Meet my old boys

                                                 Chester (nearly 11)

 Bennie 13

One colour challenge

I made this card for a challenge, it had to be a one colour card, but you could use many shades of the same colour.

Halloween

This is my scary hubby dressed up for halloween whilst we were away last week

And this is me probably looking even worse ha ha ha

Time flies

Where are the weeks and months going?  I can't believe I haven't been here on my blog for such a long time.  I have still been making my cards and other bits and bobs but forget to come and blog them.  Oh dear, naughty me.

I treated myself to some Kraft card, sometimes it just needs a new little something in your stash to get you inspired again after naughty little mojo goes away for a while.
Decided just to make some flowers with Tim's mini flower die, a stamped stork and leaves and a little bit of bling in the middle.

A very dear and brave friend died recently and I wanted to send her husband a special card.  Well blow me Hels Sheridan had done an article in Craft Stamper that very month so I hope she won't mind that I used her beautiful ideas and made this card.  Isn't it good that you can look through these magazines or on peoples blogs to get some inspiration when your one is lacking.

For my grand daughter

Ooops how come I haven't blogged for so long, I have made some cards, of course, but I guess I send them off before I photo them.  Anyway I remembered to do so today after struggling to make a card for my grand daughter who will be 16 at the weekend.  16? I can't believe it, it seems like only yesterday she was just a tiny baby in my arms just after she was born.
I mounted the image on card, ran it through my bug with a die, coloured and glittered round the edge and added two bits of ribbon around the edge.  Thank goodness this one worked out ok, I've thrown several attempts away as they were dreadful.  I remembered making a card for a challenge using acetate so decided to give it a try for this one. I've made a matching box for it too.

My Olympic Challenge

NO I am NOT taking part in the Olympics ha ha ha...but I did this for a Challenge that was for the Olympics.

I made the flag using my promarkers, stamped the wording and tried to download the image from a free website (don't ask which one, I can't remember.  However it only printed as a very light pink outline with some of it missing (probably  my printer playing up again) so I managed to trace the general outline adding bits of legs etc where they were missing (so they might not be quite right) and coloured the figure and torch with promarkers too)

Mens cards

I haven't had a lot of time for playing as we are in the throws of decorating the hall stairs and landing and it's quite a big job to do.....anyway I was lucky enough to find a set of the small Tim Holtz stamps and did go and spend some time getting inky and messy instead of my hands being covered in paint!!!!!! Might need to play some more as I think these have come out a bit tooooo brown.

Those new stamps....again

Yes I played with those new IndigBlu stamps again for a card and tag for a forum birthday.   I inked the stamp with fired brick and I think shabby shutters ink pads and Frayed Burlap on the tag, then used a waterpen to blend the inks and added a bit of glitter to the centre of the flowers. A simple technique but I love the results.

Well as you can see I am still 'trying' to get a good picture to upload, this one isn't too clear, sorry, but I thought I'd just post it anyway.  A sweet little House mouse Stamp and pro markers used on this one for a grand daughter.  She is not really a girly girl so didn't want anything tooooo cutie.

Glitter all over

I have often watched demo's by Imagination Craft, but haven't any of their goodies, so at the craft show the other weekend I bought a stencil and some of their glitter paste so I could have a 'play' with something different! Having covered the main card with the flower stencil and the gold glitter I then did a couple more on another piece of card and cut that out to mount on top of one of the base card flowers.  It really needs a sentiment or something else on the front, but I need to have a play about and find something that isn't too over powering.  I have to admit I did get in a bit of a glittery mess with this one, AND to be honest I still prefer getting inky and messy, but it's good to try these things isn't it?

Been AWOL!

I seem to have been awol for quite a while, we have had men here taking trees down and other work on various trees in the back garden, and we had our drive resurfaced.  A friend moved house and I have been going round helping them to unpack masses of boxes (they lived in a huge 5 bedroom three storey house, so you can guess how many boxes they had!!!)As well as that Neil and I have been practising to take part in a Flash Mob dance in aid of British Heart Foundation which we will be doing next weekend, so as well as everyday things we seems to have been quite busy. Still much better that sitting around watching this awful weather and being miserable!
I did go along to a craft show in Bracknell and treated myself to a few goodies including this stamp set from IndigoBlu, I rather love their stamp sets so couldn't resist.  I am trying out the camera on a new phone so you will have to bear with me until I get used to it....but I think the colours are better than the last ones I scanned!
I hope none of my friends have been flooded, I feel so sorry for the people that have been, I can't begin to imagine what it must be like, and the dreadful mess that is left behind when the water levels go down.

New home

Another card, this time for a new home.  I hope this recipient will be very happy in her new bungalow. I used the free stamp from Craft Stamper which came a few months ago now. I stamped the houses (castles, whichever you think they are) onto a piece of card, coloured with promarkers, did a further one which is in the circle and mounted on 3d foam pads. I used a punch along the bottom and coloured with promarkers, and an further punch for the ribbon holes along the top, some gingham ribbon through them, and Welcome to your new home cut and coloured along the top, a touch of glitter and it was finished.  I am quite liking the colours and think it looks quite fresh and a change from the inky messy cards just posted on here, ha ha.

Card for unicyclist

 Now this got me thinking, a friend I walk with is having a unicycle for his birthday from his wife.  I thought I must do something on his card relating to this.  I found a stamp with this teddy riding what I thought was a unicycle, until I'd made it and Neil said it was a penny farthing, bother!  So I put a little sticker on it to say it was a stabiliser ha ha ha.
Again I got nice a messy with the background, but believe me, the colours are nothing like they appear here, it's really oranges, yellows with a touch of red here and there so not quite so garish at it appears.

After Neil had pointed out it was a penny farthing I thought I'd have another go, as you do, and tried a penny slider card.  Not done one before and to be frank, it doesn't slide well, I think there is too big a piece of 3d foam so I think I'll stick with the first card as I've lost interest in doing another one, (but boy I had fun messing about with all that ink)
I definitely didn't have a blue background here, I think too much light got into the scanner because of the height of the pennies.

Painting with inks

Now this (like many others) really has not scanned at all well.
It's one of those new stamps from Docrafts and is painted using my lovely distress ink pads (putting some of the ink onto a tile and water painting with them)  The colours are not very true and the background should not be blue.  Still it gives you an idea of what I have been up to.
The picture is actually behind an aperture and on the thin sheet of inner card.  I used a thin black pen and gold pen to mark boarders around the aperture.

I really must sort out the use of a camera....I keep threatening to update my phone so I get a camera on that....might have to wait for my birthday or Christmas for that though!

Birthday card and matching tag.

Well it's almost a matching tag, different words.
I really enjoyed getting inky and messy with this one. I inked through lots of different things and with different colours after using some stamps.  I think I need to add something to the centre of the flowers just to finish them off.  You have to be so careful how much depth you put on things now if you are posting them don't you, it rather puts a stop on some of your creativity, such a shame.

2012

I'm taking part in a swap which has to be red white and blue, and generally (I think, and hope) to reflect  our wonderful Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics....well if that isn't the idea it's too bad as I've done them and sent them off ha ha ha.
So we have the houses representing the street parties, the girl with the crown for the royalty and the rings representing the Olympics, together with ER 60 and 2012 stamped on.  The picture shows the front and back of the Fat book page.  I got the idea of the background from something in the Craft Stamper magazine...Thank goodness for that magazine for inspiration, as I was feeling quite lost as to what to do for this swap.

Birthday card and tag

A birthday card and tag using those pretty ladies once again.  I think I might have gone a bit mad with the bubble masking for the background on these, it didn't seem to look so 'full on' on the actual card and tag.

Nothing special

Nothing special here, just another card for a birthday, so not much I can say about it really but as I haven't blogged for quite a while I thought I'd pop it in.

Diarama Card

A music friend of ours will be celebrating his 80th
birthday this month.  It's always so difficult to think of something different and particularly for those awkward men!!!!! Anyway you might have seen I'd taken part in a challenge to make a Diarama card a little while ago, so thought that might be something different, although it doesn't show up too well here, again, because I've had to scan instead of photograph, I've made it in black and gold, with two die cut staffs, the smallest on the back section of the card and a larger one on the outside frame..  The real thing looks quite good, even Neil was impressed with it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!