Xtra Images

The theme at My Time to Craft this week is to use use more than one image on a card. Here I have used heaps for a Golden Wedding card request from someone from my choir.
I stamped lots of the images from the Stampin' Up I {Heart}Hearts set and embossed them in gold before cutting them out to mount randomly on an embossed panel. This is flanked by some gold card edged with a Martha Stewart border punch.
The personalised sentiment was computer generated using  Passions Conflict ROB and Andre Light SF fonts.
There is still a DT call going on so if you are interested do stop by and take a look.

Wildlife reserve

This week's challenge at My Time to Craft is entitled Wildlife reserve. When wondering how I would interpret it, this little lion die from Cuttlebug came into my mind. I haven't used it for ages and so decided to choose a couple on 'liony' colours of card from my stash to make him.
Having mounted him on a couple of Nestie die-cut squares, I made the band behind him, embossing a strip with a Stampin' Up Sizzix embossing folder.  I was amazed how much the piece of card was reduced in size by the embossing, it's really quite deep. In fact I had to trim a little from both the rust coloured piece and the card itself to make them line up. Note to self - remember to cut card slightly oversize before embossing with this folder in future!
I didn't have any matching ribbon and so I coloured a length of white grosgrain ribbon with a Copic marker to tine in with the colour scheme.
The sentiment is from a retired Sale-a-bration set from last year.
Clean and Simple.
There's a DT call at My Time to Craft this week, so if you're interested in joining us do pop along and send in your submission!

Very Funny

Here's the third of the chicken stamps which Mandi gave me. These girls really rock I reckon and they do make me smile! They're out to party that's for sure.
I decided to add the sentiment 'Honey... it's 5 o'clock somewhere.' However, I don't think they really need an excuse to have a cocktail!
I stamped them in Stazon and coloured them with Distress Inks using a limited colour palette. I decided as they were out on the razzle that I would twinkle some of their garments and accessories with Glamour Dust, but should have waited for the glue to dry before taking a picture of it.
The theme at My Time to Craft  this week is something 'Very Funny' ... these chickens amuse me I must say.
Cheers!
Penny Black - One for the Girlies

Use a die-cut

A friend at my choir asked me to make a card for another friend who had been the secretary of our choir for several years before moving away from the area. Naturally she wanted to have a card with a musical theme.
I began by choosing the small manuscript stamp and then decided to use a musical font for part of the sentiment. Her name is written using Amadeus with Andalus for the printing and Passions Conflict for the script.
As the challenge at My Time to Craft this week is to use a die cut, I thought that these two dies from Marianne's Creatables fitted the bill. The butterfly has been embossed and twinkled with Glamour Dust and embellished with a few gems. The paper is Harlequin from Pink Petticoat.
Have a good day!

Toybox Treasures

For this week's challenge at My Time to Craft, the theme is Toy box Treasures. I don't expect there can be many toy boxes without a teddy and this little sweetie from PSX looks so cuddly.
I chose to make a New Baby card adding the sentiment using the Sizzix Wallflower set of alpha dies.
One little tip I've picked up along the way, is to stick some double sided tape on the back of the card before running it through the Cuttlebug, so that all I have to do once the letters are cut, is to peel and stick.
I stamped him in Memento, Rich Cocoa ink and added some colour with Copics.
A narrow ribbon bow softened the look of the Nestie die cut squares.
Have a great day!
Allsorts  - Teddy Bears Picnic

Red and White

At My Time to Craft this week the theme is red and white.
I began by trying to make a very different card, but found problems with some of the stamps I was hoping to use, got covered in red ink and finally gave up and made this card which caused me no stress whatsoever!
It's mainly Cuttlebug... the' thanks' and the flower are from a duo cut and emboss set... I think that the embossing folder which went with the die is similar to the flower... but I'm not really sure.
The heart embossing folder came from a different duo set, but has been SO useful... it's perfect for so many occasions.
I have raised the topper into dimensionals to give a little relief... but am always really wary of making cards too fat these days because of postal charges.
Do join in with our challenge, we'd love to see what you create.
I went to watch Hampshire play Surrey in a Pro 40 cricket match yesterday.. it got quite chilly... and Hampshire lost.. again! Oh Dear!
Here's another red and white card I made today!
This is a bit more fun!

Purrfect Pets

For this card I stamped my Rollagraph wheel across some card and decided on several of the images to cut out for mounting on the ribbon.
I decorated the edges of the horizontal panel with a Martha Stewart border punch and added a Stampn' Up sentiment and a tinkling bell.
It's my DT card for My Time to Craft this week, where the theme is Purrfect Pets.
Do join in with us this time and show us your furry babies!

On the Spot

A friend from my choir is quackers about ducks. I have used all of my PB duckling stamps on cards for her over the year and recently she asked me for some Easter cards for her kids, also using ducks, with this sentiment.
I think they're kinda cute.
The challenge from My Time to Craft this week is entitled On the Spot and this DT card has the Swiss Dots embossing folder providing the spots for it!
The sentiment was computer generated and the image coloured with Distress inks.
I was away at the weekend in Salisbury and had a super time shopping in the sunshine and singing in the cathedral on Saturday evening.
Yesterday I had a quick dash to Bath to pick up some gardening tools and appliances which we had given to my daughter, which she will no longer be needing, as they are having their back garden re-landscaped.
They will be on their way to my son's when next we visit them I think!
Today is another beautiful sunny day... I may just get a little weeding done!

My Time to Craft and NEC goodies

At My Time to Craft this week, the challenge is entitled Mum's the Word and with the approach of Mother's Day in the UK, a very appropriate theme.
I have used all SU products apart from the little 'With love' sentiment, which I believe is from Personal Impressions.
The background stamp plus the flowers and the butterfly are from The 'Bliss' Sale a Bration set and the letters are stamped with the Big Deal alphabet.
The colours are Crumb Cake and Baja Breeze, all liberally twinkled with Glamour Dust.

These are my goodies from the NEC.
I had a lovely day, travelling up with Anne (Stargroves) and meeting up with Eileen (Ikki). It was lovely to be with friends and see such lovely crafty things at the same time!
Now to play with all this stuff!

Ladies day

I am staying with my daughter in Bath, looking after my not too well granddaughter Daisy. She has the snuffles and intermittent high temperatures, together with a cough and general fractiousness!
I should have posted this earlier in the day but my hands were otherwise occupied.
The challenge at My Time to Craft this week is entitled Ladies Day and I made this card for a choir member whose sister is about to retire.
The stamp is a digi from  and I think it's fab.
The paper is from Pink Petticoat and the sentiment was computer generated.
Short and sweet... but duty calls!

Keys

The challenge at My Time to Craft this week is entitled Keys.
I thought I would try another side step card for this using my neighbourhood wheel stamp from Stampin' Up. They key charm is mounted on a Cuttlebug Tiny tag and the sentiment and flowers are from SUs Sale a bration set So Happy For You.
I have since added another flower in the gap along the bottom row.
I am in the process of having a bridge replaced and spent about an hour and a half in the dentist's chair on Friday. Sadly on Saturday I swallowed one of my temporary crowns and had to return to the dentist yesterday for remedial treatment. Let's hope that this one doesn't end up in the same place as the last one! The nurse asked if I had looked for the errant crown , but I informed her that I had declined that opportunity!
Allsorts - Good Luck

Jewels

I'm desperately trying to get a bunch of cards finished for this evening to take to my choir. I had a lot of orders last week and we were away visiting our kids for a long weekend, so crafting time was limited. When I did get back and had some time, I didn't have any inspiration!
Having dug out my Stampin; Up pastels to use for the card for our "Less is More" challenge I realised that I loved the effect they gave, so I got our this little Stampin' Up wheel and inked it with Versamark before adding the colours with a cotton bud. I used Bashful Blue and Mellow Moss. The flower images have a dotty texture and this shows up really well with the pastels.
I made the sentiment on the computer and matched the ink colour fairly closely to the Bashful Blue. The butterfly is also from Stampin' Up. It was inked with Bashful Blue and is cut out with the SU Butterfly punch with a little added bling. These are my Jewels for the challenge at My Time to Craft this week, for which this is my DT card.
Actually, looking at this card now, I think I may go and add a bunch more gems as the centres of the flowers in the border!

Do you think that's an improvement? It's certainly more jewelly!
Come and join us, I'm sure you'd love to get out the bling!

Infants

At Farnborough last week, one stand had a deal of 3 rubber stamps for £6 and they were quality wooden backed stamps from Inkadinkado. I bought three super sentiments and three images of which this is one. When I got it home I sort of regretted buying it, but once I'd started to colour it with Distress Inks, I realised that I'd made no mistake, I think it's cute.
It took me ages going through my ribbons and trimmings, to find sometinng to tone with the colours I'd used for the image, but finally I found this scrap of lace which tones perfectly. It was one of those eureka moments!
Simplicity itself, mounted with Nesties, popped up on dimensionals, with a panel at the bottom embossed with Swiss Dots and edged with a  Stampin' Up border punch, it's my DT card for My Time to Craft this week, where the challenge is entitled Infants!
Since starting our challenge at "Less is More", I'm finding doing any  kind of card other than Clean and Simple quite difficult!

Hats

The theme this week at My Time to Craft is 'Hats'.
That set me wondering.
I did wonder about one of the fabulous Bugaboo red hat images?... an Easter bonnet?... a cowboy hat?... but eventually settled on this great image by Mo Manning. I coloured it with Copics and Promarkers and mounted it simply on a navy blue background, which I embossed to give a little texture.
The sentiment is computer generated and cut with a Spellbinder die. The blue is broken up by the strip of white cut with my Fiskars Upper Crest border punch.
The image didn't fit any of my Nesties so I cut it with a trimmer and embossed the edges by hand  using a Nestie and an embossing tool (ie not through the bug).
Do join us and let us see what hats you have in your cupboard!
Craft Your Passion - Male card
Incy Wincy - Use Punches or Dies
Karen's doodles - Masculine
Paper Playtime - Technology

Going round in Circles

When I saw that the challenge at My Time To Craft for this week was entitled 'Going round in circles' I thought of a video I'd seen on You Tube, where someone made a bag from two circles.

 So this is my version!

I cut 2 circles from double sided card and then trimmed off the bottom of both circles to make the base of the  bag. Placing the sides together, I cut out the handles with a slim oval Nestie. The inner part of the bag should have been made with a paper bag, but as I didn't have one, I made one but it took me longer to make that than the rest of the bag. 

Decorated with a strip of card and a paper flower made from a variety of scallops and flower shapes finishes it off. A length of ribbon secures the handles together.

I like doing this kind of thing, but I don't always find a use for them.

Ladybug crafts - Anything but a card
A Spoonful of Sugar - Anything but a card

My Time to Craft Hearts and Flowers

I almost forgot this DT card for My Time to Craft, I'm so out of sync with my cardmaking.
The images are from Stampin' Up, the tags just arrived from the USA. I love this little one, it has the look of  such fabulous texture to it!
Incredibly clean and simple, but then that's what I like!
Simon Say Stamp - Love is in the Air
Crafty Hos - Love theme

Flourishes

Well it's now February and the new little person whose arrival we are awaiting has still not put in an appearance!
Each day we think maybe this will be the day!
So on to other things.
This is my DT card for My Time to Craft this week, where the challenge is 'Flourishes'. I made this card  (before I left home to come to my daughter's) as a contingency plan should I have to remain here longer than anticipated... what a good job I did, as I have no card making facilities here.
This image from Stampin' Up, was another gift from my lovely friend Mandi. She is SO generous!
I love the flourishes on the bird's wing, which are echoed and expanded as part of the branch.
The sentiment was made on the computer and I love the juxtaposition of the swirly script font with the upper case typeface font. I cut it out with an oval Nestie and punched holes to make it into a slider to mount on the ribbon, which I placed on a strip of black card to add definition.
I wonder what today will bring!
Crazy Challenge - Happy Birthday
Kaboodle Doodles - Make it monochromatic
Shabby Tearoom - Get Creative
Crafty Ho's - No Designer paper
Ginger loft - Things that fly

Emboss, emboss, emboss

I am now staying in Bath with my daughter, who is awaiting the arrival of her second child... her due date is Saturday. My husband has gone to stay with his brother who came out of hospital today following hip replacement surgery. As he lives on his own, he just may need a hand!
This is another of the 6 Golden Wedding cards I made recently. It was tricky thinking of different designs!
This one is my DT card for the embossing challenge at My Time to Craft! It's very simple, I used  an embossing folder from Papermania, a slider die from Spellbinders, with a computer generated sentiment, cut out with a Nestie and the numeral and hearts are from Cuttlebug's Babyface alphabet.
I wanted to use the gold ribbon, but it wasn't quite wide enough, so I mounted in on a slightly wider white organza one.
Now.. I wonder when this baby will make an apearance!

Spotty and Dotty

I have used the technique of using a DP as the image for a card before and the idea jumped into my mind for the Spots and Dots challenge at My Time to Craft this week. I think I could have chosen more subtle colours, but I thought of combining it with another challenge which asked for these shades, but as  didn't write it in my notebook, I can't remember which that challenge was. Such are my powers of recall.
These papers are a mix of Cuddly Buddly and Pink Petticoat.
I decided to make another card with a more muted paper... no spots and dots, to see the difference in effect it would have. It's quite marked isn't it!

There are endless effects possible, simply by cutting pieces of Designer Paper into different shapes and mounting them on card. I like the symmetry of this one. I'm not sure but I think this paper may be a Laura Ashley.
Only 18 Days to go until the launch of "Less is More"!

Chocolate

The challenge this week at My Time to Craft is Chocolate... either to eat or the colour!
Here I have used an image and sentiment from Whimsie Doodles, coloured with Distress Inks. The papers are digis from Cuddly Buddly.
I got the days muddled and thought that I should be posting this tomorrow and then realised that the challenge began today... that's the thing about retirement, lots of the days seem similar! What it is to be getting old!
I could just fancy a chocolate!
I used the sketch from Card Patterns #97
Top Tip Tuesday - Anything Goes
Stamp Something - Use a  Digi
Kaboodle Doodles - Do it with Digis