Ready for next year...

I've had this Belles N Whistles image - Star of Bethlehem - coloured up for a few days now and I couldn't let her go to waste because they both look so pretty!! So I made up a quickie card all ready for next christmas... I hope you like it, as for me, I wish I'd continued the border along the bottom of the circle mat & I definately wish I hadn't coloured baby sister in a pink nightgown!!

I wonder though what will be in vogue next year, there are quite a few on trend elements to this card at the moment, think tulle, charms, pearls & embossing... but how many of these will still be popular in 12 months time & what new trends are going to emerge? I'm the first to admit I have absolutely no idea but it will be quite exciting to find out...

I didn't make this card with any particular challenge in mind but lucky for me there are a few 'free for all' challenges running at the moment one over at the Creative Card Crew and another over on... well okay I guess I was too late for that one, oops!!

Image coloured with promarkers, DPs Golly by Jolly...TFL! xxx

Crafts 4 Eternity #13

Good Morning!! I hope you're all enjoying christmas! With the sun shining outside & the snow all gone it almost seems like a distant memory for me, how wonderful to have a proper white Christmas for a change though, I hope you did too.

So, if you don't fancy braving the sales today & you're not nursing a hangover like my OH, why not try the latest challenge from Crafts 4 Eternity? As always it's a recipe challenge & today's ingredients are to follow the sketch, use a song title & use a tag.

This is the final ATC in my series of four & don't forget you have a chance to win the whole set if you enter the challenge this week (everybody say, "oooohhh!!!!" - Lol!!!!)

Look forward to seeing you there...

Crafts for eternity Challenge #12

Oops!! A bit late with this post but things have been manic this weekend with final preparations being put in place for Christmas. Cue fevered Christmas shopping, wrapping, Christmas Party getting-readying, Son's first Birthday - family round, house a mess - chaos all round *deep breath*

Still, that's all in the past now because today I broke up from work and I'm not back 'til 6th Jan...WOOHOO!!

So, onto Sunday's Challenge over at Crafts4Eternity and number 3 in my series of shabby Christmas ATCs, I have followed the recipe & used the sketch, a journalling spot & netting on the ATC.

Why don't you come on over and play? There's a totally gorgeous stamp up for grabs from Crafty Sentiments this week, take a look at it here

*sigh* Wish I could win it!! Lol!!

Belle N Whistles Advent Calendar - Day 15!

Oh oh oh!! she's sooo cute don't you think standing up on tippy-toe to reach the christmas door? I would love to have a wreath like that hanging on my door but it's never been a tradition of ours to put out a wreath, I think I will have to look into it for next year, I feel a crafty project coming on, lol!!

But thinking of family traditions at christmas, it got me pondering about the goodies families leave for Santa on Christmas eve... Now I grew up firmly believing that Santa enjoyed a sherry & a mince pie after his trip down the chimney at each house so each year we set out a glass of Mom's favourite & a homemade pie... it only occurred to me in much later years that this might not be true of every home, afterall, some Moms don't even like sherry & may not have it in stock...!!

Why don't you hop on over to Belles N Whistles and tell us what you leave for Santa on Christmas Eve? There's a chance for you to win a goody bag every day this month, you gotta be in it to win it (heh heh heh!!)

Roses On Paper challenge

Good Evening Bloggers!

Today is the start of another fab Roses on Paper challenge, I do hope you can join us!!

A colour challenge this week, using the rich, traditional shades of christmas, hunter green, cranberry & gold...
We would love to see your card, tag, box or bag creations incorporating these colours!!

My submission this week was made using the utterly gorgeous Two Turtle Doves stamp from Belles N Whistles Christmas release II. I just adore this image, it reminds me of a fairytale illustration, so whimsical & pretty, it completely appeals to the little girl inside me!

My project is a bottle-tag treat box from Splitcoast stampers, don't be afraid to try this one out... I used the most basic of tools (think ruler, mouse-mat & ball-tool!!) & it really did come together quite easily.

Thank you so much for looking, see you soon!!

Crafts 4 Eternity Recipe Challenge

Only me!!

And over at Crafts 4 Eternity this week there's another recipe for you to try.

Simply follow the sketch, use red & green & use a stamp over a year old. I have to say, I love the sketch this week, it comes together beautifully! There are some fabbie digi-images up for grabs if you enter, adorable little christmas elves, sooo cute!!

I'm continuing my shabby Christmas ATC theme and expect there to be a set of four by the end of my guest design spot so I've decided that I will be giving this set away to anyone who enters a C4E challenge in the month of december.

Simply leave your entry over on the C4E blog and I'll randomly select a winner using the very technical 'names in a hat' technique at the end of the month.

Hope to see you there!!

Nikki xxx

Only 2 weeks 'til Christmas!!

EEk!! Starting to panic yet?! There seems to be so much still to do & not much time to do it in! Fortunately I managed to get a significant proportion of my shopping done this weekend & the decorations are up too, no christmas cards written up yet though & I suspect wrapping will be done christmas eve!!

I was so good last year *sigh* almost all my cards were handmade & I custom-wrapped all the gifts for my close family. I was on maternity leave though so I had lots more free time than I do this year...

Still, with the free time I do have I'm just about managing to squeeze a few cards in, and this little Christmas Hearth image has to be one of my favourites, how cute do these two look peering up for Santa? I have to say that if I allowed my youngest anywhere near the fireplace he would be chomping on the charcoal, infact now I come to think about it my eldest was quite partial too..

and here is the evidence!!

Awww... butter wouldn't melt eh? Rubbish picture though, taken pre half-decent digital camera days!!

Anyhoo back to crafting & christmas... have you checked out Belles n Whistles lately? Don't forget our advent calendar giveaway!! Look forward to seeing you there! xxx

Crafts for Eternity Challenge #10

Hi all, I'm returning to Blogland after a brief spell away... goodness doesn't Chrsitmas get in the way of crafting!?!!

However I mark my return by proudly announcing that I am a guest designer for Crafts 4 Eternity for the month of December!!

This weeks challenge is to follow a sketch, use brads & a santa image, I don't know if you can spot my santas hidden away under all that inking but they are definately there I promise!! And talking of Santas, Michelle has provided a free Santa digi-image for you to download, how cool is that?!

I fancied getting a bit shabby for this challenge which for some reason I feel more confident about when I work in minature so this is an ATC. Made with papers from Michelle's gorgeous November kit & paper artsy stamps.

Thanks for looking, I can't wait to see what you come up with!!

Altered Advent Calendar

I'm so excited to show this to you! I've been working on it periodically for a few weeks now & I'm really pleased with how it's turned out. Over on UKS there's been a real buzz about these little calendars, so much so they're quite difficult to get hold of now. For anyone who's interested, these calendars are (were?!) available in Tescos at a fiver. They are ready-painted in bright primary colours, so to achieve the same look as mine overpainting will be required. I didn't bother sanding it down first though, a few coats of emulsion was all that it took.

The papers I used are MME but virtually everything I used for this project is available in the form of a kit from Crafts 4 Eternity & there's still loads left over for other projects too!!

I could have put loads of twiddly bits on the drawers & such but I think this project is in for a little rough handling! Already my nearly-four year old can't keep his hands off it, he really enjoys playing with the drawers & counting out the numbers & there's not even any chocolate in it yet!!

A closer look...


And a back view...


I do hope you enjoyed looking as much as I enjoyed making & I really look forward to reading your comments, leave me a link if you've made one too, I would love to see how other people have interpreted this item!!

Submitted to this month's Lets Get Shabby Challenge.

It's Belles n Whistles Blog Hop day!!!

Good Morning all & welcome to the exciting Belles n Whistles Blog Hop!! If you've arrived from Lil's Blog then this is good, you are well on the way to the chance of winning a fantastic prize, the full set Elisabeth Bell's newly released Christmas stamps!

However if by chance you have wandered here for another reason & would like to take part in the Blog Hop then please start HERE

This little beauty is called Gingerbread Corner, isn't she just so cute? An absolute dream to colour too...


And a side view...


with thanks to Tab who provided the inspiration & know-how to create this box!!

In order to be in with a chance of winning this stamp & the others you see on this hop simply leave me a comment and go directly to Rosette's awesome Blog it's that easy!

Christmas release II is available to buy from today & will be shipped at the beginning of next month.

And that's it!! Happy Blog hopping ladies (& gents?!?!) thank you so much for visiting,

{{{Hugs}}}

Nikki xxx

All wrapped up

Hi all!!

A gift box from me today, more of a prototype really. I was so inspired by Quixotic Paperie's challenge this week & couldn't wait to use kraft & red! Simon Says Stamp is looking for projects with animals which gave me the perfect excuse to play with "Jingle Bells" another fabulous image from Belles 'n Whistles Christmas collection I, with number II on it's way very soon - watch this space!!!

Roses on paper - Sweet November

Evening all!! Hope you are all well on this blustery day! I've been busy creating for Roses on Paper where the challenge this week is to make something inspired by the words 'Sweet November'. Well, this little image is so sweet how could I not use it? And I'm slowly adding to my Christmas card selection too although it's gonna have to be someone extra-special to deserve this little Rockin' around cutie!!

I played with my promarkers for this one too, I really love the clarity of colour you get with this type of medium but I think I need a lot more practice & a few more colours!!

The papers are Bo Bunny & the sentiment is computer generated.

Happy Wednesday!!

PS I'm getting sooo excited about an advent calendar I'm working on, it's coming together beautifully & I can't wait to show it off!! I'd love to work on it tonight but I'm going to the Pub with my darling OH but secretly.... I'd rather be crafting!!! Shhh, don't tell him!! :P

Oh Christmas tree...

I'm getting right into the christmas spirit now, I even managed to get in a bit of christmas shopping at the week-end. I'm never usually this organised, it must be the process of making seasonal cards bringing the time of year to the forefront of my mind which can only be a good thing!

And what better way to get in the mood than a christmas carol in front of the tree? This card is made up of 2 stamps both available from Belles 'n Whistles (Belle's Carols and The Christmas Tree) and are coloured with distress inks. A little glitter on the baubles, another handmade poinsettia and we're good to go! The DP is Basic Grey & I used Mirri-board! I haven't had that out for aaaaaages!!!

I used this week's sketch from Friday Sketchers, I love how it came together, a lovely simple layout making the adorable image the focus, just as it should be! The addition of glitter also means I can enter this card for Cute Card Thursday

I hope you like it :)

Ooh Looky Looky!!

Good Morning!! Well I'm feeling quite chirpy considering I was up into the wee small hours... My gorgeous Belles 'n Whistles stamps arrived yesterday afternoon & they looked at me pleadingly throughout the rest of the day until I got the children into bed & took them out to play!!

I was rather brave with my DP choices, not a single one from the same collection. The baubles are last years Basic Grey, October Afternoon for the music manuscript & I'm afraid I have no idea where the Christmas text DP came from!! 'Gingerbread Love' is coloured with distress inks & the poinsettias were created from a Craft Stamper freebie stamp (stamped on the reverse) with little snowflakes for the centre.

Thanks for looking & I hope you are enjoying your weekend so far xxx

An Announcement...

A few weeks ago I posted a card which I entered for the Roses on Paper Guest DT call. With hand on heart I truly never thought I'd be successful however sometimes things just don't work out the way you expect them to because guess what? I am very very proud to announce that for the months of November and December I will be a guest designer for both Roses on Paper and Belles 'n Whistles

And I'm champing on the bit to get started, there's such exciting stuff planned for you over the next few weeks & I need to be a part of it so watch this space for some creations using some gorgeous Belles 'n Whistles stamps with maybe just a little Magnolia thrown in (gotta love those Tildas!!)

*Yawn* I've just spent a very pleasurable few hours visiting my fellow teamies Blogs & I hope you get the chance to too, their work is just awesome (Lol!! I don't know where the US accent appeared from all of a sudden!) Shhh!! there's a blog hop on it's way...

Just Gorguss...

A simply embellished card for a simply gorguss girl tonight. I'm loving this colour combination too, she looks so pretty & feminine!

I have used the sketch from Create 4 fun, with stitching around the main image to qualify for Kraftin Kimmie & Quixotic Paperie's challenge & it's been a while since I entered the Simon Says challenge too which is 'Thinking of you' this week.

Ooh it's late so I think I'll leave it there for tonight, thank you all so much for looking I'm genuinely touched by each & every comment I recieve xxx

Back to normality

I've been laying low for the last week or so, most of my spare time being taken up preparing for our annual bonfire party saturday just gone. It was a fantastic night and I think everyone really enjoyed themselves, our best turnout yet (about 70 adults & 35 kids incase you were wondering!) & even better the weather stayed fine all night. However I think next year I shall be needing considerably more sausages & also be charging an entry fee [wink!]...

But now it's over, I can craft again, yipee!! This is my entry for the Crafts 4 Eternity challenge this week, using their sketch, punches & holly combined with Cute Card Thursday's call for primary colours. Out came little Henry again & are you impressed with my bling flourish? I am!! Another bargain from the discount store near me, 99p for 2 swirls!! I'm keeping my fingers crossed some pearl ones might appear someday!

Going for a Hat Trick

K&Co's Wild Saffron papers are so perfect for the season that I just keep picking 'em up! Over at Kraftin Kimmie the card challenge this week is to use Brown, Rust & Green or Yellow...Ah what the hell I thought & used them all!

The sketch is from Cupcake Craft & the addition of the charm qualifies this card over on Crafty Angels too.

I also had another bash at Michelle's handmade flowers there's a tutorial for them somewhere but I couldn't find the link, :-( I didn't distress the edges of the petals enough again, note to self...more contrast required!! I used eyelash fibres & beads for the flower-centre & again I'm pleased with the effect but not with the contrast.

I'll keep practising!

Thank you so much for stopping by xxx

3rd & Final Halloween Card!!

Lol!! Are you bored of her yet? Did I mention I only own one Halloween stamp?! Well that's not strictly true as I was sent some lovely digi-images to play with as part of a fab prize card-kit I got from Crafts 4 Eternity unfortunately I forgot you can't use water on water-based printer ink and...well you can guess the rest!! Everything else is from the kit though, the word spots (which are a freebie!!), papers, buttons, fibres & even the creepy-crawlie!!

I'm also entering this for the C4E challenge but I forgot the felt!!!! Sorry girls, I'll stick some on I promise!! The frustrating thing is I've got some orange felt ribbon which would have been perfect for this project & I even had it in mind when I made the card, I'm gonna have to blame the nappy-brain!

Anyhoo.... I'm doubling up on challenges & submitting this card for the Secret Crafter too. They would like to see orange on our projects this week.

OK this is the last Halloween card now, I promise... can't wait til next year though!

'Tis near Halloween...

...and out came So Spooky Tilda for the second time this week (well, she never actually made it off my craft table, and to be honest she's the only halloween stamp I own!) It was such a trauma printing the sentiment though, our printer really does not want to play at the moment, I love the font though, it's called Beyond Wonderland & you can find it here.

This is for the Stamptacular Sunday Challenge who do not allow combining challenges under their rules which means I may have to create another card as there are quite a few Halloween challenges running this week.

Ack! What a hardship! I mean, Halloween cards are just soooo boring....NOT!!!

And I tell you what, I've got my eye on that little Devil Tilda too, she'd be brilliant for hen cards!

Roses on Paper Guest DT call

Another combined Challenge from me this evening using the fab sketch from Simon Says Stamp in conjunction with the colours Brown, Orange & Green from Roses on Paper who are inviting entries for a guest design spot for the months of November & December. I've been brave & decided to enter, who knows what may come of it?

I was lucky enough to win $25 to spend at Simon says Stamp last month and this little sweetheart Tilda was part of what I spent it on. I was very impressed with how quickly it was shipped, thank you so much Heidi! xxx

Yawn! It's getting late so just a short post from me tonight, sweet dreams Blogland!

Spooktackular Fun!

OK, I admit it, I'm a stashaholic!! I lusted after the Magnolia So Spooky for....oooh...at least a week before succumbing to temptation (lol!), I bought this image because she's not too witchy & therefore a bit more versatile than some of the others in the range & look how adorable she is!!

I'm entering her for 2 challenges this time, following the sketch, using both dry & heat embossing & the colours black & purple over on Crafts 4 Eternity. And using a tiny button in the flower centre & bling (honest!!) in the Skull's eyes she qualifies for the challenge this week at Crafty Angels.

Other products used - DPs: So Spooky, my new favourite toy...McGill Pine branch & a Grungeboard Skull.

Thanks for looking!!

Have you ever....?

.....found a challenge online, created the card & then been unable to find the challenge blog in which to enter said card?!!

If anyone recognises the sketch I followed for this little cutie please enlighten me! Lol!

Not to worry, I got to use lots of new stash creating this, Cosmo Cricket DPs, WOJ Henry Mouse & McGill Pine branch all being recent additions to my collection! I also tried my hand at affixing charms to a card, just too late to enter the cute card Thursday challenge, but hey another day another challenge as they say!

Edit: Yay found it!! the sketch is from A Spoonful of Sugar and very nice to work with it was too!!

Long time no see!

It's been a while since I last blogged mostly because it's been a while since I last created something I felt was worth blogging. Yes dear friends, I am afflicted with what every crafter dreads most, the loss of my mojo.....

This little book mark pleases me in parts though, I'm rather proud of the tassel & I like the distressed edges of the floral paper which have been inked & glittered a la Kim. The book text peeking through the back is kinda cute...hmm, maybe I should have made more of that....

So this is it, no challenge, no sketch, just a little inspiration from those wonderful blogs I continue to view & maybe, just maybe my mojo might come creeping back....

It better, it's fecking christmas in 2 months!!!!!!

Win a TILDA of your choice!!

Actually not my Blog Candy at all, but I just thought this post needed a bit of extra oomph so I copied it from Lorraine's Blog - hope you don't mind Lorraine!!!

It's easy to win, just enter the Simon Says Stamp Challenge this week (ends this wednesday so there's still time!) & advertise this in your blog not on your side-bar.

The only problem is which Tilda to choose?!

My New Tilda!

I managed to get my hands on this adorable Tilda from Stampeezee at the beginning of the week & I've used her twice already! I've seen so much of her on other Blogs I'm afraid just fell in love & it turns out she's an absolute dream to colour too, happy days! I suspect the poor thing may already be overused to the point of saturation but I don't care, I think she's gorgeous!!

So, which challenges have I selected this week? A Spoonful of Sugar for the sketch & both Roses on Paper& Simon says Stamp asked for stitching on their weekly challenge so a triple whammy for this little cutie, lol!! Considering the card was made over three nights I think that the Karmic balance is satisfied, at least on this occasion! (I should, at this point, mention that I know nothing whatsoever about Karma...)

Other materials: Wild asaparagus papers, Fiskars Effervesence border punch & other stashy bits including some rather cool raffia covered wire for my curly bits. I picked this up in my local discount mega store which intermittently stocks some pretty good craft stuff - but mostly stocks absolute ba-ba....

C4E challenge - my interpretation!!

So, the Crafts for Eternity Sketch Challenge for this week also requests that the colours orange & brown are used, erm... well Tilda's hair is brown!

This is what comes of being far too impatient!! You see, the only thing I had to work on at the time was Michelle's entry to the challenge so my card has ended up an interpretation of her design.

Which in itself is fairly cool ( I think there's a chinese-whispers round-robin type thing you can do on the same principle) but not really in keeping with the brief for C4E!!

But there you go, 'tis done now & I'm much happier with this effort than I was with the last one :)

A moment of self-doubt...

Gosh, It doesn't seem like I've been away for long but the last time I posted was over a week ago!

I must confess my mojo went walkabout for a while & I'm not sure is fully in gear yet but I've been working on a card for the Truly Scrumptious & Spoonful of Sugar nonetheless...

To be honest I'm not happy with the card, Tilda went a bit Skew-whiff & yet again I used a card blank all wrong for the sketch so I've had to play about with it to make it fit. I used distress inks to colour the image & it looks okay but not brilliant. The stamped flowers are too big & don't really work ...Lol... I could go on!!!

I see some of the amazing, talented bloggers out there and the truly fabulous work they do I just can't help comparing my own stuff & feeling something's not quite clicking yet...

So what do I need to do? Well I feel like I haven't really identified my own style & I could improve my colourizing technique & also how I size & place embellishments needs work. How am I going to do this? PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE and hey if I need a few more products along the way who am I to argue?!

I put a load of old, unloved stash on ebay this week specifically with the view of buying lots of lovely new stuff with the proceeds, I've made about £40 so far... I feel a spree coming on!

So should you come across this frankly altogether too wordy & self-pitying post please don't feel you need to comment just to make me feel better I'm honestly not looking for that, however any hints on the issues I've identified of myself (& any that I haven't!!) would be genuinely appreciated.

Thanks for reading xxx

A Spoon full of Sugar

The challenge sketch on A Spoon Full of Sugar this week is lovely, too bad I didn't really think about the layout of my card before I put knife to paper, hence a rather loose interpretation of the sketch but I think it still qualifies...just!!

The image is funstamps & the papers are from stash. The stitching is done by hand using rather lovely embroidery floss made of pure linen, you can't really tell in the picture, but the effect is quite matt & textured, completely different from the normal kind.

I am lucky enough to have a bona-fide cross-stitch designer as a close friend & she sorted me the entire range of threads from DMC because I helped her with some stuff for a Craft show at Olympia earlier in the year :)

Truly Scrumptious Challenge

On the theme of Indian Summer & following a sketch, this is my submission for the Truly Scrumptious bi-weekly challenge (bi-weekly is that a word?! - Lol!). I used K&Co Wild Saffron papers & the adorable deer is... *runs downstairs to look* ...We R Memory Keepers. The buttons are actually clear with some stamped PP glued on the back with dimensional glaze.

Fun Challenge, especially loved the theme, I dug out my gold-leafing pen especially!

Friday Sketchers Challenge

I really enjoyed making a challenge card yesterday afternoon. So much so that I made another one in the evening!! This is one for the Friday Sketchers challenge. It's only the second time I've used this magnolia stamp, my first attempt was rubbish and I'd pretty much decided to give it up as a bad job, mostly because I had nothing to sit her on! But after spotting Jacqueline's gorgeous DT card from the previous week I was inspired to have another go.

I've made lollipop flowers with diecut leaves and used D'vine Swirls coloured with distress inks on Tilda's background. The papers are BG Porcelain & the ticket is a freebie from Craft Stamper Magazine.

Card Challenge

Ooh it's all about the cards at the moment!! I'm loving the promarkers, infact you might say I have a passion for them, Lol!! Trouble is I seem to be going through a 'girly & cute' phase at the moment, but who am I pass these cards on to?!

I should have had girls....

I've decided to enter a card challenge this week, well two actually as this doubles up using the sketch from Sketch Saturday and the theme from Passion for Promarkers (geddit now?!) Glittery & Girly.

It's certainly taken my mind off this rotten cold I've contracted from the kids!

I'm speechless!

OMG I can't believe it! I won the Studio's August Challenge! Lol! and now I just can't stop smiling....

Mouthwatering Blog Candy! Check it out!

OMG you have to check out the gorgeous candy on offer at the Squiggle Stamp Blog it closes on the 26th September & you gotta be in it to win it! I'm so hoping it could be me!!

Birthday Treat!

After weighing up the pros & cons, (or should that be PRO-markers & CO-pics?!) I decided to invest in a selection of Letraset promarkers with my birthday money. I've been admiring some fabulously talented cardmaking blogs recently & quite frankly I could resist the urge no longer... I had to have me a go!

So I've been playing with my pens for a few days now, it takes a bit of practice & I'm by no means an expert but I'm very pleased with my first effort at making a card using this medium. I've also had a go at making my own flower embellishments utlising a variety of punches & dies, some bead spacers & a few pearls. The stamp is 'Dahlia' from the Greetings Farm & the papers are MME Ethan.

Berry nice...

Not only did I get some lovely gifts for my Birthday, I got some inspirational handmade cards too. So inspired was I, that I got straight down to making a card for my niece whose birthday it is next month. The image and greeting is stamped & the flourishes are hand-drawn & stitched with a little pearl popped on the end. Result!!

Happy Birthday to me!!

Well, it was my Birthday on the 21st and what should arrive on my doorstep? Only the most fantastic gift from my amazing, generous friends on UKS. Honestly, there's no other gift that could make a crafty girl like me happier!! But I guess you already knew that? .... Lol!!

A New Do...

Well it was back to work for me this week after 9 months of maternity leave and to 'celebrate' I treated myself to a new haircut with highlights & everything!! The pics were taken while it was all looking Salon-fabulous, why can't I make it look like that at home?? Lol!

The papers are from the Scrap Like You Mean It Kit supplied by A Trip Down Memory Lane plus a few epoxy's from Love, Elsie (finally got to use a few, been holding onto those for a while!!) & the sketch was lifted from something I saw in Scrapbook Trends Magazine.

Oh....being back at work means so much less available scrapping time, how will I cope?!

You don't know why you love them but you do....

This is my submission for The Studio's August challenge where you had to incorporate borders, combine journalling with Stamping & use a non-scrapping item on your page. I used a PaperArtsy stamp for the stamped border & a cuttlebug die to cut the tiny circle frames which make up the lace border. The journalling spot is part of a stamp set by Banana frog. The non scrapping item is a piece of packaging material & book text cut into a scalloped circle.

All embellishments (apart from prima flowers) are handmade & the title is handcut. A technique I've always been scared of because I didn't think my scissor skills were up to it! but this is something I'll definately try again. All other die-cuts are either sizzix or nestabilities, and papers are K&Co (Urban Rapsody - I think!).

Replenishing the Card Stock

Well, with all the scrapbooking I've been doing recently I'm afraid I've had to resort to (gasp!) buying cards for special occasions. Well enough's enough! since I spend so much on stash the very least I can do is save myself the couple of pounds it costs in a card shop & make a few cards ready for use in the future.

So I've made a start with these two made with scraps left over from a couple of projects I've finished recently. They're fairly simple & they would have been quick too had I not spent hours procrastinating over each stage of the process. I really must learn how to speed up. Tips anyone?

My Latest Project

I made this little storage box using instructions from this month's Craft Stamper (Sept 09). Many thanks to Joanne Wardle for sending them in! You've got to take a look at her blog, not only is her work gorgeous but she's multi-skilled too, I'm very jealous, lol!

It is designed to house the freebie stamps you get with each issue of the magazine but I made little laminate squares for all of my tiny acrylic stamps & my little unmounted rubber ones too! (Tip - use another bit of laminate to cover the front of the stamp too, it stops them sticking together!)

I'm not 100% happy with my design though which is the perfect excuse to make another one! The instructions are as follows:

"Cut lots of 2"x2.5" white card. Stamp Images & laminate & store the stamps on the back of these.

To make the box, cut a rectangle of card 6.5"x7.5", score along each side at the A6 gatefold line of any standard scoring board (or 2" in from side), cut along the scoring lines of the long edges, fold up to make box and glue flaps in position. Cut a 2" strip from a 12x12" piece of decorative paper, decorate with stamped images and glue around box. Finish the top of the box with ribbon, affixed with glue or double-sided tape, to cover untidy edges"

Now I found with my box that a 12" strip did not quite go round, I suspect it may be my measuring at fault but I'm just wondering whether shaving a couple of mil off each side might rectify the problem...?

A little something....

On the theme of summer, here is a series of ATCs made for a swap with my lovely friends over on Uk Scrappers. Nothing special in themselves but I think they look quite cute together as a little group.

The stamps are a mixture of Paperartsy, Woodware & the swirly square is a Craft Stamper freebie that looks sooo pretty with glitter or liquid pearls dotted all over! The papers are a freebie too from this month's Scrapbooking magazine, a really nice set this month based around Crafty Pants' Sumer Soiree range, I just love that blue & orange together!

Scrap your Independence

Had a go at the Scrap Like You Mean It challenge this week. Mostly because, reading Shimelle's intro to the challenge, I spotted this kit which made me think immediately of a pic of me with my very first car.

Gosh did I struggle with the kit though! It looked so pretty in it's untouched state but it was quite hard to put something together with it in my opinion!

I'm pleased with my little wheels creating a visual triangle, the inspiration came as I watched Adam throwing a tiny, round, non-slip mat around in the garden. I looked at the mat & suddenly thought of some faux leather material I had in my craft box, a few cuttlebug moments later I had little textured discs in which to place eyelets, bingo!

Sorry about the picture quality, it's so damn miserable outside at the moment, there's not a scrap of light to be found anywhere in my house today!