft photo that completely sums up my boys - just how do you pick one?  I certainly can't and I know I could spend hours on Photoshop sorting out the faces to turn three photos into one but why bother I have better things to do like, erm, spending two years faffing on the said photos!

Anyway this layout (note its a double one too!) fits in with my current challenge like so:

Something old - The green tree (a tag set from Poundland years ago) and the Christmas Tree brad (been in my brad box for years too!)

Something new - Nitville houses - these weren't originally meant to be on this layout which is why they arent really the right size but I printed them out this week on the same sheet of paper as the scarecrows as I didn't want to waste any paper (I am sure I am not the only one that does this am I?) and then after cutting out a row of Tim sizzix houses suddenly remembered them so used them instead (they are by Nitwit Collections)
Santa & Sleigh/Reindeer - Not actually a new purchase but the first time they have been used (again they are by Nitwit Collections)
Ginger Fella - again not new but first time used! (again Nitwit Collections)
December embossing folder - bought this at Christmas but am not sure if I have used it or not?
Bauble Decoration stamp - again not new but unused!

Something Borrowed - the alphabet (think it's from the crop but I am pretty sure it isn't mine)
Santa is Coming to Town stamp - thanks Jackie!

Something Blue - ink and cardstock.

Layout is based on a pagemap - page 24 pagemaps 2.  Think I am finally getting to grips with sketches now!
Just need to look up what year these photos were taken now, I am guessing 2006 due to Benjamin's curly hair!

Thanks for looking :)

Challenge Number 4 layout

Ok here is the finished scarecrow layout!  wont know what to take to push around the table at the crop now!

Scarecrows, pumpkins, leaves and grass are all from a digi kit and hand cut out.  Background is Basic Grey and has been sewn onto the brown card (this was what I did about 2 years ago and then left it in a drawer and forgot about it!).  Will enter this into my own challenge as:

Something old - the layout itself and the digi images
Something new - the Pink Paislee Daily Junque stamps (how fab are they!) and the Tim reflections stamp
Something borrowed - the Car embossing folder from Bernice (although I have to confess that these are so fabulous that I have a bought a set myself and they arrived Tuesday and are still in the packaging - lets hope I get a chance to play again later today!)
Something blue - that was going to the be butterfly which is coloured with Tumbled Glass and Stormy Sky distress inks but then I decided to carry on and add the stamped images (car, live the life quote and the two tickets) so I coloured those in the same inks too.

I also went round to Morags yesterday morning so we could stocktake our workshop stuff and I came home with some papers for my next class (which will be at our June crop) and, lo and behold, I actually did the layout yesterday afternoon!  whoo hoo for me!  will post that at a later time though - dont want to overdo the old blogger do I!!!

Thanks for looking :) and please join in with the challenge if you can - runs until 3rd May.

WOYWW

Where on earth has April gone?  I am only taking part in WOYWW once a month at the moment and it struck me last night (when I took this photo) that this is the only day I can play as I am on a school trip next week.  Anyway hope you are all well and I am hoping to look round quite a few desks later today or tomorrow even though the children are off school.

Here is my craft table which I was working on yesterday and probably still will a bit this afternoon so that I can craft and catch up with the tv programmes I taped last week whilst we were away in sunny Bournemouth:

The layout on it has been ongoing for about 2 years - seriously I am not joking here - it really doesnt do much for me but I am still battling on and getting on with old photos that might not look good aesthetically but really tell an important story about my children growing up.  I am also going to turn that butterfly blue and use this layout in my challenge below - as I noticed I have already used something old, something new and something borrowed on it!  I am also sure I will get more layouts done to suit this challenge as my mojo is back with a vengeance at the moment.

Thanks for looking in and I hope to pop by your desk shortly too.  If you are reading this not via Julias then pop on over and join in the fun too!

Challenge Number 4

My challenge this week is really quite simple (for me anyway!) - as the wedding fever is starting to take over in a big way my challenge is simply to produce a card, a tag or a layout (or all three if you can!) using:

Something Old
Something New
Something Borrowed and
Something Blue.

Have fun! and dont forget to put your link here so I can come and have a look:

A new tag

Had a little play a couple of weeks ago with my new Tim Sizzix die but have not got around to blogging it so here it is:

For the background I used the following distress inks:  Antique Linen, Scattered Straw, Vintage Photo, Aged Mahogany and Walnut Stain - again these colours were chosen by just picking out 5 colours randomly from my bag of handles and wouldn't normally have chosen to put together.

The diecut mannequin was inked with some of the same inks and stamped with a Ticket stamp then mounted onto the tag with a rolled up piece of paper under it so it's 3d.  The stamped mannequin on the tag is one of Bernice's so I don't know what make it is.  The buttons and cotton reel are from the same sizzix die as the mannequin and then I have finished them and the tag off with some Vintage True Hemp.  The quote is from my Creative Expressions set of sewing stamps. 

Thanks for looking :)

And here is my third layout for my Challenge Number 3!

The 24 items used were:

1 - 7. Chipboard Circles
8. Shaped Cardstock - Creative Imaginations Narratives - Memories Ledger
9 - 12. Photos
13 - 15. Alphabet twill ribbon
16. Metal owl
17. Bundled Sage distress ink
18 & 19. Alphabet stamp
20. Metal clock (from a Primark necklace)
21. Metal heart (from a Primark necklace)
22. Basic Grey Chipboard mini monos alphabet
23. Black base cardstock
24. Black Mitsubishi uniball pen (the best pen I have ever owned!)

The 7 part of the challenge is the 7 letter title "Playful", and, of course, all of the chipboard circles cater for the 365 part of the challenge.

I found this layout a little bit more restrictive than the others as normally I would ink the letters with black soot around the edges rather than draw on them with the black pen and also the metal embelllishments would have had ribbon or string on them allowing them to hang freely on the circles rather than been glued on.  Also I would have preferred to have stamped images on the circles with the metal on and have used a different method to write the labels on the photos.  However I am still pleased with the result and thats another 4 photos off the pile and my third layout this week!  Its also a bit out of my comfort zone too as the photographs are all taken at different times - usually I like to have a layout with photos all taken on the same day but I have gone past the idea of putting these small pictures into a school book - thats something for another day I think!  Again I based the layout on a sketch - page 27 Page Maps 2.

Thanks for looking and if you would like to join in the with the challenge the post is here: http://sunshinegirlnicola.blogspot.com/2011/04/challenge-number-3.html - Go on don't be shy!

Thanks for looking :)

And here is another challenge number 3 layout!

Bernice/Jackie I have no idea why you think this challenge is too difficult - this is my second layout in as many days and, after I have posted this, I think I might just go and make a third - it has really got my creative juices flowing!

This is my little boy at his Sports Day in 2003 - so another set of four old photos scrapped!  Whoo Hoo.

So for the challenge, the 24 items used are:

1. Score card paper - Crate Paper - School Spirit Collection - Chalkboard
2. Red/Grade card paper - Crate Paper - School Spirit Collection - Gradecard
3. Hexagon paper - Crate Paper - School Spirit Collection - Chemistry
4. Photo
5. Photo
6. Photo
7. Photo
8. Vintage Photo distress ink
9. Mustard Seed distress ink
10. Aged Mahogany distress ink
11. Heidi Swapp chipboard letters (used these as a mask for the title)
12. Brown Zig writer pen
13. Chipboard star - Rusty Pickle
14. Chipboard star - Rusty Pickle
15. Chipboard star - Rusty Pickle
16. Chipboard star - Rusty Pickle
17. Chipboard star - Rusty Pickle
18. Chipboard star - Rusty Pickle
19. Chipboard circle - Rusty Pickle
20. White pen - Inkssentials
21. String
22. Staple
23. Staple
24. Staple

For the 7 part of the challenge I have used a 7 letter title "RUNNING" and also there are 7 stars on the layout.
 
For the 365 part of the challenge I used the chipboard circle/star to put the date in.  I also based the layout on the sketch on page 68 Page Maps 2.
 
Thanks for looking and if you would like to join in the with the challenge the post is here: http://sunshinegirlnicola.blogspot.com/2011/04/challenge-number-3.html  - Go on  don't be shy!
 
Thanks for looking :)

Challenge Number 3 layout

Finally got my challenge layout done! Phew!

These pictures were taken in 2003 and have been sitting in the pile to be scrapped since then!  What a relief to finally have them done.

This layout is done to my number 3 challenge 24/7/365 - so the 24 items used are:
1. White cardstock
2. Travel paper - Autumn Leaves - Zoom Zoom Zoom
3. Stripe paper - Autumn Leaves - Paper Charming
4. Photo
5. Photo
6. Photo
7. Naturally Serif Alphabet (Sizzix)
8. Blue cardstock
9. Indigo Pigment Ink
10. Tattered Traveller Date Stamp - Tattered Angels
11. Tattered Traveller Clock Stamp - Tattered Angels
12. Long clock stamp - Recollections
13. Time keeping stamp - Recollections
14. Stormy Sky distress ink
15. Kate Hadfield Monkey
16. Kate Hadfield Monkey
17. Long spinner
18. Short spinner
19. Brad
20. Glossy Accents
21. Green rick rack
22. My Wildlife Chipboard - butterfly - Colorbok
23. My Wildlife Chipboard - panda - Colorbok
24. My Wildlife Chipboard - lion - Colorbok

7 - The seven word title "Waiting to go to the Safari Park"

365 - the clock and date circles (although the date one is actually quite wonky - that was the stamp and not me - honest!)

It was actually quite an easy challenge until I got to the last four items which ended up being the rick rack and chipboard.  Might go and do another one now!

Thanks for looking :)

Challenge Number 3

Ok here is my third challenge - bit of a tricky one this! (have changed the button as this was what I was always going to call my challenge but I made it on my main PC and whenever I have gone to post my challenge the PC has been in use so I have had to upload the other picture from my laptop - but now its all on my laptop so I can use it whenever!).

When I walk to school I always walk past a parked service van which has 24/7/365 days a week written on the side - this got me to thinking about this challenge.  What you need to do is:

24 - You must use 24 items on your tag/card and/or layout - this includes the base cardstock, any colours used, if you use 5 staples this is classed as 5 items, however if you use a stamp and have already classed the ink colour used as an item then you only class the stamp as a new item

7 - there must be a link to 7 of something on your creation - for example you might use a specific colour of the rainbow, a 7 letter word title, or a 7 word title - be as creative as you like here but there must be a connection to number 7

365 - this is the easy part - use a circle somewhere on your creation.

Phew - told you it was a toughy!  Unfortunately although I planned this challenge about 3 weeks ago I havent had time to prepare any examples for you - due to drama plays, birthdays and just generally having a busy life!  I hope to catch up and post something soon for you though.

Please join in with me if you can and post a link here so I can come and look at your creation:

Mothers Day Cards

I spent Saturday catching up with three Mothers Day cards (one each for my Mom, my Nan and my Mother In Law) - they are all fairly quick and simple for me but as I based them all on sketches I have decided to enter them into the sketch challenges:

Here is the first card that I made two of - one for Mom and one for my Mother In Law:

this is based on the sketch at http://cardpatterns.blogspot.com/ so I would like to enter it into their challenge.  I used a kraft card base (a fabulous find in a Paper shop on holiday), My Minds Eye papers, a Martha Stewart edging punch, Tim's birdie and rosette dies and the birdcage is a new die that I bought at Hobbycrafts at the NEC - cant remember the make but will post back if I do.

The second, well third really!, card was for my Nan who I have always sent a Mothers Day card and small gift to:

Have based this one on the sketch at http://crazy4challenges.blogspot.com/ so I would like to enter it into their challenge.  Have used the last of our fabulous paper kit made up of Prima papers alphabet and stickers (well almost the last think I might be able to squeeze out one more card using the last few remnants of the butterfly papers!) and a Prima butterfly.

Sorry for the poor quality of photos but Saturday was quite a busy day as I had to go shopping, take little one to a birthday party and prepare for having everyone around for lunch on Sunday as well as make these cards! why do you always lose your mojo when you have to make cards for a specific occasion???

Thanks for looking :)

Proud Mommy!

My little narrator took to the boards on Wednesday and Thursday night with his schools performance of Romeo and Juliet - all of the cast were fabulous and the show was a big hit.

Here he is on the stage just before for the final performance - who knows maybe this is start of a new career!