hello hello! Are you all prepared for Christmas? I've bought most of my the pressies I need to but I've yet to make the tags. Eeek! Still, I break up from work on Tuesday so I plan on doing them then.
I wanted to share with you my DT card for this fortnight's circle themed challenge on bee's download blog. All the patterned papers are by Magnolia. I made the lilac paper myself by sponging with milled lavender distress ink. The penguins were coloured with polychromo pencils.

In case I don't post again b4 the big day, I'd like to wish you all a VERY Happy Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!

:0) xxxxxx

Amazing Christmas Giveaway!

Firstly sorry for the lack of posting recently, I've had a real stressful couple of weeks as I'm in the process of buying a house (it'll be worth it to have my own craft room..oh, and a garden!!)
I will hopefully get some time to craft this coming week though.
I do, however, want to share the most amazing giveaway with you over on Kim's Crafty Makes Blog here.
There is the chance to win one of these craft desks from The Original Scrapbox.com.

I've never seen anything quite like this! How fab!

x

Sparkly Challenge DT Card

It[s time for another challenge! This fortnight's challenge on the Bee-Crafty blog has a 'sparkly' theme. Now, what girl doesn't like a bit of sparkle?!

I've used the Penguin Pair image (soo cute!) which is available to download from the blog here and made an easel card. I'm so in love with the Magnolia papers so have used the blue plaid patterned paper again and I've made some more handmade patterned paper using the waste of a punched XCut snowflake. The blue paper that I've matted it onto is, again, just an inked up piece of white paper (see last post for another sample).  Below is a picture of the card when folded flat..

and...ta daa! This is it once opened up. I'm a tad annoyed that the lack of daylight yesterday means the blinking sparkly bits I've added are not fully showing :o( I edged the my card and my punched snowflakes with stickles and sprayed with glimmer mist.

Rundown of Materials used:

XCut Snowflake Punch, Powder Blue Versamagic Chalk Inkpad, Papermania Ribbon, Baby Blue Glass Dew Drops, Stickles by Ranger, Blue Plaid Paper by Magnolia, Alphabet Clear Stamps by Doodlebug Inc, Sewing Machine, Polychromo Pencils blended with Sansador, 3d Sticky foam Pads, Threading Water Border Punch by Fiskars, Silver Candy Dots by Craftwork Cards

Right, I must get back to some cleaning :o( otherwise I'll never get out this afternoon! Oh, and dont forget to enter the challenge!

Thanks for visiting!

x

Panduro Cutie

Yay! It's F.F.F Friday! And as promised I'm posting a picture of one of my most recent makes. I was commissioned to make a card for a friend's little girl..she'll be two next week so needed something really cute and girly - not difficult really! hehe. Of course  stitching had to feature somewhere on it as I couldn't resist using my new toy (my sewing machine). The flower patterned paper you see is one I made myself using distress ink, a piece of cut n dry foam (to apply) and the waste of a punched flower as a stencil and... Hey Presto! To co-ordinate I sponged a piece of paper with the same colour ink and used it to matt the patterned paper on.

Here is a little peek into the inside of the card. Again, lots of stitching and my own patterned paper!

And finally a side view which gives a closer view.

The materials used are:

Silver candy dots - Craftwork Cards, Tattered Rose Tim Holtz Distress Ink, blue butterflies from stash, Sentiment - large alphabet stamps by Doodlebug Inc, XCut retro flower punch, Blue patterned paper -Magnolia, glass dew drops - from diestodiefor.com

Just Magnolia Monthly Challenge - Distressing

In addition to their weekly challenge, the Just Magnolia Team run a monthly challenge. This month its a 'distressing' challenge. Now, I've (very naughtily) bought so much lovely new craft stash - including new Magnolia Papers and stamps from the NEC last Saturday and also a sewing machine!! lol. I've been dying to get one for ages and finally got one this week :o)!! More about that later though - Anyways, entering this challenge gave me a great excuse to use all my new bits! hehe.

I spent an age on this little creation - using a variety of techniques - and I am actually really pleased with the end result! I'd love to hear what you think too though if you've a moment spare to leave a comment. x

Here are the full pics..

This is my first attempt at stamping Tilda out of the Nestie die cut. (Took much time and frustration but after watching a few tutorials I managed it!) I've distressed the edges of almost all the papers using the blade on my scissors, some of the papers I scrunched up and then inked up with Tim Holtz distress ink. The 'Noel' sentiment is by Magnolia. I coloured it with Polychromos, cut each letter out and then distressed them with my scissors too. I got a bit sew happy with my new 'Janome Sew Mini' machine - which was an absoloute bargain at £35! All the papers are Magnolia - from the new Christmas collection. I masked Tilda and then sprayed glimmer mist all around her.

Phew!

Thanks for stopping by this 'sunny' Sunday. I'll see you back here on Friday with my next project..

Trix x

Photo Inspiration Challenge #17

Heello! I must apologise for the lack of posting but I'm in the process of selling one property and buying another and it's been a real nightmare so far - God knows what I'm paying a solicitor for as I seem to be doing half the work myself to speed things up! :o( Anyway, enough of my ranting. Today I went to the ICHF at the Birmingham NEC which -apart from being far to packed  out - was fab! I ended up spending most of my stash cash on Magnolia goodies (watch this space for some xmas creations!). Now, I'd like to share with you my DT creations for this week's Bee Crafty Challenge which is based on this lurrvely photo:

                                                          

Now the great thing about this challenge is that you can choose as many or few elements of it as you like! Me? I took from it the colour scheme, the spots and flowers and this is what I came up with (the photos are not the best quality thanks to the poor amount of daylight today):

I just love this dotty pink card. It was a digi download from cupcake card craft. Here is a peek inside the card...

and here is the mini pizza box turned gift box!

So what have I materials have I used?..

Papers - Cupcake Card Craft

Mini Pizza Box Tutorial - here

Pink Coredinations cardstock

Ribbon from my stash

Flowers - A mixture of Prima and HobbyCraft

Pink Glass Gems - Dewdrops from 'Dies to Die For'

Tools - Scorpal, Nesties, Pink Chalk Inkpad, scissors, Polychromo pencils

Stickles by Ranger

Feeling shattered so gonna sign off now but I hope you all have a fab sunday!

Thanks for visiting!

T xx

Just Magnolia Challenge # 27 Bright and Zingy!

How is everyone? I am counting the days (and counting my pennies lol!) until the Hobby and Craft Fair at the NEC next month. Are you going too? I had a little look online at train prices and jeez was I shocked at how much it'll cost me :o( Am trying to rope my mum and my crafting sis into coming too so that we can drive up and share the petrol money! ;o)
Right, ok onto the good stuff.. this my entry for the Just Magnolia Challenge #27 which has a 'bright and 'zingy' theme. Ok, so my little creation isn't quite 'zingy', but I found it really hard to get the balance right ie. not soo zingy that it would look tacky, but enough to look bright and cheerful. So I played safe and went for a red and yellow colour scheme giving me a excuse to use one of my sheets of Magnolia Paper from the 'A little Yummy for Your Tummy' Collection that Mr Postie kindly delivered (prior to striking) last week!

I kept getting shadows when taking my pics today so apologies. Here is a side view..

Materials
Papers ~ Red Plaid from the Magnolia 'A Little Yummy for your Tummy' Collection, Yellow gingham from stash
Image ~ Tilda with Blueberries by Magnolia / Sentiment ~ Everyday Greetings by Elzybells
Embellies ~ Roses from stash, Yellow flower (top right corner) by Prima, Ribbon from stash, Charm and jump rings from 'beads needs'  - a shop on ebay.
Tools~ White Gel Pen, Whispers Ink Pad, Stickles, Poly Chromo Pencils,

Ooh! I can hear fireworks outside! I love the smell of bonfires..mmm.. roll on Nov. 5th! lol
Right, I better press on with a couple of other projects I've to finish tonight..

Thanks for stopping by!
T x

Criss Cross Card meets Sugar Nellie..with a difference

It's me again! I had a fair bit of time to myself yesterday as Adam and Tyler were out visiting his dad in hospital - he fell about 10ft off a ladder...flat on his back, fracturing some of his vertebrae and and his ribs! OUCH! Anyway, he is slowly on the mend thank goodness, but it did leave me time alone to craft :o)
Right, back to my latest project.. I found the basic tutorial for the Criss Cross pocket card on splitcoaststampers.com here.  The twist being that my 2 diagonal fronts to the card are not stuck down..


                         
Instead they open up to reveal a note card that you pull out of its pocket and which I wrote my thank you note on the back of. I've also stuck two small magnets to the back of the note card so that it can be kept as a keepsake - should the recipient want to!
Here you can see how the card looks once the outer band is removed and the card opened up..

I coloured the Sugar Nellie Image (Blossom) with my poly pencils and stickles and cut her down to fit within a white circle and then stuck a scalloped black embossed circle over the top - which I thought produced quite a nice effect.

~Materials~

Papers - Doodlebug (outer), PM Stamping Chic Paper Pack (inner)

Ribbon - from stash, Image - Sugar Nellie 'Blossom', Sentiment - Elzybells everyday greetings

Tools - Spellbinder Nestabilities and Embossing Folders, Fiskars 'threading water' punch, XCut Corner Rounder, guilotine, white gel pen, polychromo pencils, white ink pad,  Stickles by Ranger in Frosted Lace (for the flowers)

I'd love to love to read your comments and they are much appreciated too!

T xx

Fancy a Sketch Challenge?

Sorry for having been a little quiet on the posting front this last week; I'm just getting over the Flu. :o( It seems to have zapped not only my normal energy but also my creative energy too - much to my annoyance.

Nevertheless, I have managed (through several short bursts) to make my DT project for this fortnights challenge at Bee Crafty! This week Bee has given us a great sketch to work with so why not join us? The only requirement is that you use a digi rather than a stamped image and create a papercraft item based on the sketch below...

And here is my take on the sketch

Yes, I know I only recently used the same image on another project but I just think he's so adorably cute!

I distressed pretty much most elements of the card with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Frayed Burlap (as my distress ink collection is fairly limited at the mo) and have been mounted on 3d sticky foam pads.

~Materials~

Ribbon-from stash

Sentiments-from Elzybells.co.uk

Image-Fluffy Bunny Christmas from Bee Crafty here

Papers-Basic Grey

Tools-Spellbinder Nestabilities and embossing folders, Tim Holtz Distress Ink

Right, I'm off to work on a little project and no card blanks in sight I might add..., oh, and I'll obviously have X Factor on the background! lol

Take care and come back soon..

T xx

Just Magnolia Challenge (Week 24)

Now, I don't know about you but I am one of these 'always on the go' kinda girls, so I've been feeling pretty fed up at work this week as my boss hasn't had much for me to do and seeing as its just the two of us working in the office (and he's often out) I can't even do any girlie gossiping to while away my time...sooo, I've taken to bloghopping instead! There really are so many talented crafters out there. The DT girls at 'Just Magnolia' being just a few..which leads me nicely on to my project of the week..

The 'Just Magnolia Challenge'  takes place every Friday here. I think I've entered just in time (for a change!)  for the colour combo challenge  (week 24) which involves these colours:

And here is a close up of Tilda..

~Materials~

PM Stamping Chic patterned paper stack, pink and black core-dinations and white cardstock

Stamps: Tilda by Magnolia, Flowers by Personal Impressions

Paper Flowers: Hobbycraft    Ribbons: local fabric shop

Tools: Pixie Dust Chalk ink by Versacolor, Polychromo pencils blended with Sansador (OMS), Frosted Lace Stickles, Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder, Spellbinder Nestabilities plain and scalloped circles

Thanks for stopping by today, I'll be back v.soon with something 'other than a card'!

xx

Bee Crafty DT Christmas Challenge #14

Sorry it's a bit late in the day for this posting but I've not had the chance to get on the laptop throughout the day :o( but better late than never hey!

Anyway, this is my DT project for this fortnight's challenge over at the Bee-Crafty's Digi Download Blog. I have used the Fluffy Bunny image from her new Christmas download collection. I just adore this bunny. He was such a pleasure to colour! :o)

Below you can see that I went to town and created an insert as I think it adds just a nice little extra touch to a card. I resized the main image, printed onto white card stock and cut with one of my nestie scalloped rectangles then finished by inking up the edges with distress inks.

And just to finish..here is close up the coloured bunny!

~Materials~

Tools- Spellbinder Nesties and swiss dots embossing folder, Fiskars Threading Water punch, Woodware flower punch, craft knife, Woodware High Tac double-sided tape (fab stuff!!), 3d sticky foam pads, distress inks -Frayed Burlap by Tim Holtz, Craft Planet Glitter Glue (not the easiest to apply to small areas)

Stamps-Elzybells 'every day' sentiments set, image-bee crafty download shop

Embellis-Cappucino Candy Dots by Craftwork Cards, burgandy ribbon and cream lace from stash

Papers-Karen Foster Design 'Merry Christmas'; Coredinations brown cardstock

Colouring Medium-Polychromo pencils blended with Sansador (OMS) using paper stumps -see pic below

Thanks for stopping by!

xx

Christmas Sneak Peek

Thanks so much for the b'day wishes everyone. I had a day of spending and eating! Quite a good combination I feel! lol. My lovely big sis bought me a set of nesties to add to my growing collection which I've used on my next DT project for the Bee-Crafty digi download blog which I just had to give you a sneaky little peek of ahead of the release day of her new christmas image collection - be one of the first to get your crafty mitts on these adorable images this Saturday (26th) here as well as the chance to enter another great challenge and win some yummy candy!

Hope you're having a good week! I'll be back on Saturday with a full fat version of the project!

Hugz

Trix

xxx

Hello Tilda

Evening all. Late posting I know, but when you've a bf addicted to Facebook Poker it's hard to get a look in on the laptop! Well, I just wanted to show you an ickle card I made for my friend last night. Trouble is I just couldn't get it to look half decent on camera. So am sorry if you can't make out the details on the card. I coloured Tilda with polychromos blended with Sansador. The 'hello'sentiment is made using the Doodlebug large alphabet stamp set. Lastly, silver liquid pearls were added to give a 3d effect to her bracelet and necklace..

Off to bed now..last sleep as a 28 yr old - booo. Yes, it's the dreaded birthday again tomorrow! I used to love them when I was in my late teens but not so much now.lol

Wishing you all a supercalifrage weekend!

Ta ta.

xx

Black & White Gift Bag Design

As promised I'm back to show you my first gift bag! I made it last night with my new Scorpal. Soo glad

I've got one now as it makes perfect scoring an absolute doddle.

You can get the tutorial for this bag can be found here.

I used papers from the PM Stampin Chic 12x12 pack, black Bazill cardstock edged with Fiskars Threading Water punch. The sentiment is Cuddly Buddly which I punched a hole in and hooked onto a jump ring together with a flower charm and 2 clear beads. As I didn't have a tag punch I improvised and cut out 2 of the flowers from the patterned paper, mounted onto card and stuck either side of each half of the bag, (if that makes sense) punched a hole and threaded ribbon through the middle. Oh, and I stuck black jewels in the middle of a few of the flowers!

I'd love to know what you think so would be grateful for your comments.

Well thats all for tonight..

Thanks for stopping by.

xx

My Feature and a Sneek Peek

At least there is one thing to keep me cheerful on this dark and rainy day here in Essex! Today I am being featured on a new craft inspiration blog called 'The Divine Influence' which showcases 'divine'crafty creations from around the globe. I had an email a week ago asking if I'd mind being featured...how could I say no! lol

Last night I gave in to temptation and began using my new Scorpal - very naughty really as I should have waited until my birthday this Saturday seeing as it's one of my presents! Anyway, I had a go at making my first gift bag...and I was amazed at how simple it was to make the basic bag. It's as fiddly as you want to make it - i.e by adding embellishments and different style ties. Unfortunately I'm at work typing this so I can't show you the finished product until tonight (hopefully) boo :o(

Ooh, almost forgot to show you.. a sneak peek of the new Christmas Collection of digi downloads that Bee will be releasing on her website soon. They are adorable! So be sure to pay a visit..

Hope you all have a great day whatever your doing!
Byesy Bye for now.
xx

Doodlebug Baby

It's only me!
Back again to share with you another crafty make I've been working on for a friend of a friend who will be having a baby girl in the next couple of weeks. I haven't had a need to make a baby card in aages so quite enjoyed digging out my Doodlebug baby stamp set for a play.
I've used a variety of techniques here to make it a lil bit more interesting (am easily bored!).
I've used my Cuttlebug to emboss the cardstock and the pram wheels then to cut the Spellbinder die shapes. New idea: I've used some jump rings (normally used with my charms) to link the pram image to the sentiment! What do you think?
Oh, and the paper is a digi download from the 'digi dots' collection at www.cupcakecardcraft.co.uk

Here is a side view of the card which shows just some of the layering I did using different mm thickness of sticky foam pads- did get a tad carried away! Parts of the pram and sentiment have been 'glossy accented' but it's it hard to see that in these photos.

To my surprise I had the most fun creating the insert (weirdly enough!). I used the Spellbinder die cut (Labels 2) to create the frame, embossed it then inked up the edges by applying with 'Ranger' Cut n' Dry Foam - I find this much easier and less messy than doing it straight from the inkpad. As I don't have a slice punch, I created two slits with my craft knife and threaded the ribbon through and finished off with some of my favourite candy dots - not a bad result! lol



I'm off back to my crafty corner to now... tempted to open my new Scorpal! I shouldn't really as its an early b'day pressie from my nan...but...hmm... can I hold off until next Saturday?? ;O)

Oh, and one last thing! I am really fed up with the trimmer and guilotine I have. The guilotine is just a small XCut one which is useless for 12x12 papers and my Woodware Trimmer just can't handle cardstock. Soo...can anyone suggest a good tool to invest in that'll do handle big and small papers and cardstock??

xx

Hello there, just a short posting from me this evening. I've had another mad weekend - this week full of parties, puppies and far too much self indulgence! lol
I just had to share with you an adorable picture of my sister's new puppy 'Copper'. He is a Hungarian Vischler and is only 9 weeks old...and already likes beer!!

I'd also like to show you a real girly pink friendship card I made for another crafter:

I loved making this card! I haven't used these lovely flower stamps for aages as I've only just got them back from my sis who borrowed them for a couple of months. I distressed the edges of the card to remove the stark whiteness, although it doesn't show too well in the photos. I also thought I'd try using a different sentiment too! I used the 'everyday greetings' stamps from elzybells.co.uk but hand wrote the exclamation mark.

~Crafty Ingredients~

Stamps~Personal Impressions flower stamp, Hanglar image received from friend, Elzybells 'everyday greetings' sentiments

Card~PM Scalloped card blanks, dotty pink paper from stash, Coredinations pink card

Tools~Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug Embossing Swiss Dots embossing folder, Spellbinders Nestabilites, Faber Castell polychromo pencils blended with Sansador, Versa Colour Pink Pixie ink, Dew Drops Memento black ink, Tim Holtz 'Milled Lavender distressing ink, Glossy Accents

Embellishments~Candy Dots from Diestodiefor.com

That's all for now,

Friday Sketchers..n a touch of hanglar ...

...Aaand relax! Phew, only just sat down for the evening; been a hectic weekend one way or another and feel like I need a weekend to get over it! I actually really enjoyed Diggaland and would recommend it if you live anywhere near Kent. It's great fun for kids and adults too!

Anyways, nuff bout lil ol' me n more about the crafty stuff that I want to share with you today..
I've gone a bit OTT with the pics- I just couldn't decide which to use so thought, what the heck, post them all!! lol.
This is my interpretation of this week's Friday Sketchers Challenge sketch.
I loved using my new Tim Holtz Distress Ink on this one. I inked up everything in sight - even my fingers! hehe.
I used promarkers to colour this cutie of an image and created a 3d effect by sticking various parts of the card with 3d sticky foam. I love using lace atm and got this piece from HobbyCraft but am sure you can get it much cheaper elsewhere. I think Tab sells it - see her blog http://www.tabbycraftdesigns.blogspot.com/ for a link to her shop.

~Crafty Ingredients~

Papers~brown parcel paper, lilac and white cardstock from stash, flower paper is Forever Friend pack
Embelli's~candy dots from diestodiefor.com, charm and jump rings from ebay, lace from HobbyCraft, flowers are combo of Prima, HobbyCraft and retro XCut Punch

Image~hAnglar & St.Anglar received from friend

Tools~Nesties Scalloped and circles, sticky foam pads, promarkers-lilac, lavender, ivory, blush, rose pink, sandstone, white gel pen , Tim Holtz 'Milled Lavender' distress inkpad

I am gonna go chillax in the bath now..but I'll be back before long as me and my craft stash are never apart for more than a day! hehe

Best wishes,