CraftyNess

Glitter Geeks Challenge - Song Titles

2012-03-02T01:14:00.000-08:00

Well the day has arrived - today is my first time ever of providing a card as part of a Design Team. Excited......erm just a LOT :) This weeks theme is a card which is inspired by a song title. I had loads of ideas and found it hard to whittle it down to one, but eventually I went for Madness - I like Driving In My Car! This is what I came up with:

The image is a digi download from Scrapbook sisters and the backing paper I made using images from the highway code. I coloured the car digi using promarkers.

Why not pop on over to the http://glittergeeks.blogspot.com/ and see what the other DT members have come up with and then have a go. It would be great to see your creations. Now I really must work out how to turn this photo!! Thanks for popping by x

Whoop Whoop - Exciting News

2012-02-25T13:55:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post to tell you my exciting news!! The lovely Glitter Geeks have given me a place on their design team - I am very excited about it and am going to do my best at giving some inspiration for the weekly challenges. It also gives me an excuse to make more cards :D

All I need to do now is really get my head around all the ins and outs of Blogger - might need some help with that one :D

I am off to have a celebratory drink of Vino (any excuse and I will gladly take it).

So watch this space for my first Glitter Geeks DT creation xx

How time flies between blog posts :-/

2012-02-24T09:00:00.000-08:00

I don't know why I get out of the habit of blogging - because to be honest I can chat endlessly about what I have done - shown by the amount of time I spend on Facebook and Twitter (well when my laptop lets me). I suppose some of the reasons that I have not blogged is that I have not been doing that much crafting recently as I have not been feeling well enough - had a lot of coughs and sneezes which resulted in me hurting my ribs, strong painkillers and a sleepy me. Glad to say I am finally on the mend and starting to get back into the crafting.

Been making a few cards for some sketch challenges and some for comissions too:

This final one was for my daughters birthday - she loves Monster High so I just had to get the Rock Princess Cricut cartridge to make this card ;) really great cartridge with lots on it so I am really glad that I HAD to buy it. LOL

My other crafty makes include these:

The top picture is a ruffle scarf - I was inspired by a knitting programme on Create and Craft and luckily the same week was in Hobbycraft (as you do) and the yarn was on offer so I just had to have it :)

The middle picture is a present for my friend who recently had a baby. After I posted a picture of it on Facebook, someone local to where I live asked me to make a Navy and Orange blanket to go with her new buggy :)

Well I won't bore you for any longer as I think I have put on enough photo's for the moment. I will be back soon - honest!! :D

Thanks for taking the time to look/read x

A slightly new direction!

2011-10-31T12:19:00.000-07:00

Hello bloggers. Well since my last posts aherm..... yes I know ages ago I have been diversifying my crafty makes. I have taken up both jewellery making and crochet. My lovely hubby bought me a crochet book for my birthday and (pardon the pun) I am hooked!! Whilst I am still loving my papercrafting, I often sit of an evening with a big ball of wool and my crochet hook. I find its something I can do in front of the telly and be sociable, unlike papercrafting which takes over the whole dining table and cannot be easily done in a small space. Here are some of my makes:

Girls shoulder bag - fully lined (yes sewing machin in use too)

Commission from a friend for a mobile phone cover.

and some hats :) These are going down fairly well at the fairs and I have also had some commissions for these too!

I won't bore you with any more for the moment!

To finish for today and to wish you all a Happy Halloween:

I will be back soon........

Easel Card

2011-05-12T12:38:00.000-07:00

Hello bloggers :) - I have been asked to make a card for a third birthday and before seeing the Polka Doodles Blog competition decided to make this:

To be honest I am a very lazy/boring card maker as I always seem to follow the same type of card - rectangular or square - and avoid the fancy folds. However, I have recently got a bit fed up with card making which I think was due to my mammouth card making session for a craft fair back in March.

So I have set myself a challenge of trying to do different shaped/fancy folds on my cards to see if I can get my mojo back :)

For this card I printed papers from the All Around and Everywhere - Polka Doodles CD and then used my trusty Cricut (with Sure Cuts Alot) to cut the card and embellishments. I used Create a Critter for the Bear and Doodle Type font. I am pleased with the result and now have an idea for a boys easel card too - so maybe this change of card style is working :)

Thanks for looking in. Vxx

What a busy time!

2011-05-09T09:30:00.000-07:00

Hello all - well how great were the Easter Holidays this year - we had such lovely weather and got to do lots of lovely things with the kids including a trips to Edinburgh Zoo, Glasgow Science Centre and East Links Farm in East Lothian. On the days we decided to stay at home we got to spend outside enjoying the sunshine. Here are some piccies :

I have only just realised how rude this picture looks!! ROFL

Fancy I game of spot the chimps.... no ok I will tell you my three kids are sitting in the middle!

This picture was taken through the glass of the leopard enclosure and yes it really was that close - no zoom lenses were used! It really was fantastic seeing it this close. If the glass had not been there you could have touched it (and then run away really quickly before it ate you!!)

And no trip to Edinburgh Zoo is complete without watching the penguin parade. It really is fun to watch them waddling round. :)

Over the hol's I also got back into my crafting - crochet in particular. Its a bit more social than the card making as at least I can sit with my OH in front of the telly and have a natter, and it also does not make so much mess!! (or is that just me). Here are a few of the things I have made:

My second attempt at a beanie - Gemma was not impressed with the first one as it was not pink!!

Mobile phone cover

Little purse with pop fastners

Following my advert on my Facebook selling page I got an order for a purple mobile phone cover

Which was closely followed by two more orders for a camera cover and mobile phone cover :) I have an order for 4 beanie hats now too but have a little bit of time to do them as they are for christmas presents!

Anyway I better go and feed the kids as its that time of night again. Thanks for reading and hello to my new followers to :) its really nice to have your company. TTFN Vx

Spots and Stripes

2011-04-19T12:46:00.000-07:00

Hello again :) - well it has been such a lovely week so far. My OH is now off on holiday too and the sun has been shining. On Sunday we spent the day in the garden with the kids and then ventured out to the park after lunch. I then got an email asking for a birthday card for a motorbike lover - not having any motorbike themed items I trawlled the internet and found the following image which I used on the card below:

When I was making this card I really loved the colours from the Jovial Man collection on the Funky Hand Colour Me Happy cd I thought they went well with the digi image and with a bit of luck it happened to fit in with the Funky Hand challenge of Spots and Stripes! Yay So I have entered it in to the challenge. I just hope the recipient liked his card!

After finishing this card I thought as it was a nice evening that we would go out for fish and chips at South Queensferry. We had a delicious tea and then went for a walk (and ice cream) and my OH took these:

The ice-cream was delicious! Raspberry Ripple Flavour shlurp :) Well I better go as I have a huge pile of ironing to do! Got an exciting day out planned tomorrow too so will be heading to bed early :) TTFN Vx

Zing Into Spring!

2011-04-13T05:11:00.000-07:00

Hello blog land :) - Its nice to be back. I have been so busy over the last couple of months getting ready for a Spring Fayre to raise funds for our local school. The school kindly asked me to have a stall to sell my cards and crafty things. It was a successful day and I made over £100 which was not bad for my first Fair!! However, as a result of getting organised for the fair it did not leave me much time to do anything else - hence the lack of bloggage! But I am here to change that and I will be a regular blogger again - promise :)

To celebrate my return I have made this for the Get Funky - Zing into Spring blog challange:

As you can see it is an easter sweetie bag filled with scrummy Cadbury Mini Eggs - delish. It was a very quick and simple make - kids are on their easter holidays so I did not want to spend the whole day crafting and neglecting them - however, I think I just might cut out a few more of these and get them to decorate them on this wet afternoon :) The papers are taken from Funky Hand Colour Me Happy craft CD.
Well I better go and get my ankle biters fed and watered - hopefully will be back soon! TTFN Vx

Its a sad day - but here is a freebie giveaway!

2011-01-23T12:01:00.000-08:00

It was a really sad day yesterday - it was my last day at the Papermill Shop in Livingston :( They have taken the decision to close all their stores and concentrate on selling the paper online. To say I am gutted is an understatement. I really enjoyed working there and the girls I worked with are really lovely and I will miss working with them! However, we are going to keep in touch and get together for some crafty sessions :) and I must admit a good thing to come out of this is that I have made 5 new really great friends :)

It is going to be very strange going into the centre and the shop being filled by someone else but unfortunately it seems to be how things are going at the moment. So many great shops are going online to cut overheads and some are even closing completely and there are very few good craft shops left. Its very sad to see.

On the bright side!! and yes there is one, one of the Girls who works in the shop has decided to start up her own craft shop. Kim worked in the Papermill for 9 years and has lots of crafting experience. She has been lucky enough to get the units from our shop to fit out her new premises in Veitch's Garden Centre in East Calder - which sounds like the perfect location as it has a Coffee shop and a Fabric shop too - What more could a crafter want!! Cant wait for it to open now :)

As a result of the closure I was given a Popcorn the Bear Christmas Collection CD which was a free sample which was given to the store along with some other products. I am now offering this a freebie to one lucky follower. If you are interested in winning this please leave me a message below and I will pick someone at random on Saturday 29th January. Please feel free to let all your crafty friends know about this giveaway as Popcorn needs to find a new home.

Well that's it for now as its bath time for the kids - thanks for reading :)

Vanessa xx

UPDATE - 29th January

The winner is Alison Bates who entered the competition on facebook and was chosen at random by my 2 year old Oliver :)

Winter Tales

2010-12-01T08:40:00.000-08:00

Forgive me blogland for I have sinned - it has been 3 months since my last post!! Thank you to my followers who have not unfollowed my blog - its so boring I almost unfollowed too. I promise to try and be better.

I have been fairly crafty over the last couple of months but have been very silly and forgotten to take photo's of some of my creations :( I made a lovely velvet pouch with felt flowers for a handmade secret santa gift which was handed out on Saturday - no piccie and I am gutted - might have to ask my work colleague if she can take a pitcture of it for me! It was my first ever stitched make and I was very proud of it. Will just have to make one for myself now!

On the card making front I have made these:

This card was made for my OH uncle for his birthday and I have used Stampin 'Up stamps on this one and coloured the buttons (at the bottom of the card) with promarkers to tie in with the colours used for stamping.

This was made for my OH's 39th Birthday - will have to be a cheeky one next year! This was created using my Cricut and the Indie Art cartridge.

I made this during a craft/chinese night with the girls from work. Images are from Polka Doodles Fairy Flutterfly stamps. The backing papers I have had for years! I am on a mission to use up all my scraps that I have lying around. I currently have a 19litre really useful box full of scraps but yet I cut a fresh piece of A4 card or print off another sheet of paper!! Doh - when will I learn!

We are currently having a fair bit of snow fall - 19 inches at the last count:

The schools have been off all week and it was announced that they would stay closed for the rest of this week as there is another 20com of snow forecast for overnight tonight. I quite like the snow and it has been great getting a lie in and not having to brave the weather to take the kids to school....however..... I have been waiting for a couple of craft purchases and the postie's can't get through to deliver my goodies :(

I ordered these from the Polka doodles website and cannot wait for them to arrive :( - so snow snow go away, I want my craft stuff so I can play!! Nikky did a fab demonstration with these on her PD show which aired on C&C on the 26th November. Not that I will be able to recreate her lovely creation with promarkers and the house stamps but I will try......

I was also lucky enough to have one of my card samples shown on the same show :) It was sooo exciting seeing one of my cards on telly! I hope to see more soon!!

On a christmas note and because of all the snow and being stuck indoors I made my first card for Christmas 2010

The image is a Digi Stamp from Digi Stamp Boutique and the papers I have had for ever!! Again I have coloured the button using promarkers. Well I think that is enough for now - hope to be posting again soon. Hope I have not bored you too much! TTFN Vxx

Exciting News!

2010-09-08T13:22:00.000-07:00

Oh dear it appears to have been a really long time since I blogged - oops. To be fair I have had an excuse!! My exciting news is that Nikky Hall from Polka Doodles asked me to be a sample maker for her new templates! And very pleased I was too. So that was all a bit of a whirlwind as she sent me eight templates to make cards for her upcoming show at Harrogate on 11th and 12th September (some of which are currently on display at http://www.polkadoodles.com/ I have had so much fun playing with the templates and coming up with alternative desgins - so thanks to Nikky for giving me the opportunity :)

My other exciting news is that I got offered a job at my local Paper Mill Shop. Not sure if its a good idea as I think I will have my money spent before I earn it. I think I am going to be in heaven working in a craft shop :) I start there soon and really am very excited about it.

I have two apologies to make. One to Debbie and the other to Teri Louise. These 2 lovely ladies were kind enough to award me lovely blog awards and as yet I have done nothing with them. Sorry!! I am currently perusing other blogs to pass on the compliment you kindly gave me and hope to post soon. The school holidays have also curtailed my blogging and crafting acitvities, but now that the schools are back I hope to rectify this.

On the card front the only one I have made (other than the 10 cards for Polka Doodles) is this one:

The stamps are from PaperArtsy and have been sitting in my cupboard waiting to be used! Quite pleased with the results but maybe over did the background slightly! I really love the flowers and they come with a handy die to match!! :)

Well that's about it for now. Hope to get back into the swing of things soon and get those blog awards sorted. Take care Vxx

Something New

2010-07-23T10:53:00.000-07:00

Woo hoo I got a card made today!! I have an excuse to sit down and craft!! Honestly. For some unexplained reason my leg hurts - just beside my knee - the more I walk around the worse it gets, so I have self medicated some rest! But rather than sit idle I got out my craft stuff and made this card:

The theme for the Funky Hand July challenge was a creation for 'something new'. I don't know why this popped into my head as I do not know anyone that is starting a new job, other than me going back to work in January :( - however I thought that it is always good to have these kind of cards handy - just in case!

All the papers are from Funky Hand - Funky Daze. As you can see I have cut 4 sqaures to from the basis of the background and used Banana Frog Stamps to create the faux stitching around each of the panels. I downloaded the four leaf clover template from the internet and printed it onto the Funky Hand paper twice, cut around and inked the edges. I placed the two four leaf clovers directly on top of each other, securing the bottom one flat to the card. The second was just glued in the middle and curled at the edges to add dimenstion. I used a white sakura gel pen to add detail to the clover.

The sentiment was stamped using a Studio G alphabet stamp and mounted onto card. This card did not take me long at all. Good job as my children were getting a bit restless and needed some attention. Well I am off to sit with my feet up to try and rest this knee. TTFN Vx

Just Stamps!

2010-07-23T03:43:00.000-07:00

It has been such a long time since I blogged and what is even more worrying it has been that long sice I actually got to craft too. Bahh school holidays :( However my gran asked me to make a card for her friends Gold Wedding Anniversary so I got my chance!

I really hate making anniversary cards - I never seem to get them right. It took me 3 attempts and I finally came up with this:

The whole card has been created using stamps only! No fancy backing paper at all - just a little bit of gold glitter card backing the sentiment! And this fits in nicely with the Polka Doodles challenge (but sorry don't have any PD stamps :( YET!!)

I cut a square appeture into a piece of white copy paper and placed it over the base card. I then used a stamp from Banana Frog Totally Tropical range and stamped randomly through the appeture, to create the frame for the number 50. I then cut out the number 50 using the doodletype font cricut cartridge and used the appeture and placed it over the card. (Hope this is making sense!) I then used a sponge to ink through the '50' onto the paper and again, using the same stamp for the frame, stamped through the appeture with a darker ink. (I now realise that I should have taken photo's of this process much easier than explaining!)

The Sentiment was printed out and then using the same set of Banana Frog Stamps, decorated around the sentiment.

The flowers surrounding the frame were stamped and embossed with gold embossing powder, cut out and placed around the frame.

I cannot tell you how pleased I was when I finished this card. It is more my style than my previous attempt (for a giggle here it is!):

Yes terrible I know :( - Anyway I better go as my little un is looking for some attention as my other 2 are playing on their DS' take care and I hope to be back soon. Vxx

School Holidays

2010-07-06T13:54:00.000-07:00

Well the school holidays have landed! Yay at not having to get up early and do the school run. Boo having even less time to get crafty. Its great having the kids around though and they love crafting so must get started on their holiday scrap books.

Holiday started with a trip into Edinburgh on the train. Its a journey I used to take every day before the birth of Lewis (my first kiddie) so did not hold much excitement for me other than the delighted faces of my three kids, who don't get on the train very often. For oliver (my third kiddie) it was his first ever trip and he was really excited and excited shouts of 'choo choo' echoed through the carriage.

(not sure if OH was aiming for Oliver or my chest!!!)

My kids are fascintated with the trams that are currently being installed in the city so it was a must to go and visit the tram located in Prince's Street. Still cannot understand the appeal to be honest at its costing a pretty penny too. But alas there is no point moaning about it now!

Gemma and Lewis were impressed though.

We went for lunch at the Golden Arches (posh name for McDonalds) and then took a lovely walk to Stockbridge via the water of Leith and spotted this:

It gave OH perfect opportunity to try out the new camera.

Other than actually taking the kids out for a lovely day I also had another job to do... yes crafty.. a visit to a fantastic bead shop where I purchased some lovely goodies. I have been making some stampboard jewellery and needed some findings. A few beads just happened to pop in there too!! Oops!! Must have been browsing for an hour. Kids were very good though and were helping pick beads for me. However Gemma got fed up and went to see her dad who took this georgous photo:

She is such a pretty girl (takes the good looks from her Dad)

Will post some photo's of the finished articles (when I finally get round to finishing!!)

We then headed back up to Prince's Street gardens so the kids could have a play at the park and we could have a seat.

However, Oliver decided that he wanted to play on the big slide which required both me and OH to supervise. Kids had a great time though and gave them an appetite for their Pizza Express! Yum

Delicious it was too! After that we headed back up to get the train and had a lovely journey home.

On the crafting front I was commissioned to do some baby cards. I used the toppers (below) but then forgot to take a picture of the card!! Arg but the other two cards, made for the same set of twins, I did remember to photograph.

Anyway will finish this later OH just calling from London. TTFN Vx

For the Males

2010-06-25T14:10:00.000-07:00

Well a big thank you to team PD for picking my entry as number 2 in the Nursery Rhyme challange. Its always nice to hear that others like what you are doing as I often look at my creations and think - it will do! So thanks again.

Spurred on by my 2nd place I have decided to have a go at the male themed card. Its my Dad's birthday next month so what better person to make a card for than your dad! So here it is:

All the papers and toppers come from Candy Doodles.

I have attached the dad toppers with foam pads so that they stand out and have finished the card off with some black raffia and a Happy Birthday dome sticker from PaperMania. Once again the hard work in this card was done by Nikky in the design for her CD.

TTFN Vx

Baby Baby

2010-06-25T02:55:00.000-07:00

I have been asked to make a card for friends of my parents for the forthcoming addition of twins to their family. I have a die cut of a baby head but always find it difficult to use them as you either have to create a body or it looks like a floating head on a page - not a good look! So I have come up with this:

I was inspired by an image from Kirsty Wiseman's Colour Me Crazy cd of a baby all tucked up in a blanket. So I thought I would recreate this using die cuts! I am so please with the results and I thought I would share it with you.

The base was made using a nestie oval die, cut twice the second piece I cut into sections and I used the Martha Stewart doily lace punch and then layered it all up. The baby head was cut from white card and coloured using promarkers.

I have not actually finished the card yet and better get a move on as they are coming into this world on Tuesday. Just thought I would share this with you. Vx

Two Little Dickie Birds

2010-06-15T09:05:00.000-07:00

This is my entry for the current Polka Doodles Blog challenge:

The theme for this weeks challenge is Nursery Ryhmes. Again all my original thoughts had been so wonderfully done by the DT members so I came up with the idea of the Two Little Dickie Birds! I thought that I would try and recreate this little ditty by making my birds 'fly away':

I achieved this by creating pull tabs and levers which are attached to the birds. By moving the 'tweet' tabs up and down, the birds appear and disappear! I had so much fun making this card!

All of the elements for this card were printed from the Polka Doodles - Not for the Girls cd. Anyway I have to go as my youngest has just woken from a nap. If you would like more info on how I made this just leave me a message and I will get back to you!

Tweet Tweet. Vx

Red and Black

2010-06-12T12:37:00.000-07:00

Well I have had another eventful week here. Hubby was away with work again leaving me all on my lonesome with 3 children. I am actually getting used to him being away now and it means that I can craft in the evening without feeling guilty about it! However, on Wednesday evening I could really have done with him being at home... the first part of my red and black story:

Part 1 - My daughter had a fall in her bedroom and smacked her face off the end of her bed! Ouch!! I was getting my youngest ready for bed when I heard the thud and resulting scream. I called NHS 24 asking for advice and was told that it would be up to 3 hours before someone would call back. Ok I though they are busy and they obviously deemed that our case was not urgent. So I duly waited up with my daughter until 11pm and having waited 3 hours since the bump thought it was now safe to get ready for bed and wait for the call.

Part 2 - How wrong could I be.... at 11.15pm NHS called back. "It's common practice that all children with head injuries are sent to hospital to be checked out so can you please make your way there now...." argh ..... why could they not have told me that 3 hours earlier when all my children were up and dressed? So I saw Red but somehow managed to keep my cool.

To cut a really long story short, the cavalry arrived so that I could just take my daughter along to the hospital and not have to wake the other 2. Got home at 2.30am! She is fine now and enjoying all the attention she is getting whilst showing off her 'stitch'!

Part 3 - Don't know if it was as a result of our experience but my latest card took on a red, black and grey theme! I have made this card for my in-law's wedding anniversary and anniversary is the theme of the Polka Doodles challenge. The card had to be modern/retro and this is my take on it:

The grey checked backing paper is taken from Polka Doodles Not for the Girls. I have punched red and black card stock with a Martha Stewart checkerboard punch as I felt that this complimented the Rennie McIntosh stamp (which was bought from a fab stamp shop in York called Mark Your Mark). I coloured in the stamped image using promarkers.

I added a bit of dimension to the stamped image by stamping the image again and fixing it onto the original image with foam pads. The sentiment is a deco font downloaded from dafont and has been embelished with ruby gems! Wish I had thought of this idea before as it was their Ruby Wedding Anniversary last year! Oh well only a year out of date. My in-law's love Rennie McIntosh so I am sure they will be pleased to receive this card.

Well its Saturday evening so I am off to have a pint and a sit down. Take Care Vx

Brown, Cream and Pink

2010-06-06T14:10:00.000-07:00

I would just like to say a big thank you to the Funky Hand Team for picking my card to be in the top 5 of the FH May challenge. I really enjoyed making the shaped bunny card and it has now been re-homed to a 7 year old girl called Melanie.

June's challenge is to make a creation with the colours Pink, Brown and Cream. I get so much inspiration from the blog challenges, but this one came at the very unreasonable hour of 2 am one morning!! I was woken by my husband's snoring (again) and could not get back to sleep and thought that snoring was worse than coffee for keep you awake! Then 'kazam' my idea for this month's challenge arrived and yes kept me awake for the rest of the night...

All the papers for this card are printed from the 'Now That's Funky' cd. I made the mug by using shapes from Word, printing them onto FH paper and the cutting them out. I inked up the edges and pieced it all together, highlighting some area's with a black sakura pen. I cut 2 oval and scrunched the paper and then directly inked these to form the cookies. I finished off the cookies with brads for the chocolate chips. I have used a Martha Stewart Doily Punch on the pink backing paper and embossed the brown paper with a sizzix texture plate.

I swirled some cream paper to make the steam coming from the coffee cup.

I have cut the word 'Relax' with the sizzix pigeon toed die and attached them to a strip of card with chocolate coloured brads.

Well this card is making me long for some cookies - which I luckily have stashed away from my hungry hoards (who are in bed). So I am off to sneak a few before its time to go to bed myself. TTFN Vx

Just for Mum

2010-05-28T12:16:00.000-07:00

The polka doodles challenge last week was to make a card for mum, using the colours blue and peach/orange. I was not going to enter this challenge as I thought its not my mum's birthday! However, cards are not just for birthdays are they?!

My mum has been great over the last 6 months - more so than usual. My grandad was diagnosed with cancer late last year and since then my mum has been his rock. She has been there with him every step of the way, no matter how hard it has been, and this has allowed him to remain at home and die peacefully in his bed, just they way he wanted it (early on Thursday morning). I cannot even begin to imagine how hard this has been for her, but to let her know how wonderful she is I have made this card:

The papers, flowers and butterflies have come from candy doodles. I have used the Martha Stewart punch to decorate the co-ordinating paper and have cut the word 'mum' using a cricut - doodletype font. The paper flowers have been stamped with a swirl from Banana Frog - super dreamy and inked round the edges.

I have also cut an extra butterfly and used foam pads to add dimension.

I have added the sentiment 'Thinking of You' - Stamping Up

I don't tell my mum often enough how great I think she is - it is very easy to forget how much she does for the family without a thought for herself. I am very proud of the way she has coped and hope this card can go some way to letting her know this.

Take Care Vxx

Getting Into Shape

2010-05-26T14:39:00.000-07:00

I have decided that my healthy lifestyle starts now! Not only have I been power walking (as started for the Race for Life) I have decided that I need to take a serious look at my diet, as a Boost for a mid morning snack at 326 calories not good. So watch this space - I am going to get into shape and loose the 3 stone I put on with baby number 3!!

Talking of getting into shape (tenious I know) this months challenge over at Funky Hand is to create a shaped card and not the standard square or rectangle. It has taken me a while to decide what I was going to do as all my favourite ideas were so brilliantly done by the design team. So eventually I decided on this cute little bunny:

The template is from Colour My World and has been sitting in my craft cupboard since I bought them (probably 2 years ago) after a class at the Paper Mill. What better than to decorate this cute little character for this challenge. All the papers are taken from Now That's Funky. Pretty simple to construct, however very time consuming to cut out all the pieces, ink round the edges, put on faux stitching and then assemble.... easy really....

To finish off the card I made some paper flowers by cutting swirls into patterned paper and twisting them. Voila some pretty flowers

One of my son's freinds is turning 7 soon so I think this would make a lovely birthday card (don't worry it is a girl!) Anyway it's late so I better get off to bed before its time to get up again. TTFN Vx

Happy Anniversary

2010-05-19T12:57:00.000-07:00

Well I cannot quite believe that this is our 8th Wedding Anniversary. Its scary to think that we have been married this long and even scarier the fact that we have been together for 18 years! I remember the day I jumped on him at the students union with the very corney line 'you are looking lonely' - but hey it worked! To mark the occassion I have made this card:

After I posted this I realised that I have very dirty windows (hence the greyish colour below the heart!) I really must clean them! The idea for this card came from the Banana Frog Blog. Julie Kirk, one of the DT members had kindly shown how to do a technique similar to screen printing. This was my take on her fabby idea.

So what special things have we planned.... a big fat zero.. Hubby is off to Ireland for a week with work (boo hoo) but in his defence he did say that he would not have gone if I had thrown a hissy fit and stamped my feet. I was supposed to be going to meet him over in Ireland for the weekend but alas no baby sitters could be found (well non willing to have all 3 of my ankle biters). So anniversary has kind of been put on hold until we can bribe someone to have the kids. Never mind :-(

Well that's it for tonight need to get a move on as I have a couple of cards to make for next week. Bye for now Vx

Happy Birthday Polka Doodles

2010-05-17T14:00:00.000-07:00

Well just as the title suggests it is Polka Doodles 1st Birthday. Congratulations! I really do love PD goodies as you can probably tell with the number of blog competitions I enter using their products. In honour of their birthday they were giving away a free paper download and this was to be used on the card for this weeks blog competition and was to be a card for dad. I would like to say a big thank you for these papers as I absolutely love them. I hope I have done them justice:

Sorry about the ironing board - hubby was doing his shirts!! lol

The challenge was to include some texture - so I have used some sizzix texture plates on some pearlescent card which I have stamped the words 'cheers to you' (Stampin Up). I have included a little surprise to add some dimension...

The 'Dad' lettering was cut using the doodletype font on the Cricut. As per usual all backing papers are from Polka Doodles.

Well I would just like to wish PD lots of success in the future - keep the CD's coming.. please.

Take care Vxx

Long Time......

2010-05-17T13:43:00.000-07:00

It feels like it has been ages since I last blogged - oh it is...... Well I have been busy .. honest! On the 9th of May I am proud to say that I ran (aherm jogged - ok walked most of) 5k Race for Life. Lots of fun it was too especially as I ordered some Gower Brownies for when we finished... yummy. I managed to raise £115 for cancer research and hope to do the run again next year and improve on my time of 45 minutes (no land speed records were reached sorry!). Sorry there are no pictures but I really did not want to traumatise you by showing me in my jogging gear - believe me when I say its not a pretty sight.

On the card making front here are my latest creations..

Actually I have to admit - I can't take responsibility for these masterpieces. My children made these for children who spend a lot of their life in hospital. Its a charity called Post Pals and they have a website postpals.co.uk so if you have some spare time and want to cheer someone up this is a really worth cause. Having a daughter who spent some time in hospital after a heart operation I know how difficult it is for the children and their families, so please at least have a look at the website (rant over!)

Right on to my crafty efforts.. but how can I follow the kids creations.. arggh. I have a few crafty friends that have been very kind to me recently. To thank them I made some Crafter's Survival Packs. The pack contained tea (to get the creative juices flowing), coffee and chocolate (to keep up the momentum if you were on a roll) and wine (if everything goes wrong and needed to drown your sorrows). I included a couple of crafty things too. They seemed to be appreciated!

I have decided that I am going to try my hand at a craft fair. Spoke to my friend Debbie about it (her stuff is so much better than mine at least people might look at my stuff when they are buying hers!) we just need to get a good stock level. I have decided to try my hand at some toppers..

I used a swirl from the Cricut home decor cartridge, cut a triangle from some card and then embossed lines to make it look like a wafer. Here it is on a pillow box with choccies..

Unfortunately this was as far as I got on the topper front.. think I need to make more if I am going to cover the cost of the table... lol

Right now on to some cards.

This was made as a thank you for one of my craft friends mentioned above. I have used banana frog stamps and a daisy punch topped with a self adhesive gem. The following card was made using some digi stamps that I recently purchased. I am enjoying working with promarkers at the moment but need lots more practice.

Well that's it for now. Will post again soon!! Vx

Its purrrfect!

2010-04-20T12:09:00.000-07:00

Well maybe not purfect - but its not bad... The polka doodles challenge this week is to make a project with an animal theme. I have chosen a cat as I have a thank you card to make for a cat lover and who better than this purdie little kitty:

I made the checked backing paper with promarkers!! I picked out the colours from the cat, got a ruler and off I went. I know the Back To Nature CD has lots of lovely papers to match but I thought I would give myself a bit of a challenge and was determined to use the promarkers for something useful (still not got the hang of colouring images with them yet!) The fish bone paper and the cat are from.... yes my favourite BTN.

As you can see it is an easel card (my first) and have printed the words purrfect onto orange card to prop it up. I have also rolled some wool into a ball and stuck it to the front of the card. Something for kitty to play with when she is in the post.

Not entered the PD blog comp for a while and have really missed it. I always enjoy using PD papers and I am waiting patiently for a view of the new CD...

Vx

Sugar Nellie

2010-04-20T03:19:00.000-07:00

I love Sugar Nellie stamps but never seem to be able to do them justice! I went to card club last night on a mission to make a nice card with one of thier images. Here it is:

I was going to use promarkers to colour the image, but still having a huge problem with the promarkers bleeding over the stamped image, so instead I opted for watercolour pencils. This is the first time I have used them and think I will need a bit of practice but I am pleased with the result.

I have used papers from Funky Hand craft CD's and downloads. The images and flower at the bottom of the card were from Cricut Home Accents. A closer view:

Just need to go and post this over at the Sugar Bowl for a chance of winning some goodies!! Always a bonus. Vxx

Twice in one day!

2010-04-17T12:36:00.000-07:00

Well I cannot quite believe this myself... two posts in one day. I think this has to be a record for me.

Well I have had the idea for this card in my head since I saw the current Funky Hand blog challenge, but as detailed below I have not really had the time to craft and to get my idea onto card. The challenge, as it is April, was to include rain drops. So here is my creation:

All of the papers are from Now that's Funky, Its Funky Too, Salt and Pepper Funky Hand download and Baby Paper download also from Funky Hand. The sun rays have been stamped using Banana Frog build a flower set and the sentiment is also from this set.

The cloud and raindrops have beeb laminated and have been attached to the back of the card and folded over so that they hang free from the card. Each colour of the rainbow (yes I know there are a couple missing - artistic licence. lol) has been inked around the edges with a corresponding colour.

I think with the sentiment 'you are my sunshine' this would make a nice anniversary card (I would use it for my anniversary but unfortunately my hubby saw me making it).

I really liked making this card as it is bright and colourful. Just what I needed for this dull day and some crafty therapy to take my mind of things. Hope it makes you smile.

Variation on a Theme!

2010-04-17T06:28:00.000-07:00

I am back in the land of blogging! Been really hectic here over the last 4 weeks, with easter holidays, trips away and 2 very poorly relatives! One of which, thankfully, has made a miraculous recovery. We did not think that he would survive and he is now at home making very good progress! Someone is looking out for him somewhere! This can't be said, unfortunately for my Grandad who is fighting a losing battle against lung cancer. We knew that it was terminal but just hope that the medicine he is taking can make him pain free.

So with all this going on I have not really been in the right frame of mind for making cards nor have I had time with 3 kids chewing at my ankles over the easter holidays.

A bit of pottering and the need to make another 40th birthday card - this time for a man (my brother-in-law) I have produced this:

Its very similar to the 40th card below but I have tried to make it more masculine.

As in the previous card the sentiment reflects the recipients sensitivities about reaching a certain milestone!

I am hoping to get a crafting day sorted soon as I have a lot of blog competitions that I would like to enter, and new goodies to play with. Will try not to leave it so long next time! Vx

Brown and Blue

2010-03-25T05:21:00.000-07:00

Now this for me was a tough challenge. Not only was there a sketch to follow but also the colours had to be brown and blue! I have to have someone in mind when I am making a card otherwise I can sit for hours looking at my craft stash and it just looks back at me... However, once I had decided the card was going to be for my sister's wedding anniversary my creative juices began flowing. So here it is (at last!)

The backing papers are taken from Now That's Funky - Funky Hand craft cd and also the circle the birds are sitting on. I have used Kay Carley stamps on the sentiment tag and also on the strip on the left hand side of the card. The birds are taken from the Polka Doodle - Sugar Birdies craft CD. The blue strip along the bottom of the card is punched with the Martha Stewart Arch Lattice punch and I have finished off the card with 3 prima flowers centered with Craftwork Cards - iced gems card candy.

As you can see it is a gatefold card - which I just wanted to make for a change.

Glad this is now finished as it needs delivered by Saturday so I better go and get it in the post.. Bye for now Vx

Sensitive about turning forty?

2010-03-20T14:45:00.000-07:00

Turning forty is a sensitive subject for some so with this in mind I have made this card..

The sentiment at the bottom reads "feeling sensitive about turning four.tea?" Yes its still cheeky but hey some people give you very little opportunity to have a 'dig' at them so this was my chance!!

Polka Doodles week 10 challenge has provided the inspiration for this card, to celebrate a special birthday. The backing paper is from (yes you guessed it) Back to Nature and his been punched at the bottom with a Martha Stewart Doily Lace punch which I thought fitted in quite nicely with the Tea theme. The stamps used are all Chapel Road Artstamps - Tea Collage. I stamped the background paper with the tea leaf. The layer under the tea cups has also been stamped with the tea leaf and coloured using a sponge with green and butterscotch dye based inks. The tea cups are stamped with the butterscotch ink pad too and have been cut out using Spellbinder dies. Here are some close ups..

Its quite a pretty card even though its cheeky too.

Hope the recipient does not give me a black eye... I will let you know... Vx

Rock'n'Roll

2010-03-16T13:43:00.000-07:00

Well its my son's 7th Birthday soon and he loves his rock music. So inspired by the latest Sugar Bowl Blog challenge I have created this.

Its a diorama card (another first for me), the sugar nellie image and the guitar has been embossed and coloured using promarkers. The rock star wording and musical notes were downloaded from Dafont and all free too! The stars have Happy Birthday stamped on them too.

Will have to make sure that I am not looking at this page when he is at home - well not until after the 3 of April!

Bye Vx

Wings and Things

2010-03-13T08:57:00.000-08:00

Well first of all I would like to say a big thanks to the Polka Doodles Design team for picking my spinner card to win Week 8 Polka Doodles challenge. I am tickled pink and have sore cheeks from grinning like a cheshire cat! Cannot wait to get my blinkie to bling up my blog page.

Now on to things with wings challenge. Bit slow at making this card but I am really please with the results and hope that Mia will like it too - the all important birthday girl who turns 2 on Thursday..

Another view..

And a close up of the butterflies

I have used the Back to Nature cd (again yes, but can't get enought of it really) for the backing papers and also have taken a tree image from Candy Doodles and coloured it in with promarkers. The butterflies are Penny Black and were stamped with a dye based ink and then coloured with promarkers. To get them to look like they were mid air I laminated them and left a strip of clear laminate so that I could attach it to the card. I used my new Martha Stewart punch to make the fence at the front of the card and have attached it with foam pads to give it some dimension.

This is another first for me as I have never attempted a stepper card before. I think I might just attempt it again soon. Hope you like it.... Vx

Martha Punch

2010-03-10T05:42:00.000-08:00

As per usual I am finding it difficult to make cards for men. Espcially the ones who do not have any hobbies (namely the father-in-law!) However, I pulled out some Stampin Up stamps and teamed them up with my new Martha Stewart punches - 2 of which were chosen on the possibility of being included on a man's card. Here it is..

The tree has been stamped in 2 colours, cut in half and one is overlayed onto the other... The oak leaves have been stamped in brown ink and embossed with clear powder.

My husband will be please that this one is not to be included in any blog competitions! However, i have been finding the competitions very inspirational for ideas and layouts for the cards I am making for up-coming birthdays. Speaking of which I still have another 3 to make for this month..

Still have my entry to submit for this weeks Polka Doodles challenge so better get my crafty fingers and head going on that one before Sunday. Still not had a great deal of time to play with my purchases from the SECC so might just set aside some time tonight.. well that's the plan children and hubby permitting. Vx

Could not resist....

2010-03-07T12:04:00.000-08:00

Ok is official (not that I really had any doubt)... My Name is Vanessa and I am addicted to crafting! How have I suddenly had this epiphany, well... I was supposed to be going to the SECC craft fair with a friend (hello debbie) and unfortunately she had to cancel due to other commitments (yes I know what is more important than crafting. lol). So I thought well not worth going on my own as the company is preferrable, however the need to buy some crafty stash took over and dragged me (I would like to say kicking and screaming but that would be an utter lie) to the craft fair on my lonesome!

This is completely unlike me as I am a big scaredy cat...

But I really enjoyed myself. Everyone was very friendly and I soon got chatting to other crafters so a great time was had and lots of money spent. However, I completely disregarded my own advice to look first, take note of prices etc, go have lunch and then come back and make considered purchases!! First stall visited had fabby Martha Stewart punches which I had to have.. few stalls down they were a little bit cheaper.. doh BUT they did not have the ones that I had just got, so no loss really (thats my excuse and I am sticking to it).

After this I did learn my lesson and perused before spending any more dosh. So here is a picture of my purchases..

Not the greatest picture (no surprises there!) but here is the list:

4 Sugar Nellie Stamps

2 Pirate Stamps

2 Musical Stamps (electric guitar and musical note)

Jean Pocket Stamp

Baby Sentiment Stamp

Tea Stamp Set

Hobby Art Seaside Stamp Set

do you think I like stamps.....

2 Packets of ProMarkers

4 Martha Stewart Punches

Not bad for a couple of hours browsing! However, the reason I went was to get some eclipse tape from Stamp Addicts and guess what - they did not have the big roll that I wanted... think they thought I was strange though as I kept visiting their stall, a few items had taken my eye but the purse had taken a hammering and refused to let me spend any more.

But I am glad I went but hope that Debbie can accompany me to the next one - you were missed D.

Anyway better go hubby thinks I am attached to this computer and is feeling slightly neglected. Ta ta Vx

Girls, Girls, Girls..

2010-03-03T09:07:00.000-08:00

Well I have just spent a lovely couple of hours with my friend who still recovering from Pneumonia. She really liked her card I made her (Priscilla below) and it made her giggle which was the aim. Hoping that once she is fully recovered that we can get together with another friend for a Girls Day Out.

I have been busy on another challenge which, coincidentaly , has the theme of Girls! Got a few birthdays in March which this card would be perfect for so I might have to make some more of the same...

The card includes papers from Its Funky Too craft CD from Funky Hand. I have stamped the background with a girly shoe stamp and a flower stamp and included a little gem in the flowers on the shoes. The embellishments have been sitting in my craft cupboard for ages just waiting for the right card and now they have found the perfect home and go really well the with the Funky Hand papers. I am really liking making spinner cards at the moment so have used this technique here (again I know sorry). The sentiment on the inside of the card reads "it's your day spoil yourself silly" and is taken from a pack of Penny Black clear stamps. Hope you will agree that the card included a few things that a girl may want but with one notable exception.... chocolate. But if it helps I was eating some whilst making this card..

Vx

Ahoy there

2010-03-02T14:36:00.000-08:00

Well here I go again - another competition... I have been so lucky as I have so many cards to make and the competitions have been so inspiring at helping me make the stacks of cards that I seem to have at this time of year. Below is my entry for the Sugar Bowl blog comp and a friends son's 5th birthday hope you and they like it....

I have used a download of a treasure map and compass . The plank of wood has been made with a fiskars woodgrain embossing board and is highlighted with chocolate brown ink.

Another week another challenge

2010-02-28T06:53:00.000-08:00

Well I am really getting into these blog challenges and thought that I would have a go at another Polka Doodles challenge. This weeks theme is a shaped card. My inspiration is due to a poorly friend who has recently been in hospital with Pneumonia and what better to cheer her up than Priscilla!

Yes that is snow you can see outside!!

A lovely view of Priscilla's butt...

The text box says 'that's Neigh good hope you are feeling better soon'. For those of you not of scottish descent translation for neigh being not!

The sentiment on the front says 'feeling a little horse'!

All images and backing papers were taken from the Polka Doodles Back to Nature CD. I must admit all the hard work has been taken out of this card due to Nikki's great CD.

As you can see it is a spinner card which now needs a specialist envelope.... so I will need to go and make one before sending it. Hope you like the card as much as I liked making it. Vx

Feeling inspired

2010-02-21T13:32:00.000-08:00

After doing the Sugar Nellie Blog Hop I felt inspired to enter a card into the Sugar Bowl blog competition. The card had to include 3 flowers, 2 brads and 1 button. Managed to stick to the card layout but fitting in the flowers and the button (well embossed button) was a bit of a challenge. But hey here it is...

The paper with the dog bowls was a free download from a craft magazine and of course the centre piece being Angus and his bone. Hope you like it - I had a great time putting it together.

Wow two blog competitions in one weekend - I am exhausted...

Blog hopping

2010-02-20T06:44:00.000-08:00

Well I have just completed the Sugar Nellie Blog hop and very inspirational it has been. Still a bit frightened of the whole colouring in thing. So my Sugar Nellie creation is very plain. But the stamp is so lovely i think it looks quite good in its simplicity... i think!

Since this picture was taken I have added some spotty paper as an insert which shows off the scalloped edge of the card.

Feeling very proud of myself

2010-02-19T12:47:00.000-08:00

Not only have I just spent and hour at the gym - yes working out and not just blethering,.... I have also made my first card for a blog competition with 2 children off school ill (well play acting as I like to call it) and luckily my youngest quite happily entertaining himself whilst keeping an eye on mum!

Unfortunately it is not a very good picture. My digital camera is eating up batteries quicker than you can switch it on, so I have had to rely on my scanner which does not really show the card of at its best...

The challenge is from Polka Doodles and has to include a bird somewhere on the design. Not only is this my first attempt at a blog competition it is also my first attempt at using angel fibres (this is what is causing the glare from the scanner!!) I have used images from the Back to Nature CD from Polka Doodles.

Its not very clear from the picture but the 3 circles are mounted on 2mm foam pads. Will try to take another picture with my hubby's mobile phone in the morning when there is hopefully better light. Keep your fingers crossed. Off to have my well earned drinkie. Vxx

Not sure that this shows it off any better but at least the glare from the Angel fibres has gone!

Now I know why I kept putting it off..

2010-02-18T06:07:00.000-08:00

Well having three kids is very time consuming especially when they are all under 6! Always mean to blog but someone is usually nipping at my heals requiring something. Although my daughter has been a great source of entertainment over the last couple of weeks. She has just turned 5 and is still having tantrums.... i thought they should have passed by now but friends tell me they just get worse with age. I suppose they master them the more experienced they get.

I will share one episode as it really did make me giggle. It all started when she was writing the alphabet and she got a b and d mixed up. I commented on what a lovely 'd' she had written - no she replied 'its not a d its a b' paddy ensued when I would not concur. Ended up in my daughter being possessed by someone not of this world and her having to be carried upstairs to her room. Not willing to remain there I had to hold the door closed until she calmed down. But before she calmed down she uttered the following (please read this in a very screamy woman possesed voice to get full effect) "if you do not let me out of this room now you're......... FIRED". I still have not been reinstated so I should probably change this to read mother of 2!

Anyhooo - on to things crafty. Despite being fired I managed to make a Birthday Card for my ermm daughter.... it was very sparkly and does have scallops along the bottom which appear to have been cut off when scanning! Really need to get a new camera..

Used a Stampin Up stamp on this Birthday card from and idea pinched at a Stampin Up party a couple of weeks ago.

Need to go as my youngest has woken up from his nap. Will try and get back soon. Ta ta

Here goes....

2010-01-26T12:59:00.000-08:00

People keep telling me to start a blog to display my crafty items. Ok why not? And to add to it I can finally enter all these blog competitions! Why not indeed!

Well - I am a married, mother of 3. Currently on an extended career break of 6 years!!! (No.3 was a surprise) I took up card making 4 years ago and love it. Its time when I get to do what I want (as long as I have someone looking after the kids that is.) I am my own worse critic, rarely liking what I have made. My kids (like most) are brutally honest about my creations so I always ask their opinion if I want/need the truth!

Will have to trawl through some photo's to add but will start with some recent attempts...

I will hopefully get the hang of the blog to lay things out a bit better - eventually!

Well I suppose i will sign off for now (go and have a peek at some other blogs for inspiration. Bye for now