BIg Hello

To all the lovely ladies I met yesterday - the time just flew by and we didn't have time to finish all the cards in my class. :( but I hope the bits you took home made sense! I really enjoyed myself and hope to see some of you back for a more leisurely day of crafting at the end of September - the last Sunday in September is the date for your diaries - Sunday 28th September at An Siopa Bui, Spiddal.
All I can tell you for now is that it will be a bit of everything day as well as cards there will be a clock, jewellry and I bought some grungeboard yesterday, so that will probably find its way into the day as well!
More details when I've had a play.
It's our local "Show" today - so I'll be up to see how my mother in law has fared in the jam sections this year - she always does well and if the jar of blackcurrant in my fridge is anything to go by then I'm sure this year will be no exception.
I'm regretting not entering of the home produce sections now, I just didn't know if I would have had time, as it turned out I could have done some stuff. I enjoy baking, I just don't do it very often - yeast bread is my favourite to make but I can turn out a decent jam sandwich cake now and again. I have entered a couple of the photography and handcrafted sections, so that's my little bit of support for this year - I made this little frame for the decoupage category, only to discover it had been cut this year!lol. So it's going into Aoife's new room - I thought I'd do a series of 4 of 5 them across one wall, they are only small about seven inch and I think you need a group of them to add some impact.

long time no blogging...

I can't believe how quickly the month has gone by - I'm teaching my class at An Siopa Bui in Spiddal tomorrow (make that later today!) and I've spent the evening doing some atamping prep and making some little favour box goodies for the girls in the class.
My craft room has been totally wrecked - Oh put new plumbing in for the central heating, which meant moving the rads and digging up the floors - so it is just unbelievable chaos in there. Add a dd to the mix who got in there and emptied 7 - yes seven boxes of paper out onto the floor and it's no wonder I haven't felt much like making cards recently.
Once I have some decorating started I'm moving the craft stuff into the smallest room in the house (how will it fit?), so that the babies room will hopefully have a little bit more room and Aoife upgrades to a big room of her own! Debating on the colour scheme - just cos I don't like pink doesn't mean she wont be a "pink princess", but I think I'll just have white walls and add lots of pics n posters and maybe, just maybe some pink frou frou on her bed.
Anyhow. here's some of the cards I'll be doing at An Siopa....

funkyfairyinspirations: FABBY BLOG CANDY GIVEAWAY

funkyfairyinspirations: FABBY BLOG CANDY GIVEAWAY
just look at thhis for a blog candy giveaway!
A whole years supply of goodies sene straight to your doorstep or your inbox. Could a girl ask for more?!?

same sketch - different style

I've used the same sketch as in the post below but this time I rotated it 90 degrees. The card is for a black tie wedding, where the bridesmaids are in cerise pink. The tag slides behind the main panel of the card. Patterned paper is all my Scrapworks and the cardstock stickers by Pebbles inc.

2 sketches 4 you challenge

I found a really cool little sketch blog while I was hopping away in the wee hours. I really like the funky style sketches and thought I'd have a go. www.2sketches4you.blogspot.com
Here's my first effort - it's a wallet that I made on my crafters companion board and then ran through the cuttlebug swirls folder - the open end at the top contains a 6 by 4 inch photo but I turned it around for the photo, as I don't want to post other people's children on the net. It is all mounted onto a pearlescent pink square blank and anchored with some lace and ribbon trim. I used my new bella pea stamp yet again and some odds and ends cluttering my desk.
tfl
xxx Enjoy your Friday!

first bellas

I've had nothing to blog lately - been making my cards for my class at the Summer Extravaganza, An Siopa Bui, Spiddal. I'm doing a "cute cards" workshop on Saturday 9th August in the afternoon - using some really sweet crafters companion stamps - so hope to see some new faces there. All details are available from Kerry at www.ansiopabui.ie.
I called out there yesterday and met up with Neasa and her gorgeous daughter - it was only a flying visit, must organise a longer day and a trip to the beach soon. Kerry had stamping bellas that hadn't even made it into the shop, so both Neasa and I had to have some. So these are my first Bella cards - and I think not my last... they are just too cute - I had to mount them onto EZ mount before stamping, for some reason I thought you could use them unmounted but it's a little grumble on my part.

baby boy card

Sometimes it's nice to just make a pretty card - no techniques, nothing time consuming - just patterned papers and rub offs with a few bits n bobs to add to the layered look. I made a box with a diamond shape acetate window using my X Cut shape cutter - I didn't want the ribbon and flowers to end up squashed in an envelope.

More wedding invitations - I have spent the weekend (on and off) doing OH's sister's wedding invitations. Quite happy with how they turned out - they have traditional heart shapes and ivory ribbon but then a modern twist of cream and brown spotty paper and swirly embossed brown card. The colours have been based on the bridesmaids dresses - cappuchino and chocolate, she hasn't seen the finished cards yet, I know she would never complain but I do hope she REALLY likes them and not just because she has to!

The multi talented scrapper and digi goddess Elisa nominated me for this award. I'm delighted that someone actually comes over and reads my waffle!
I'll post when I've had a think as to whose blogs I'm nominating.

scrapping

In a real cardmaking slump this week - I had to pack my stamps away in frustration after several failed projects and dusted off the scrapbook instead. Had 2 late nights of scrapping frenzy and scrapped some photos I have had printed off - one of them for at least 18 months now! I have not added much to dd's album this year, so thought I'd have a go at catching up - I'm delighted to say I managed 7 LO's in 2 nights - I think one a week is my usual speed.
Working on more wedding card samples - not as easy as I might have first thought. Have to keep reminding myself that they have to be workable, cost effective and not too time consuming - of the 18 samples I'm happy with about half, which is ok I guess. Anyway, they are a work in progress.

scrapping

baby girl card

I'd forgotten I promised to do this when I was up to my eyes in wedding invitations - and it looks beter IRL than on the photo - it looks rather washed out, but thats the shadows from the lighting at night - and you can't see the cuttlebug panel very well. it also balances in real life, in the photo it looks as though it has no focal point but it is all pulled togther around the vest embellishment - I don't know why the photo makes it look so weird.
The ribbon and adhesive stones are from Papermania, the flowers are scraps of swiss dot paper punched with an X Cut daisy punch. The little vest, powder etc are all from a pack of Jolee's boutique - I've decided it's time to start using stuff rather than hoarding it! While the font stamps are by the Paper studio and are just lovely stamps to work with.
~Another quick to make card, I'm looking forward to the mystical day when I have "free time" and can play with some messy technique cards - I want to play with ink and paint!

Play Days - crafters companion stamps

How aptly named - I've been a having a play day or rather a play night with these super cut stamps from Jayne Nestorenko. The little mice are just so whimsical but I'm keeping them under wraps for now - the cards are for part of the upcoming crafting extravaganza at An Siopa Bui, Spiddal August 8-10th. Kerry has all the info on her website here
So I'll have to let her have the first look! In the meantime, these bits and pieces were lying around and I layered them up into this little Friend card - all materials are from An Siopa Bui.

missing ink.... now found

wedding samples

I've been asked to do some samples for a Winter WEdding. I find it really hard just to make invitations with no knowledge of any colour scheme, ideas or tastes involved. I've come up with 6 basic designs that can them be changed into any colour scheme as necessary - I just hope one of them hits the right note with the bride.

darkroom door

A little something radically different from my usual stuff but it's good to flex those creative muscles now and again! What can I say about this? My first time using Darkroom Door stamps - Gobnait put me onto them when she came for a crafty date and I've been hankering ever since. The whole grunge/distress/ephemera thing just doesn't sit easy on my crafting shoulders - it often seems like a lot of hard work, so I cheated a bit and used BG Boxer papers as they are pre grunged and I finally got some Tim Holtz distress ink and opened the TH distress powder I bought over 2 years ago and never opened. Shame. Shame.
An hour of tinkering later and I've a 6 inch card that if not perfect aint the disaster it could of been. I've done it for the World Stamping Week "Doors" challenge that is going on over at 2 Peas and I'm desperate to do a card using the Jim Morrison quote that comes with the set - so you might see another door card very soon.
I've also been blog stalking Tim Holtz - like I said distress wasto distressing for me but you really should check out his blog - lots of advice and tips and some amazing freebies. Today it's a whole set of TH distress inks - yep, the entire collection and I'd love them. Anyhow I must go as I have yet to start the 220 wedding invites I need for the weekend - waiting for ribbon to arrive, just pray the postie has it tomorrow for me, so no playing just work, work, work for a few days. Well mostly.

grab some candy

Monica has a very generous bunch of blog candy up for grabs on her blog - http://riverviewstamper.blogspot.com/2008/06/blog-candy.html
check her out and let her know how you got there!

Shadow box with Basic Grey

I picked up a little shadow box in the €2 shop and prised it open and used it as a base to make this little picture frame. I did nothing to the frame in regards painting or preparing it, I simply washed it to give a clean surface for stamping on.
I used the Basic Grey "Boxer" cryatal clear stamps and stamped the edges with the swirl edge stamp using black staz on. I stamped some Papermania patterned vellum with the rosette stamp and cut them out and glued into the back of the box. The box already contained the pink sewn felt and I just layered the centre with black card, I added a button and a little PM peg heart clip to hold the photo that I'm going to put in (haven't the printer connected today). Across the bottom of the photo panel I used a piece of PM sticky ribbon to hide a stamping mistake! To add more definition to the stamping on the frame I added some lilac flower gems - oh yes PM again and black acrylic adhesive stones.

I've posted about how these came about on "Sitting with Scissors" my technique blog ove on the DO Crafts site - http://www.docrafts.co.uk/community/blog/default.aspx?preview=yes&blog=47
Here's the resulting card.
PM flowers overstamped with Basic Grey "Boxer" stamps using dye ink. Embossed patterned PM vellum to mimic ribbon and stamped vellum flower centre. PM adhesive stones in hot pink

Papermania Oriental Spice card

My first attempt at using these papers. They have had me truly bamboozled. I'm not an Oriental style card maker full stop - so it's challenging. Anyhow when I started I was thinking of waterlilies - and although the result is not much like a waterlily, it is an oversized flower with lots of dimension.
The flower layers were cut with my X cut shape cutter and circle templates. I then folded the circles into 8 and snipped along each line stopping approx 1 cm from the centre. I thn snipped in between each cut line to give 16 segments. I cut the tip of each segment to give a petal shape. The inner flower is made by taking 8 2 inch circles of Papermania vellum, which I folded using a basic kite fold - when you have all eight they will slot into one another to form a layered circle. The flower centre is a large ribbon brad with some PM spotted satin ribbon knotted through the centre.
I layered a sheet of 6 by 6 oriental spice onto a square card blank and then overlayed a piece of white card across one side. I added 3 eyelets and a small contrasting panel of oriental spice paper layered with lilac card.

Envelope card

YOu can use this envelope fold card either as a card itself or as a wrap for a small card. It can me embellished as much or as little as you like - I've left the inside of mine blank to add a photo.
For the envelope I used a sheet of paper that is so old it doesn't have a name, designer or anything on it - and I have no idea as to its pedigree or lack of. It's just been hanging around waiting for me to need scrap paper - but it's now become something quite pretty! Anyhow, I digress. The rest of the card is all made using Papermanis products (again - trying to clear some of the desk clutter, and a lot of it is Do Craft stuff - which has got so much better recently). The inner panel is a scrap of designer oriental 12 by 12 paper, the butterfly and flowers are from a PM fabric accessories pack and the centre circle is the PM simply elegant stamp with the 4 hearts which I inked again with a brown whispers brush marker and then cut with my X Cut shape cutter, using the smallest circle template. I used my silent setter to add an eyelet to the top right hand corner of the envelope and knotted a small piece of brown satin ribbon through the eyelet.

PM exquisite

Feeling lazy this evening, so made a card using only the bits out of the basket on my desk. It's a square card and uses all Papermania 6 by 6 Exquisite paper pack, layered with some scraps of brown card. The hearts are a PM stamp from the simply elegant release, I inked the stamp up by colouring it with my Whispers marker pen and then cut the hearts from the image. (The stamp is 4 hearts in a clover shape. The flowers are PM fabric accessories and the tag is 2 punched circles layered onto a square and decorated with clear adhesive gems and faux stitching, again with the brown pen.
The brads are made using the remains of the large oriental gem brads I gutted previously. I put a small square of brown card into the brad space, added a silver font peel off and filled with a dimensional glaze.
Any of the Papermania colossal packs could be layered in a similar manner to give a very different look to the card.

shadow boxes

Whike the Oriental papers were all over my desk (and sofa and floor), I decided to try a little shadow box with them. Once again it's my trusty X cut circle cutter (how did I make cards before I got it?) and the Papermania Oriental designer collection plus a few adhesive clear gems. REally quick and easy - just cut 2 pieces of card the same size and score at half inch and again at one inch on either side on both pieces. Cut aperture from front panel. Pleat fold the score lines and use double sided tape to stick them together. The card stands up for display but will fold flat for mailing.
I used the same idea for the Tilda card. The background sun and flowers are decoupaged and then (you can't see them properly in the photo cos they kept twirling around, I hung 2 sparkly gems on thread down the front of the aperture. I layered some Primas behind the front panel for more dimension. Gardening Tilda was stamped onto linen card and coloured with ordinary pencils.

Oriental inspired card

I've had these oriental papers in my stash for ages now and I've just never known quite what to dothem. They are gorgeous weight and fabulously pearlised but the whole oriental thing doesn't do it for me.
So I tried this little card with latch closing - it's ideal for holding a gift card, voucher or just cash. Basically the card is half a folded 12 by 12 with a second piece of 11 by 7.5 with a 1.5 inch turn up layered inside. I used 2 brads to secure the turn up pieces. The front of the card is a layered panel that is adhered on 3 sides only leaving the right hand edge open for the paper "latch"to slot into.
The embellishments and stickers are all taken from the PM oriental designer collection.

swing card using X Cut shape cutter

Back to using my favourite gadget- X cut shaper cutter and circle set. I used a half circle cut from the centre of the front of the card (cutting circle on the left hand side), does that make sense? And folded the card back over the circle.
I then decorated the card with "Simply Elegant" papers by Papermania - the 2 small panels are a sheet of the Oriental Spice collection overstamped with a swirly Papermania border stamp. The fabric butterflies are the PM ffabric embellishments and the gems are PM adhesive gem shapes.
The focus of the card is a black and white photo of dd that I've added text to - We give you roots so that you may have wings to fly. It think it would make a fab 18th/21st card with a bit of tweaking (although I've a long time to wait for that).
I made it for the challenge at sisterhood of the stamping 18 - the theme this week was "flying", although mine has only a teeny bit of stamping.

lads n dads slideshow