Warm Wishes.

I'm getting behind with my stock of 'C' cards which simply will not do so here is one I ran up earlier to enter in Sarn's Rudolph Day challenge. Just realised the challenge is about to close so need to get a shifty on and show it to you.

 

My lovely blogging friend  Maureen sent me this Darice embossing folder 'Circle Interlock as a thank you gift and I had it in the back of my mind that I had a Christmas paper in my stash with the same pattern on. A search of said stash revealed that I did, in burgundy (a small piece  and green a whole sheet.. I chose to use the burgundy and matched it to a piece of card stock of the same shade  which I embossed with the folder. The sentiment came from a paper stack  'Forever Christmas Cards' paper by Hot Off The Press which I think was a freebie in a magazine.    

The remainder of the card stock I used to make the Poinsettia flowers. (blooming Poinsettia style 861 by Poppy Stamps). Gems from my stash for the stamens.

Entering into the following challenges:
Rudolph Day: Something festive.
Pixie's Crafty Workshop #87: Use up your snippets. (patterned burgundy paper)
Holly Jolly Christmas: Monochromatic.
Creative Craft World #9: Beat the rush.
Christmas Card Challenge #39: Punches.
Crafty Boots: Christmas in August.

O is for One - Way.

The current challenge over at the Craft Barn is to use the letter O. Again I selected  a short list of words from the dictionary  to choose from but in the end kept coming back to One - Way. A nice simple one this week as I depicted the high way code for this page.

 

Page has been given a wash of match pot paint in Cotton white.

Wording generated on computer and printed out.

Letter created using the Sizzix alphabet strip 656133.

Blue/white card from stash.

 

Entering into the following challenge:

The Craft Barn: Alpha letter O.

 

 



 



 

Pugwash.

Bet you thought I had run out of stories to tell well not so. This is one of 'The Doc's mishaps of which there have been a good few.
This one is going back a few years and one of the key characters to the yarn is 'The Wimps' Great Great Uncle Pugwash ( a white odd eyed  Persian)  that the Doc had a huge soft spot for.
Now at the time of this yarn we had a fish pond in the garden which had 3 Golden Orff in it which we had purchased  from the local garden centre. We chose Orff because of having cats as they are very fast swimmers and dart about. All went well for a number of years, the cats would sit and watch the fish and  because of the cat presence no Herons dared to enter the garden so the fish grew and prospered. Then came the fateful day when we arrived home from work to find one very dead Orff on the lawn and not a cat to be seen. The Doc was not a  happy bunny. Still we had 2 remaining Orff so all was not lost!  A few weeks later and we again came home to find another dead fish on the lawn. This was too much for the Doc to take and action needed to be taken so the following day after work he fetched a deckchair and his newspaper and declared that he was going to sit and  guard the last remaining fish and make sure the cats didn't get it. All was quiet  and I was busy in the kitchen when the Doc  let out an anguished cry. Our son who was upstairs came running down as he thought his Dad was having a heart attack and we rushed out  to see what was up. There was the Doc standing by his overturned chair with one very pleased as punch Pugwash smiling adoringly up at the Doc with the last remaining Orff firmly held between his front paws!!.

Here's the card to go with the story.

Introducing my 1st  Zentangle  'Antanglies Fish out of water 2013'

Mirror card from my snippets pile.

Backing paper by Raspberry Road  'Barbers Shop'

 

 

Entering into the following challenges:

Artistic Inspirations #56: Swirls /anything goes.

Created with Love #55: Anything goes.

Cutie Pie challenges #51: Anything goes.

Tammy's Scrappin Corner #77: Anything goes.

Through the Craft Room Door: Anything goes.

2 Sisters Challenge #158: Square cards.

Pixie's Crafty Workshop #87: Use your snippets (mirror card)

613 Avenue Create #34: Anything goes.

Challenges 4 Everybody #27: Anything goes.

ABC Challenges #42: No flowers.

 

 



 



News Flash.

Delighted to announce that I have been invited to join a challenge blog as the newest DT member for their B Team. It was quite a long process and I was asked to submit  3 of my non card making projects before being accepted. (The man from Del Monte said Yes!. Do you remember that advert for oranges.) Which Challenge blog I hear you ask?
Well pop back here on Monday September 2nd when my first project goes live!!!!

Now some of you have commented that I have been a bit quiet of late but I have been busy  working away in the background. I decided to have a go at a few new techniques  and practice like mad.

I had bought some Graph'it pens in skin tones to try and nail shading when  colouring and whilst I'm never going to be an Ace at it do believe I'm coming along nicely.

Next I've been Zen tangling or in my case doing some Antanglies (which I shall henceforth  call my efforts). Bought a book to try out some of the patterns and whilst I'm not really into drawing four dots on a page and joining them  up and then  filling in,  the book did say think outside the box so I did!!  Watch this space.

Then there's quilling! I bought a book which was primarily aimed at children.(Well if they can make the shapes so can I was my thinking). Again had lots of fun and watch this space is all I'm saying.

Finally just in case you thought I had run out of Mrs A's yarns to tell you then stop by later on today to read the next 'Docs' mishaps story. It's a bit fishy!!.

D is for Dusk.

I completely missed the deadline for the Craft Barn challenge but have created my page anyway so that my book will be complete. I made an owl tag about a year ago and it had been hanging on my notice board behind my desk ever since. Whilst pondering on what word to choose I suddenly realised that he fitted the bill perfectly for 'Dusk' so with a little bit of snipping here and there  and  inking a moon into the background I remade Mr Owl .

The page already had a wash of pale pink tester paint on it so left it and just coloured the dictionary page using distress inks in two shades of blue.  Looking at the post I did for the tag I see that the owl image came from a freebie site here and that I had coloured the branch using a brown Promarker and black chalk. The background was a piece of old sheeting which I had dyed using  blackberry juice, chalks in purple ,blue & black and distress ink pads in blue and brown.

 

 

The stamp is by Crafty individuals CI-234 and stamped onto the cloth with black stazon ink pad. I cut the piece down, repositioned the owl and put a moon in the background by using a circle die cut on an odd bit of paper to make a stencil and used a yellow distress ink pad.

A snippet of navy ribbon just finished the page of nicely.  Not entering into any challenges as he owl had already been posted as a tag.

 

 

 

 



Flowering Poinsettia

Another quick card for the 'C' pile using a topper from a sheet by Craft Creations Ltd.

and Xcut Nestie 'Ornate Frame'.

The backing paper is a 12" x12" sheet sent to me by a blogging friend from America.

Fabric ivy leaves were  leftover snippets and the ribbon and pearls from my stash.

 

 

Entering into the following challenges:

Creative Inspirations #228: Christmas in August.

Jingle Belles : Saint Nik-Tac-Toe ( middle line of  flowers, red/green, ribbon).

Christmas Stampin All Year Long #30: Inspiration colours.

52, Christmas Card Throwdown #32: Holly somewhere on your card.

Pixie's Crafty Workshop #86: use up your snippets (fabric ivy leaves)

Crafty Hazelnuts Extra #8: Anything goes Christmas.

Christmas Cards All Yr Round: (Make it fussy & fancy).

 

 

And That Ladies and Gentlemen brings my total to 40  'C' cards made.

 



Magestic Duo.

Only 124 days left to make those cards so here is

a really quick Christmas card using a  topper by Kanban called  "Winter Reindeer."

Matted onto pale blue card stock and white pearls added from stash.

 

 

 

Entering into the following challenges:

ABC Christmas Challenge: Q is for make a quick card.

Sweet Stampin Christmas #9: Winter Animals.

Crafty Hazelnuts Extra #8: Anything goes so long as it's Christmas.



Flowers & Flourish.

This is the second  white on white card that I sent to my  swap partner last month. I have some really lovely embossing folders so decided I would use one  here. This one is from a set called 'Flowers and Flourish #6 656978 by Sizzix. The die cut is from Spellbinders Label 4 set. The flourish is  also by Sizzix  from their Decorative Swirls Set  656323.

I made the flower using  Spellbinders 'Vintage Floret' HCD 727 (which is very similar to the embossing folder pattern) and as it was being sent abroad kept it fairly flat and just used a small flat backed pearl for the centre. The sentiment is a word die from Britannia.

Entering into the following challenges:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop #86: Use up your snippets ( white card on flower, flourish, words)

Make It Monday #154: Paper crafts.



Book of Butterflies.

I wanted to send my friend Di a little gift of appreciation and as she mentioned she was running a bit low on the butterflies I had made her previously I thought I would make her some more and put them into a little book for storage.

I had seen a booklet made here  but did not like it made with an envelope (as I couldn't decorate the inside of the envelope which I thought looked untidy so adapted it using a sheet of paper and folding instead! The picture above is the inside of the envelope being made and below once the white sides have been folded in and the patterned paper added. This will be the outside covers.

Now flipped over to show the other side  which is the inside pages of the book.

Little pockets added which have doily shapes in one and fancy square die cuts in the other.

Tags slot in behind and can be pulled out with via the ribbons.





 This is the outside covers of the book which have been decorated with Hunkydory  Flutterbye Wishes Toppers. Papers are Florals and Flutters free with making cards magazine. Plain stripe paper free with quick Cards magazine  'Parisian Dreams'

The finished book with the tab inserts below.



And finally the butterflies that I made from shrink plastic and coloured using Promarkers.

Some have been made into buttons.



 Backs off the tabs.  Everything made to be re useable. Butterflies are on acetate which can be removed.

Entering into the following challenges:

Pixies Crafty Workshop #85: Use up your snippets (apart from the papers everything else used was a snippet).

>

Make It Monday #153: Paper crafts. 



Just 4 You Di.

When I saw this digi by Mo's Digital Pencil I knew I just had to buy it as it so reminded me of Di and myself at the Newbury Show  last month. I don't think we stopped nattering the whole time or stopped laughing especially when we were trying to stop the display stand from toppling down on us cos Di was trying to get her mits on a KanBan topper hanging right at the very top!!

Image coloured using Promarkers.

Backing Paper. Webster's Pages 'Best Friends' free in Simply Cards & Papercraft

word & number die by Britannia..

Entering into the following challenges:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop #85: Use your snippets up  (snippet of white card used on words)

Make It Monday #153: Paper Crafts.



Butterfly Kisses.

I made this card a few weeks ago for a lovely blogging friend whose family are going through a rough patch health wise at the moment and I wanted to send her a little something to show I was thinking of her. The lovely card shape came from my friend Di. Now I'm not sure if it is a pre cut card or if Di cut the pretty butterfly trim herself but no doubt she will pop on later and put me to rights. The backing paper is by Raspberry Road and that huge wooden butterfly came free with crafts Beautiful Magazine. I gave it a coat of Match pot paint 'Tuscan Terracotta' and then covered with Glossy accents. The stamp is by Crafty Individuals' and is one of my favourites   CI - 012. The pearls and lace came from my stash.

Entering into the following challenges:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop # 85: Use up your snippets (lace from snippets box).

Make It Monday# 153: Paper Crafts.



Vellum Roses

I made this card to go with a gift I sent a blogging friend a while back and haven't shown yet.

I used plain coloured craftcard for the base which I folded so the sides almost met in the middle. The doily came free in a magazine which I cut in half and turned round so that the flat sides were to the edge of the card. I threaded thin ribbon through the doily pattern and attached behind before gluing the doily to the pink card. The butterfly is a Cheery Lyn die

Small Exotic Butterflies #2 DL 113AB.







When you untie the ribbon the card opens p to reveal the message inside. The rose patterned paper is made from Vellum and is by KanBan. (For a company that has ceased trading there is still a surprising amount of their goodies to be found. I got this from Joanna  Sheen). The die cut is by Spellbinders Majestic Elements S4-383. Word die is by Britannia.
When I first got these word dies I was a bit disappointed with the size of them but having now used them quite a bit I have fallen in love with them. They are a dream to cut and are not at all fiddly to glue to your page. (I use a fine tip glue pen by Martha Stewart).

Entering into the following challenges:

Pixies Crafty Workshop #84: Use up your snippets (white card for the butterflies/diecut)

Make It Monday #152: Paper crafts.



Anniversary.

It's our anniversary and this is the card I made for The Doc. On looking for a suitable image to use it couldn't really be anything else than Stella and Gus by Bugaboo!!

Digi by Bugaboo.

Coloured using  Promarkers and pearlescent chalks.

Green spotty DP by Prima 'Botanical Collection' free in Simply Cards & Papercraft..

Snippet of green card stock from stash.

Number die by Britannia..

Small 1" heart punch  by Woodware.

As the sentiment that comes with the digi is in two parts I decorated the inside of the card and incorporated the punch line!.

Entering into the following challenges:

Pixie's Crafty Workshop #84: Use up your snippets (green card for numbers & hearts).

Make It Mondays: #152: Paper crafts.

Lexi's Creations #96: Anniversary. 

City Crafter #171:  Polka Dots.

Papertake  Weekly #110: Anything goes.

Through The Craft Room Door: Anyhthing goes.

Emma's Cards: Happy Anniversary.

Natalie and Amy: Celebrate Something. 



Hacked off!!

Well the hackers have decided they rather like my email account and are staying put for the time being. Didn't know I was so popular!!!!!

Until such times as they have be ousted for good I shall be on my other email account and using my IPad. 

Hacked off Mrs A. 

White on White.

This is a card that I made for a swap back in June. The swap was for 2 cards to be made that were white on  white any design.  They have been received by my partner in Australia now so this is the first one that I made. Looking through my card blanks I spotted this shape and thought it would work quite well with my X Cut  'Square Parenthesis' die.



I had the idea to make a grid design so used my Scor Pal to mark out the design on the card front and then onto the die cut. I matched the pattern up but forgot to put a pencil mark on the die cut as to which way was up. Believe me it took me ages to work it out and line it back up. I raised it on foam pads for a slight 3D effect. The butterfly was cut using Cheery Lynns Small exotic butterflies #2 DL 113AB. Again you learn by trial and error. The white card stock was quite a thick one and didn't turn out very easily from the die. I have since used wax paper on die cuts and it works a treat. It was very fiddly poking all the small pieces out of the butterfly. The word die is by Britannia . I used some small pearls from my stash which had been a freebie in a magazine. No bows or ribbon as I liked the classic lines and simple CAS style.

Entering into the following challenges:

Pixies Crafty workshop #84: Use up your snippets. (white card for butterfly)

Make It Monday #152: Paper crafts.

Totally Gorjuss #195: Anything goes with pearls.

The Cupboard Trilogy #14: Monochrome.

613 Avenue Create #31: Anything goes

Challenges 4 Everybody #26: Anything goes. 



Beryl.





It is our friends (Fluff's godparents) anniversary today so Happy Anniversary wishes to you both. My chart tells me that 38 yrs is Beryl and guessing that it is either a stone or a rock I went in search of some info. Beryl is a mineral and when found in it's purest form is colourless.  Now how do you represent colourless on a card!!

 I was racking my brains on that one when I spied the box of left overs on my desk from a previous project where I had been die cutting an intricate doily shape out.  I had used waxed paper for the first time along with the cardstock  and the die cut worked like a dream and turned out perfectly without having to prick out all the tiny pieces. The wax paper shapes were what was left in the box too good to throw out and must come in handy for something I thought.  Light bulb moment!! Wax paper is colourless and the doily shape when layered up made a rather nice flower and with a pearl adhered to the centre, perfect.

 

 

 

Backing paper created in word.

Tonic Studio Butterfly border punch

Spellbinders Medallion One S2-014

Spellbinders Butterflies die S3-146 

 

Close up of the Medallion die wax papers.

Small butterflies off cuts from the border punch.

 

Entering into the following challenges:

Pixies Crafty workshop #83: Use up your snippets (wax doilies small butterflies).

Pile It On #30: Anything goes.

One Stitch At A Time #174: Anything goes.

Electric Ellapu #37: Anything goes.

Challenges 4 Everybody #25 Anything goes.

Artistic Inspirations #52: Celebrations.

Craft Your Passion #97: 3D it.

The Paper Nest Dolls  #9: Die cuts.

Die Cuttin Divas #126: Anything goes.