Caardvarks - A card to DIE for

Firstly, thank you to all of you who left comments on Holly's card, it's given her such a boost and I think that is so important at her age.

Now onto the Caardvarks challenge, it was simply to use die cuts on a card. Well my mum asked me to make a card for her sister Ruth - nick named Foofie (it's a long story!) So here it is, probably a little too grungy for a 70 year old but she doesn't look or act 70 in fact I think she has more energy than I do!

I used my Sizzix stencil alphabet dies to cut the name. The photos a bit naff, it's so annoying this time of year, by the time I get home from work I have no natural daylight left for photography.

Look What Holly Did!

Just look what my clever daughter, Holly (12) created for me the other day. I love the style she's used, it looks quite impressionistic I think. She didn't copy off anything either, it's all out of her own sweet head! It looks a bit like that self portrait of Van Gough, don't you think?

TJC Forum - Card Project

I was inspired to make this card by the 'Happy Holidays Card Project' over at TJC Designs. I know it's a different theme, I mainly followed the shape and layout of the card because I got a bit carried away - I always do! I just can't help changing things, I'm even worse with sketches, they always get turned around.

DCM - Ribbons Galore!

Ooooo (rubs hands together) I just lurve ribbon, in fact i'm a complete ribbon nut! So this weeks DCM dare is just perfect for me. Here's the brief.....here's a little sweetener: Bea is giving a ribbonful prize to one lucky darer this week. All you need to do is make a be-ribboned Christmas Card especially for the DCM (no doubling up of challenges this week....), post a link to say where we can see it, or send it by email to daringcardmakers@hotmail.co.uk for the gallery and you'll be in with a chance of winning. Couldn't be easier, could it?

I used the Gift Stack template from Crafty Templates to create the shape then jazzed it up with the red ribbon (curtesy of my pal Patsy, thanks Patsy)

The colours don't seem to show up very well in the photo, it definately looks better in real life.

Di Hickman - October Sketch #4

Whooooo! I bet that made you jump ay? For this weeks sketch from Di Hickman I decided to make my first ever Halloween card, I don't have any Halloween papers so being the resourcful mum that I am I made do with what I had. I used plain green, yellow and reds and gave them a make over with my blending chalks, i'm really pleased with the results, it looks like Basic Grey without the Basic Grey.

Now I hear you ask, "how does my card fit the sketch?" Right, if you look at the picture where it says 'Boo' and tilt your head to the right (lol I can imagine you all tilting your heads!) Di's sketch will miraculously stare back at you!

DCM - Tempting Template

Hi, I'm back from my two day break! And it sure is good to be back, it was sooooooo cold in Blackpool.

It was so great to go onto DCM and see that it was a sketch for the little extra this week - I LOVE sketches! Here's how it goes....It's ages since we gave you a sketch to play with so that's what we've got for you this time you can use the sketch any way you like, just as long as we can still see it in there somewhere - so stretch it or shrink it or do whatever else you can to make use of it. As usual we have some cards from the Design team to help get you thinking:

Here's the sketch......

And here's what I did with the sketch, it screamed Noughts and Crosses at me. I'm not sure if people from around the globe will be familiar with noughts and crosses but basically the first person to get a row of three is the winner.

Lol! i've just noticed you can still see the wet glue in the photo! I was in such a rush to take the photo before darkness fell!

Good Ger-rief!!!!!!!

What a day! When Traci at TJC Designs asked me if I'd be her guest designer and do a lesson for my 'Curvy Card' I never imagined the scale of the response.

I created a template and instructions which became available for free download on Thursday. At the last count it had been downloaded 107 times! My inbox has been non stop all day with enquiries. I'm so amazed at how popular it has been.

I never imagined when I sat at my craft table that day - tearing my hair out trying to get the picture in my head to work as a card- that I would be inundated with all these requests, it really has made me soooo happy, thank you for all your kind comments.

If you haven't already got it and would like to download the template and instructions, all you need to do is register at the TJC Designs forum. Once registered click on 'Design team projects' then on 'Honorary Design team member project' and you'll find the download link in there (page 1 of the thread is the most recent post- it works back to front!). Some people had trouble downloading it but if you read the full thread it'll give you plenty of help.

Right, I'm not around until Wednesday so I'll catch up then.

PS. If you make a Curvy Card please let me know, I'd love to see it.

DCM - Circle of Friends

Happy Birthday DCM! Thankyou for introducing me to the wonderful world of challenges and giving my card making a new purpose.

I think it's very apt the DCM have chosen Frinds at the theme for their birthday because I have been blessed with so many new friends through DCM.

Anyway, enough Waffle and onto the Dare.......The subject is, as in our original dare "friends", but this time the title is CIRCLE of FRIENDS and we'd like you to incorporate at least one circle into your card.

The trouble with these acetate cards is they are so difficult to capture in a photograph, this is the best I could get but I think you get the idea. In case you hadn't guessed the centre of the flower is my circle for this challenge.

TOP TIP! Never, under any circumstances use brown glitter on an acetate card!

Caardvarks - An eyelet for an eyelet

This was a good challnge for me beacause I love using eyelets, I've thrown in some of my other faves too- ribbons and brads. Hope you like it. Thanks Caardvarks for another great challenge.

Short but sweet today, I have to get ready for work (ho hum)

DCM - Santa's Little Extra Helper no 2

The DCM little extra was nice and easy this week, we had to use a Christmas tree on our card. I decided to do another of my curvy cards for this dare, I used BG paper and my Silhouette to cut the trees.
News
I've been asked by TJC Designs to create a template and instructions for my Curvy Cards. As soon as they have it on their site I'll let you know (as I know some of you wanted to know how to make them)......

And as if by magic, here it is. The only thing is i'm not sure if non members to the forum will be able to access it (the link's in a forum post) you can try it and find out I guess.

You Make Me Smile!

Lucky me! I've been nominated three times for the You Make Me Smile award by Marlou, Jeannette and Bubblegum, thanks girls you all make me smile too.

So this means I have to list 10 people who make me smile and inspire me.

So here they are in no particular order........(6 fo now because it's my bed time!)

Samm

Juliet

Anna

Sadie

Melllie

Crissi

Just copy the award and post it on your blog along with links to your ten people that make you smile.

DCM - Wild Thing!

What a wild dare there's been this week over on DCM, it's all Kathy's fault, here's what she said....Hellooooo, Kathy here to set you a really Beastly dare this week! The theme is ANIMAL and you can use anything that's animal inspired - not those diddy little ones like bugs, birds and butterflies (though you can include them in your design of course) but what I'd really like to see is bigger, wilder, more fabulous or fantastic creatures So you could maybe use animal die cuts, animal prints on paper or fabric, or maybe animal words or phrases "grrrrr get down tiger"!!!! You could invent your own wild and wonderful beasties, or go back in time for dinosaurs, or into the world of mythology for all sorts of incredible creatures. How about a card in the shape of a tiger, elephant or monkey? Now, there's a challenge for you.... I'd love you to all go really wild over this one and have loads of beastly fun

I made the tiger out of funky foam, a bit fiddly bute cute I think

The writing is done by hand because when I went to my clear alphabet set I discovered that i've managed to lose my 'h' grrrrr.

I even gave him a little tail for the inside view!

CMU - Love Is In The Air

This time the CMU challenge was set by the incredibly talented Juliet, here's what she said...."Been thinking about the challenge this week and decided to go with 'Love Is In The Air'. Wedding, engagement or just to say 'I love you' - the only stipulation is that your work must incorporate at lease one love-heart, the rest is up to you!

Regulars to my blog might remember a card I had on here a couple of months ago which was basically the same as this but with different papers, well i'm a firm believer that if something works you should keep on doing it but try to make each on slightly different, i'll stop waffling now and tell you what I did.........I used my 'Birdie' template from Crafty Templates to create the birds. The papers are BG (of course!) Phoebe (I think). The writing says 'Love Birds' but i'm not sure it shows up very well.

Magic Wheel for Patsy - UKS October Challenge

The lovely Patsy has been a wee bit peeky just lately and she decided to cheer herself up with a blog candy challenge - to make her a get well card. It just so happens that Patsy discovered that she had a very special reason for that peeky feeling (pop to her blog and find out more).

I've been meaning to make a card using a magic wheel for ages, infact, ever since my DS (now 15!) was a toddler and had magic wheel story book. So it was a long time in the pipeline and a long time in the making because I had to work out how to make one -let me tell you, it was no easy task!

Well I got there in the end, it's hard to capture the magic of it in photographs but what happens is, you move the tab frome side to side and the flower magically transforms!

Clever ay? I'm not just a mildy interesting face you know!
This card was also made to fit in with the October challenge over at UKS. The challenge was to use Halloween colours (purple, orange, green, white and black) in a non- Halloween card, I think I just about managed it.

UPDATE!

A few people have shown interest in finding out how to make these cards, I would love to help but to be honest it's really hard to explain. What I can tell you is that the moving picture is made up of just two circular peices, so you have your two pictures which are cut in a certain way one in the opposite direction to the other, they then intertwine. I think it's one of those things you have to explore and findout for yourself because it's just so darn difficult to explain! If I manage to make it into a lesson I will let you know.

DCM - Santas Little Extra helper no.1

Here's the little extra this week; Christmas Words; We'd like you to use Christmassy words on your card, not just in the sentiment but for this challenge the word/s should form the main focus of your card

I used the 'joy bauble' on my silhouette for this one, oh and of course some Basic Grey papers!

Caardvarks - Got Paint? - Again!

Well, I enjoyed the Caardvarks challenge so much, i've done another ( i hope we're aloud 2!) This time i've used glass paints on acetate, I've used glass paintsand acetate on card before but this is the first time the actual card has been completely acetate (apart from the spine) I love the way the colours are shining through on the top picture, I think it looks quite magical.

Normally when I glass paint I use an outliner for the line work but this time thanks to the kind gift of some heat resistant acetate from Traci at TJC Designs I was able to stamp and emboss the frame image onto the acetate before painting it, it sure made things a lot easier!
It was quite difficult to get a decent image of this card, it doesn't actually look as dark as this but I quite like the 'Gothic' look it's taken on.

Here's a closer look at the verse.

Tagged Again!

First of all I just want to thank you all for your get well wishes, you really have made me feel so much better, i'm so lucky to have so many cyber buddies hugs to you all.

Right, down to buisness.....I've been tagged twice (gee i'm so lucky) so a big thank you to the lovely Ying Pang aka Vintage Mom and Deb aka Bubblegum, both first class bloggers.

Here are the rules :1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.2. Share 7 facts about yourself: some random, some weird.3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

So, here are my seven facts (sure to send you to sleep)

1, Hearing people eating really makes me cringe (especially apples, urghh!)
2, I recently had one of my paintings in a touring exhibition (yeah!!)
3, I love funny people
4, I have a gorgeous Hawk head parrot called Lizzy, she's hilarious!
5, I have always dreamed of making a living through my art work in some way.
6, I'm 5 foot 8"
7, I lurve Danish pastries (so do my hips!)

Here a my seven lucky people (lol) in no particular order

Emilia - Her work is inspirational, take a look.
Samm - She's soooo talented
Leann - She's a new blogger but wait till you see her cards
Rosie - What she can't alter isn't worth altering
Monica - Her work speaks for itself, she's just so talented
Jackie - Another inspirational blog, and what a busy lady.
Angelnorth - Wait till you see her stamping!

The Dreaded Lurgi

Hi lovely fellow blogging girls and guys. I'm just popping on to let you know I have the worlds worst cold! (I'm sure it isn't but i'm feeling sorry for myself). My nose is so sore and tingly, I can't stop sneezing then blowing, how can it be humanly possible for one nose to produce so much sn** (ok, too much information right?) Anyway, it's just an explaination as to why there might not be many additions on here this week, i'm way too cold and shivery for crafting. Has anyone else got the dreaded lurgi? come and have a moan to me if you have, I'm all ears, actually if you could see me right now you might say i'm all nose!

Caardvarks - Got Paint?

What a great challenge there is over at Caardvarks right now, here's the brief......It's that time again and we want to see what you can do with PAINT! Brush it on, stamp it on, crackle it, puff it, pounce it, dab it, just do it!
I LOVE to paint! So this is the perfect challenge for me. I've unearthed my silk paints for this one. As these silk painted cards are a kind of mini work of art I like to make the card base from angle cut mount board so that it's all ready for the recipient to pop it into a picture frame.

Thanks for looking.

Di Hickman Sketch

Here we are again with another sketch from Di Hickman. I've used my new Dolly Mammas stamp for this one the paprer is K&Co Hop Scotch Boy and the charm is Making Memories. Guess what.........NO RIBBON! and no BASIC GREY! And for the first time, I didn't turn the sketch around, I just lenghthened it instead (well I have to have my rebellion some how!)

Crafty Templates Designs

Just look at the fab shape of this months templates from 'Crafty Templates'! I've had so much fun using them. Thanks Leo, designing for you is always a pleasure.

And another!
And another!

Curvy Card

I had Crafters Block the other night so, after staring at my cutting mat for what must have been at least half an hour I decided to just go for something different. Sometimes I get bored of doing the same old shaped card so I came up with this idea, it took ages to get the design right and work out where to place the folds, but now I've done it, next time should be easy. I'm pleased with the over all look of it, I think it looks quite sculptural but I had trouble deciding what would work on the front. In the end I opted for the ribbon and the 3D strip and left it at that, I didn't want to 'over do' it. What do you think?

UPDATE (wicked laugh!) It seems I've got you all baffled with this card lol, a few of you have asked how the folds work, it's actually very straight forward but hard to explain (if that makes any sense). You make the card as two seperate curvy peices then attach them together with two 'hinges' (folded strips of card). the hinges are placed very strategically so that you can't see them from the front. The inside of the card is then covered in your choice of paper to cover up the hinges. I hope this helps guys, give me a shout if it doesn't.

What a bargain!

Okay, right now i'm into ribbon BIG TIME I can't seem to make a card without using some, especially the velvet ones. You can imagine my joy when I discovered some 5metre rolls of velvet ribbon for just 99p each! 99p for 5m of velvet ribbon!!!! how cool is that? and they're in gorgeous colours too. Not only that but they just so happened to be from my all time favourite craft store Charmed Cards and Crafts so I knew I could expect quick delivery. They came today so i'll be off to have a play with them now. Watch this space to see what I come up with.

If you fancy some bargain ribbon or anything else for that matter (they have everything!) look here.

Di Hickman card sketch

This is my take on the latest sketch from Di Hickman

I love her sketches, they're nice and simple but they always look good. I turned it upside down for my interpretation - why do I always do that? It must be the rebel in me!.

I used my left over scraps from my latest DT package from Leo, waste not want not



For the 3D writing I backed some mount board with paper then cut it with my one of my Cuttlebug alphabet sets, I really like the effect.

DCM - In the frame

It's that time again and we've had another great dare from DCM; This week I’d like you to use a FRAME or FRAMES on your card. You can use any type of frame you so wish. How about a die cut frame or a hand cut frame. You can frame your card with brackets or flowers or how about some doodling - the choice is yours.

I decided to go with the layout idea from the card with a frame on that I used further down the page but this time I went for 'fun' instead of 'pretty.

I used BG 'Colour me silly' paper for the background and also made a faux chipbord frog using a frog from the background paper which I attached to mountboard and cut out, I attached googly eyes for a finishing touch. The frame is also BG on mount board.

I get all my papers from Charmed Cards and Crafts ,they have a huge range at great prices.