Back in the School Yard

.Well the weeks are just flying by and I can’t believe that we are just two days away from the end of January already. Mind you, it really feels like we’ve had a Winter this year, what with all the snow and stuff and I’m just longing for some nice, slightly warmer days so I can get out in the garden and clear away some of the dead plants and empty my hanging baskets ready to take the nursery to be refilled.

I’ve kept myself busy this week despite the fact there’s not been much crafting going on.

I’ve been painting………..my bedroom!

Now don’t ask what possessed me because I had no plans what so ever to do it but suddenly on Saturday morning I decided it was time for a freshen up, so it was off to Homebase for supplies.
I’ve virtually finished now, just a couple of final things and then I can get straight in there ………Oh how I hate being in a mess!

In between the decorating I did find the time to make one card this week and that was for today’s dare over at the Daring Cardmakers.

Keryn has set the dare and she got me thinking about my own school days because she wants us to make a card with a school theme.

If I’m honest, I found school quite hard.
I was very slow at reading and spelling and was always behind the rest of the class but I did do better in the practical things like cooking and art……… now there’s a surprise!

Math’s scared the hell out of me too but I loved Geometry lessons where I could play with shapes and it was my old Geometry Set that gave me the inspiration for my card this week.
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.I covered the card with patterned paper and then found a picture of some Algebra, which I printed out, tore and inked the edges and stuck it over the top, to one side. On the other side I’ve used some Tropical Alphabet Stickers from Mustard Moon for the sentiment.

Next I embossed a piece of Ten Second Studio Black metal using a couple of the templates from my prize last year and then sanded across the top so that the Silver shows through.

Last but not least I found some Clip Art of a set square, compass and a ruler which I’ve coloured with Marvey Le Plume Pens and decoupage them over the top of the metal panel.
..Now I was going to say that I’ve managed a card with no faux stitching on but then I realized that the embossing on the metal looks like stitching so as my report card used to say….

Must Try Harder Next Time. Lol!


A6 Card Blank – Craft Creations (Embossed Hammer)
Patterned Paper – Crafts House (All Sorts)
Inks – Versa Fine (Onyx Black)
Stickers – Mustard Moon (Tropical Alphabet)
Metal Sheet – Ten Second Studio (Black)
Embossing Plates – Ten Second Studio
Pens – Marvey Le Plume
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Daring Cardmakers - What's the Point?

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No, don’t worry, I’m not giving up on this crazy existence that is my life, it’s just the title to the new dare set by Kathy over at the Daring Cardmakers. Lol!

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What's the Point?

I'd like to see cards featuring points or pointers of some kind - the hands of a clock, arrows, pointing fingers, view-points, pointy stars, pointy ears (hehe), pencil points.... maybe pins and needles could also be incorporated into your designs

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Well there always has to be an inspiration, a starting point that leads you to the form your card is going to take and in this case my inspiration was a picture of a wooden floor that had a marquetry compass set into it.

It started me thinking about a travel theme and my initial thought, which passed quickly I’m pleased to say, was to try my very own piece of marquetry and paper piece a compass myself. In the end I decided that it would be too fiddly and just went down the decoupage root instead but I still think it’s quite effective.

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.As is my usual style, I covered my card blank with some paper that had an old map of the world on it and then I set about stamping the side panels.
First I covered the cream card with a few colours of Distress ink and the stamped with various travel related stamps before cutting the panels to size and layering them on to Navy card.

The greeting and the directions on the compass were letter stickers that came in a QVC kit years ago and there’s the obligatory faux stitching that seems to be popping up on all of my card just lately.
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A5 Card Blank – Craft Creations (Embossed Hammer)
Patterned Paper – Memory Stor (Costco Kit)
Inks –Ranger Adirondack (Denim) Distress Ink (Weathered Wood, Vintage Photo & Antique Linen)
Rubber Stamps – Tanda (Transport Set 1) Clear Choice (Journey Set)

Other StuffEyelets
Large Brad
Fine Navy pen for faux stitching
Letter Stickers for Greeting

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Agh.....….I need some sun!

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Just as I was beginning to think we had turned a corner and the weather was starting to warm up a tiny bit it’s turned really cold again this morning and there’s snow forecast for my neck of the woods today.
It doesn’t help that it’s really dark and miserable too and not the best light for taking photos of my desk, but it is Wednesday and Julie would have us believe that taking a photo compulsory, so I’ve made an effort this morning, especially as I wasn’t around last week to join in with What’s On You Work Desk Wednesday.

I have a very industrious work table this morning and I know that my God Daughter Nichola will be pleased with what’s on there because I was up at the crack of dawn to make a start on her Wedding Invitations.



There’s a neat pile of the outer folders, all cut, printed and folded at the back of the table but the rest is really just piles of card that I’m in the process of cutting to size before getting on with more printing.

The printing is turning out to be a bit of a pain as it goes.
I’m working on Ivory Stardream card and because of the shiny surface I’m having to put each sheet in individually otherwise it won’t feed into the printer and it tells me there’s a paper jam. Needless to say, I spent the first part of the morning bent double printing the folders because my printer is down on the floor under my compute.

This old gal’s not as supple as she used to be!

Once all the cutting and printing is done there’s not much more I can do until I get the rest of the Navy ribbon.

I managed to get the narrow satin one when I was out shopping on Monday, in a little indoor market and got a good price too, just 14p a meter but unfortunately she didn’t have the wider Organza ribbon that I also need, so I’ve had to order it. Hopefully that will be there in a day or two and I can then go back to pick it up but in the mean time at least I can get everything ready.

So is there anything else you might be interested in?

Well, you can see the new Black sink tidy that I brought to store my Marvy Le Plumbs in.
I used to just keep them in a pencil case but seeing as I recently acquired two new sets, (Victorian and Renaissance) I needed something a little bigger. This seems to be working quite well because the divider inside it lets me keep them in colour families.

Also on the table is something that you need to keep your eyes open for on the Daring Cardmakers blog in a couple of weeks time.
I’ve managed to get a sponsor to offer a prize for one of our dares, but I’ll say no more than that at the moment, other than to say that if it doesn’t materialize on the blog on the 5th February you’ll know that I just couldn’t part with it, because it’s gorgeous…………and I want one!

Right then, I’m off to make a mug of coffee and then I’ll be round to see what the rest of you are up to this morning before getting back to the invites.

See you all soon and thanks for stopping by.

Sue
x
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Daring Cardmakers – Hole in One

Believe it or not I was up early yesterday morning, ready and rearing to go and then after having my shower I had the mother of all migraines and ended up going back to bed, hence no Daring Cardmakers post from me.
Still, better late than never, so here we go!

Lythan set the dare this week.

I'd like you to make a card that has at least one hole in it.

Could be a card with an aperture or one that features a border punch with holes in or you can use a hole punch to create a pattern. See how inventive you can be!

My card ended up having loads of hole in it, mainly due to the pricking for the faux stitching but the aperture was the main hole and there were a few bonus holes where the eyelets are.


The first thing I did was create a background for the panel to be mounted on and I did this by randomly stamping leaves over cream card with VersaMark ink and giving it a dusting of Perfect Pearls.

The main was stamped twice, embossed it with gold embossing powder and then coloured it with a combination of Marvy Le Plumb pens and chalks.

To create the aperture in the stamped panel I cut the centre from one of the images, keeping the leaves to one side. I then cut away top left hand corner and centre frame from the other image and layered it over the first one with 3D foam.

The next job was to attach the panel to the card blank, cut away the center to create an aperture in the card itself and add an insert to the card, onto which I stuck a panel of patterned paper and the leaves so they show through the hole.


A5 Card Blank – Craft Creations (Embossed Hemp)
Patterned Paper – Sorry, don’t know
Inks –Tsukineko VersaMark (Clear) Ranger Distress Ink (Dried Marigold)
Rubber Stamps – Stamps Happen (Blue Beech Leaves) Stick ‘n’ Stamp (Leaves)
Pens – Marvy Le Plume
Chalks – Readicut Decorating Chalks
Pigment Powders – Ranger Perfect Pearls

Other StuffEyelets
Fibres
Fine Brown pen for faux stitching
Peel-Off Greeting

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The excitement mounts!

There’s a resounding buzz of excitement going around blog land at the moment and it all due to Brenda.

The word out there is that on the 1st of February there’s to be some not to be missed candy up for grabs and not only that, there’s more!
Apparently there’s a blog hop arranged too, with lots of other prizes on offer.

Oooooo I’ve not had a good hop for ages!


You can find out all you need to know if you click on the link in my side bar……..so what’s keeping you, get on over there?

Basic Grey #11 - Colour Challenge

Here I am with yet another challenge that I’ve not joined in with for a while and it’s really good to be joining in again.

Basic Grey Challenge Blog sets a challenge once every couple of weeks and this one is running until the 22nd January.

It’s a photo challenge this time, so we have to use the picture of this room as our guide.

Wish my room looked like that!

I’ve taken my inspiration from the three canvases hanging on the wall.

I’ve used two papers from my ‘Marrakech’ 6 x 6 pad to cover my card blank.

All the panels are stamped with my Basic Grey ‘Insignia’ stamps.
The Blue ones have been stamped with a Versa Mark ink pad and embossed with Detail White embossing powder and the Grey squares were stamped with a Blue Adirondack pad and embossed with clear embossing powder.

I then added some tiny gems to highlight parts of each design and finished off with an Organza bow.

Square Card Blank – Craft Creations (Embossed Hammer)
Patterned Papers – Basic Grey, Marrakech
Rubber Stamps – basic Grey Insignia
Ink – Ranger Adirondack (Pool) Tsukineko Versa Mark (Clear)
Embossing Powder – Stamp’n’Stuf (Detailed White) Fun Stamps (Clear)
Glitter Glue – Craft Planet (Iridescent Sparkle)
Gems – Anita’s Tiny Gem Wheel

Other Stuff
Ribbon
Fine pen for faux stitching

CPS –#149

Well, it’s a long time since I’ve joined in over at CPS. and as I’m still on a mission to use all my smallish scraps instead of throwing them in the bin I decided to have a go at the new sketch other there.

I started by making a backing card to stamp onto using two colours of Glimmer Mist and various colours of distress ink, which I misted with water and dried with a heat gun. Next comes a layer of spots over part of the panel and then, when that was dry I finally stamped and embossed the image of the man.


I’ve added some faux stitching, (I put my sewing machine away again after my last attempt at stitching on a card) as well as some brads, a photo anchor and so fibers.

A6 Card Blank – Craft Creation (Embossed Hemp)
Patterned Papers – Memory Stor (Costco Kit)
Inks – Ranger Distress Ink (Vintage Photo, Antique Linen, Aged Mahogany, Worn Lipstick & Dried Marigold) Tsukineko – Versa Fine (Vintage Sepia)
Glimmer Mist – Tattered Angles (Dewberry & Iridescent Gold)
Stamps – Tanda Stamps (Retro Man Set 1) The Artistic Stamper (Spots) Rubber Stamp Tapestry (Happy Birthday)
Paper Punch – EK Success Whale of a Punch (Tag)
Brads – Basic Grey

Other Bits
Fibres
Photo Anchor
Fine Pen for Faux Stitching

My first 'Delightful Sketch'

I was doing a spot of blog hopping yesterday and while I was checking out Royal Things, the blog of the incredibly talented Cindy, I came across yet another challenge blog.

Delightful Sketches is, as the name suggests, yet another blog that offers templates to work from each week, so I thought I would add it to my list and have a go.

Here’s this weeks template


And here's my attempt at it.



I’ve used an image that I found on the internet, which I’ve distressed with ink and then threaded the cord through the top of the image to make it look like a lasso….not sure I managed that too well but I gave it a shot!

The rest speaks for its self really, lots of layering, inking and ‘Martha Stewart’ borders as well as, get this……some machine stitching around the edge of one of the panels.


Now, anyone who knows me knows that I can’t machine a straight line to save myself and this instance was no different. Fortunately thought I’ve managed to hide the wonky bit under the borders at the bottom, so no one will ever know…right!


A5 Card Blank – Craft Creations (Embossed Hammer)
Patterned papers – Memory Stor (Costco Kit)
Inks –Tsukineko Tim Holts Distress Ink (Old Paper & Vintage Photo)
Paper Punch – Martha Stewart Embossing Border (Zig Zag)

Other StuffCord
Eyelets
Computer Generated Greeting

Daring Cardmakers – Garnet

I’ve had a busy time this morning, up at the crack of dawn, scraping the ice off the car and a second visit to the vets with BoJangles.

His abscess is healing but there’s still a swelling, so he has another week of antibiotics which will hopefully do the trick. If things haven’t improved when he’s finished them I have to take him back, so I’m keeping everything crossed.

Next it was a visit to the opticians with dad and then a mercy mission to the shops with two of my neighbours ……actually I was going anyway but at least it saved them the walk……the pavements are still really bad here and show no sign of thawing.

Anyway, as if you hadn’t noticed it’s Friday and that means it’s time for a dare from the Daring Cardmakers!

The team and I have had a bit of break over the Christmas holiday but here we are at the start of the New Year and our very first dare for 2010.

It’s just a simple one to get us started and has the colour theme of Garnet, which just happens to be the Birthstone of all those that are born in January.

As luck would have it I just happened to have a Sarabooks ‘Garnet’ pad that I brought years ago when I was working on a circle journal and it still had a few pages left in it to use up.

A5 Card Blank – Craft Creations (Embossed Hemp)
Patterned Papers – Hot Off The Press, Sarabooks Garnet Pad
Inks –Tsukineko VersaFine (Black) VersaMagic (Perfect Plumeria) Tim Holts Distress Ink (Milled Lavender)
Rubber Stamps – Penny Black (Flying Stars) Rubber Stamp Tapestry (Happy Birthday)
Dies – Spellbinder Nestabilities (Labels One)
Paper Punch – Fiskars Border Punch (Sunburst)
Embossing Folder – Cuttlebug (Textured Textile)
Brad – Papermania (Brad Making Kit)
Gems – Basic Grey (Opaline)

Other StuffFibres
Fine Burgundy pen for faux stitching

Colour Create #35 – Lemon & Lime

Just a few flurries of snow today but nothing really to speak about I’m pleased to say so I headed off to Sainsbury’s with dad this morning to do the weekly shop.

I didn’t have anything else planned so decided to attempt my first challenge of the year and the honour goes to Colour Create where they have a theme of Lemon and Lime.

Here’s my card, very simple but pretty I think!

This one is just a collection of different sized blooms and some ribbon, held together with an i-top brad that has been covered in the same Basic Grey paper that I used for the larger backing circle. The other circle has been cut from some Pale Green card stock and embossed.

Card Blank – Papermania Square Pastel cards
Card Stock – Papermania (Pastel Green)
Patterned Paper – Basic Grey (Lime Ricky)
Paper Punch – Martha Stewart Lace Border Punch.
Rubber Stamp – Imagine That, Mix & Match Sentiments (Happy Birthday)
Inks – Ranger Distress Inks (Shabby Shutter & Peeled Paint)
Dies – Spellbinder – Nestabilities (Labels Five)
Circle Cutter – Creative Memories.
Brads – i-top brad covered with Basic Grey, Lime Ricky
Glimmer Mist – Tattered Angles (Iridescent Gold)
Gems – Anita’s Tiny Gems

Other StuffRibbon
Silk Blooms

Baby, It’s Cold Outside!

So what do you think to this weather we’re having?

I love the snow because it makes everything look pretty, but only when I don’t have to go out in it!

Actually, that’s not initially true because I love to walk in soft snow but I’m not the steadiest on my feet at the best of times so I try to avoid walking in it as much as possible.

BoJangles didn’t want to go out in it either this morning and is curled up in front of the radiator as I type. Mind you, that may have something to do with him feeling sorry for himself. He had to have an emergency trip to the vets last night because an abscess in his ear burst after having a ruck with another cat….the smell from his ear was disgusting.
They couldn’t do much because it was obviously very painful for him, so two injections, a tablet and a bill for £50 odd later we came back home armed with antibiotics to be given every night. He’s a bit better today but has to go back on Friday to have it cleaned up because he wouldn’t let them do it yesterday……..that should be fun!

Now then, it’s Wednesday so that means taking a photo of what’s on my desk at the moment.

It’s been so long since I’ve been able to stitch but over the last few weeks I’ve been working on a couple of panels for our Kid’s Company cushion project I stitch for. This morning I decided to get the iron out to run it over the finished panels before sending them out to Nicki to be made into fabulous cushions for the kids. I had second thoughts about getting the ironing board out though, just incase I was tempted into doing the rest of my ironing.

So on my craft table today you can see a big fluffy bath towel, the iron and the two panels.

Well, you’ve seen what I’ve been up to this morning, so why not take a picture of what’s on your work desk and pop over to Julie’s Blog and leave a message so we can all come and have a nosey.

While I’m talking about stitching I’ll show you a few other bits I finished earlier last year.

As soon as I saw the chart for this in one of the stitching magazines I knew I had to stitch it as a birthday present for Nicki, especially as she’s spent an awful lot of time in the sewing room making up the 235 cushions she’s put together for the project so far. I changed the colour of the background to match her walls and added the Daisy panel because she has one hanging down the side of one of her cupboards.

Here’s another project I knew I had to stitch as soon as I saw it, this time for my friend Sharon’s birthday. She has a love for Santorini, in Greece, so this was perfect for her.

Now onto a few of the other cushion panels for Kids Company that I've stitched recently.



Well, thanks for stopping by on this cold and snowy Wednesday afternoon.

Sue
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Yah.......I’ve made it to print……at last!

I’ve never submitted any of my cards for publishing in a magazine before, so you imagine how thrilled I was to see that on my very first attempt, I'd actually made it.


When I was making my New Home card for the Daring Cardmakers last dare, I did in fact make two. One went on the blog and the other card I sent to ‘Cards’ magazine but when I didn’t have a reply to my email I was under the impression that I hadn’t made it.
It was only on Wednesday when Lynda left a message on by blog congratulating me that I realised my card was in the magazine.

Unfortunately the photo they’ve used is so tiny you need a magnifying glass to see it clearly, but it’s in there all the same and it’s a start.

This is a better picture.



It’s a very simple card, just a stamped image that’s been paper pieced and mounted on a mat.

Plain Card – Craft Creations (Embossed Hammer & Smooth)
Patterned Papers – My Minds Eye (Wild Asparagus)
Inks –Tsukineko VersaFine (Black) Tim Holts Distress Ink (Worn Lipstick)
Rubber Stamps – Inkadinkado (Homestead)
Pen – Gold Krylon
Dies – Spellbinder Nestabilities (Labels 1)
Large Brad – Covered using patterned Paper and i-Top brad maker

Other stuffRibbon
Silk Flower
Computer printed Greeting