Sentiment Christmas

Just a quick post, honestly where has the time gone it was summer 5 minutes ago! I've been crafting a lot but not had much time to blog, I'm sure most crafters are the same at this time of year.  This year is extra special as its my wee boys first Christmas so it's even more magical.

My card this week is an entry for the fab My craft creations comp . here's the link
http://craftcreatoins.blogspot.co.uk/p/just-sentiment.html?spref=fb
The theme is to focus on a Sentiment.  I immediately thought of an old Anna Griffin kit I haven't used in a while.

The flocked background and sentiment are Anna Griffin, behind the sentiment is a memory box die and I finished off with some peel off borders and 2 stars in the corner.  A quick card but hopefully quite elegant which is what I was going for.

I'm hoping to post again this week but time is flying by so Merry Christmas just in case!

Vintage glamour, brown and blue

This weeks card was inspired by the challenge of creating a card using only brown and blue.  I love using a limited colour scheme so the challenge in Emmas cards uk was right up my street.

I am still using my phone for photos sorry its a bit grainy.  

The main image is a wonderful clarity stamp stamped with brown pigment ink I love the look of this it reminds of the wonderful photos I have that belonged to my grandmother.

  I have cut my layers using spellbinders and distressed all the edges with distress inks. The papers are from my stash but I think they may be Papermania.

The flourish die cut is actually a floral christmas tree die from memory box.  I am in love with this die!  So many possibilities with it.  Here I have cut it out of shimmery brown paper ans snipped it in half to decorate the corners.  I added glittery gems just to finish off.

I started my blog to try to stop me buying anymore stash, some distress markers, countless dies and stamps later I can tell that my quest has failed, I am an addict!  As long as I keep trying to make a project every couple of weeks I wont beat myself up too much about my habit!

I am entering my card in the fab challenge at Emmas cards uk http://www.emmascardsuk.com/p/emmas-crafty-challenge.html

So happy

This weeks card is using some fab My minds eye stamps and I particularly like the sentiment.

I used some Kanban mats and stamped the image and sentiment using black memento ink.  If I could have found my versafine I think I would have used that for a crisper image though.

I used some Papermania buttons and an old die cut (dohickey maybe?) which i watercoloured using an old childs paint set I got in the pound shop I think!

The stamped border is My minds eye again.

When I saw this sentiment I knew I had to use it.  My brother sent me a video he had taken of me playing with my wee boy.  My first thought when I saw mysekf was how fat and old I look!  Then I was struck by the fact that I don't think I had ever seen myself look so happy.  I thank my brother for showing me the video and inspiring me this week!

I am entering the card in the wonderful My craft creations sketch challenge

http://craftcreatoins.blogspot.co.uk/p/blog-page.html?spref=fb

I love this blog and the challenges are always great to get your teeth into!

Autumn card

I love autumn and I have been lucky enough to have the time to go some lovely walks and see the lovely leaves which inspired my next card.

The main image is my foxy gorjuss girls stamp. She comes out at this time every year.  Shes coloured with my amazing distress markers.
When I started cardmaking I was obsessed with making all my papers myself with decidedly dodgy results! The versatile distress markers inspired me to try this again. Ive been raiding my dusty stash from years ago so my background is stamped with seeD leaves stamps coloured with distress markers.

Ive embellished the background with some 450 year old peel offs.  This is turning into a tribute to my early cardmaking days!  I used some die cut flowers and swirls again coloured by distress markers and two old k and co tags.

I am entering her in the visible image autumn challenge http://www.visibleimage.co.uk/default.htm a lovely theme.

Box decoupage card

Im posting this from my brand new kindle fire eek wish me luck!

Ive been using some of my Kanban stash this week and made a little box/card

I used elements of the Kanban clever card inside to make a surprise decoupage element inside.

Ive added some sizzix die cuts in gold to embellish theoutside andsentiment part of the box.
Keeping my blog short this time (im not sure it will work from my kindle!)

Im going to enter this in the challenge in my favourite blog Emmas cards www.emmascardsuk.com  Im sending her big hugs as shes had some problems with her wonderful blog recently.

Little cutey halloween easel card

Some of the challenge blogs Ive been nosing at have halloween as a theme this month.  Its not something I have ever made a card for before so it is certainly a challenge!

I rummaged through my stash and discovered an adorable Belles and Whistles stamp I bought on ebay years ago about for about a pound!

Here is my first card with her -

Ive coloured her with my marvy le plume markers and matted her on some starry paper I found in my stash (I think its DCWV but dont quote me on it)  I made an easel card using 3 of my trusty Kanban mats (is there anything they cant do!)

I must confess I have never made an easel card before but Im delighted with the way it looks and its a fab way to display an image you like.
The sentiment was a free digistamp from the wonderful website birds cards - http://www.birdscards.com/  what a great site with a lot of very useful digistamps
I finished off with some peel off stars to symbolise the night of halloween.

I am going to enter this in the Not just Halloween comp on My Crafty Creations http://craftcreatoins.blogspot.co.uk/p/not-just-halloween.html?spref=fb

I really enjoyed making her and my first effort at an easel card.  Im hoping to squeeze out a few more Halloween cards before the big day - wish me luck!

Frosty Winter Winds

I have recently joined several crafty groups on Facebook.  What a wealth of information and inspiration I have found there!  Crafters are such friendly people and very supportive.

I've discovered a few different challenge blogs and am also taking part in a card swap for the first time - Im so excited!  I will blog my card when its finished and been received by my swap partner - dont want to spoil the surprise (or horror with my dodgy cardmaking!)

I discovered a blog http://craftcreatoins.blogspot.co.uk/p/winter-challenge.html?spref=fb where the challenge this fortnight was right up my street - Winter.

I love wintertime - I start getting excited when I see coats, scarves and boots appearing in the shops and the lead up to Christmas is my favourite time of year. This year will be extra special as it will be my darling wee boys first christmas!  Oh I cant wait.

Here is the card I am going to enter in the challenge

I wanted to capture the feel of the cold winter wind on your face.  I love this Sugar Nellie stamp - its so versatile.  I stamped her and coloured her with my trusty promarkers and a wee bit of sparkle on her wings for the frost.  I used my Big Shot and sizzix dies to cut some snowflakes out of holographic card and matted them on the image - oh I can just feel the snowflakes hitting my face brrrr!

I matted and layered the image on miri card then on some lilac card from my stash - the background paper is beautiful kanban snowflake paper.  Under it is a lovely blue velvet ribbon with some sheer ribbon with snowflakes on it - its not showing up too well in my pics - Im using my phone to take my photos this time so they are not quite as clear - its not my rubbish camera work honest.

I used a flourish die to finish off to represent the cold winter wind again in holographic card and to finish - you guessed it some card candi!

I'm happy with my card - its hard to go wrong when you work with such lovely pieces - the stamp and snowflake papers were just wonderful to work with and I'm pleased to say all out of my stash not a single new thing bought for this card!

Vintage Garden Box

I have been experimenting with some 3d projects and have found some old Anna Griffin templates for boxes that I have had forever and have been having great fun with them.  The problem is some of the templates require 12 by 12 papers which, shock horror, I dont have that many of! I will be strong this is not a reason to go and buy more stash.

I am entering my wee box in the crafty challenge on my one of my favourite sites for a browse - Emmas cards.  Here is the link to the challenge - http://www.emmascardsuk.com/p/emmas-crafty-challenge_06.html

I used some Anna Griffin papers for my theme - vintage garden

The challenge is to feature a silhouette - which I have used a lovely Paula Pascale stamp on my tag for my box.

I tied the box with some lovely craft ribbon I got in my local lidl - 3 rolls for 99p what a bargain and the rest of the box is embellished with die cuts.  They are all sizzix dies and I have finally dusted off my trusty Big shot and got cutting.  I layered flowers with lovely flourishes and finished off with some butterflies and dragonflies.

I glued the box together and most of the embellishments with glossy accents the only exception being the butterflies and tags which I used 3d foam just to let them stand out a bit more.

I am very happy with the box which is in the shape of a takeaway container, it offers endless possiblities for decorating.

I can't wait to make a few christmas themed boxes and use up some of my christmas stash into the bargain - I have so much christmas stuff Im scared to keep it all together - it might fill a whole room!

Kanban boxes and card

Havent managed to blog for a while - combination of laptop problems and a horrible summer cold that will not go! As soon as the sun came out I was struck down  - typical!  Not great for creativity either.

Ive been crafting using a Kanban kit my mum got from QVC a long time ago - it is stunning and so easy to use - I really enjoyed making and decorating the little boxes.

I stuck them together with my faithful glossy accents and along with the die cuts in the kit used some paper cellar satin heart buttons.(yes that is a chocolate bar holding the box up but its special k so thats ok!)

My ususal rubbish photography isnt showing the embellishments on this box - a netallic flower to add to the die cuts and 3 pearl buttons in the bottom right hand corner.

I just love the patterns and colours of this collection.  I enjoy making a simple card from a kit now and again - especially when you feel like crafting but have little inspiration and the quality of Kanban is fantastic.

Hopefully now Im feeling a lot better my crafty mojo will return and I can carry on working my way through my epic stash!

Another competition entry

I enjoyed designing my entry for Emmas crafty challenge that I have decided to be cheeky and enter a card for the sketch competition too!  Heres the link http://www.emmascardsuk.com/p/sketch-challenge.html

I decided to move away from stamping and instead used rub ons and peel offs for my entry.

I used two of my trusty Kanban mats - using the plain back of the card (why didnt I think of that before!) I used an american craft rubons for the main image and the 3 dots in the corner of the card

I used 3 peel off borders (they are actually from a christmas set) across the middle of the card and 2 peel off circles to tie it all together.  Finished off with a peel off sentiment.

I am loving the inspiration that a challenge sets - I find that rather than limiting me when the initial idea is taken out my hands its actually easier to be creative!
I am so grateful to Emmas Cards for providing me with the creative kick up the bottom Ive been needing!  A lovely website which I can highly recommend and I hope to get a lot more inspiration from it in the future,

Competition card - The snow goose

I have been inspired to enter a competition on a blog - something I have never done before but what a great way to use up my stash!

I followed a tweet to the wonderful Emmas Cards UK - where there is a monthly crafty challenge - http://www.emmascardsuk.com/p/emmas-crafty-challenge_06.html

This months challenge is "the Sea" - this made me think of one my favourite childhood books The Snow Goose by the wonderful author Paul Gallico.  It inspired me to create the card below

I used Hobby art scene it stamps for the main image and background on my Kanban mats.  I coloured this using a pale green copic marker and made the image 3d by using glossy accents and diamond sparkles.  I embossed silver mirri card using a sizzix embosssing folder.

I then wanted the idea of the choppy sea underneath the image so used some lovely American crafts felt green ribbon with a Do Hickey die cut on top - I tried leaving this white for the top of the waves but wasn't happy with it so coloured it again with the same copic marker.

I feel the almost monochrome nature of the card suits the theme of the book that inspired it - I was hoping to post some pictures of the illustrations but my camera has died on me!  I absolutely loved making the card and am very grateful to Emmas cards for the inspiration and opportunity.

edit - This is one of the illustrations in the Snow Goose which inspired my card (sorry it hasnt come out too well) - a lovely book with the theme of love overcoming all,  I tried to recreate the feel of the the lonely little boat and its captain with only the bird for company in my card.

Fathers Day Card

Not been blogging for a wee while but I am continuing my quest to use up all my crafty stash.

Im working my way through my huge stack of Kanban matts so used a 3 for my Fathers day card.

I stamped the background using Kanban stamps and coloured over them all using a Distress ink - walnut stain.  I stamped the main image in the same ink and used the same colour to watercolour it.  I think it gives it a nice vintage feel.  My dad is a talented watercolour painter so I think he appreciated me using the same medium in a crafty way for his card. I matted them on a matching mirri card which is unfortunately showing me photographing the card! I finished the card of with some card candi.

I have been doing a lot of colouring with promarkers and other alcohol pens - plenty of images done but very few cards to show for it! I am determined to dedicate a little time every evening this week after my wee boy has gone to bed to crafting so hopefully I will have more to show for my next blog post!

Stamping and using patterned mats

I have been doing a lot of stamping this week and working my way through the images to make cards.  Im trying if I can to make multiple cards using the same image.

I am also trying to make use of a huge pack of Kanban mats I ordered a while ago from QVC. 

I'm ashamed to say I ordered these without seeing them as I love the spellbinders matting and layering style but I'm too lazy to dig my Bigshot out and get die cutting!  When these mats came I was disappointed with them but didn't bother returning them (laziness strikes again!)  As I continue my quest to use up my stash I dug them out and have been quite pleased with the results I am getting distressing them with sandpaper and colouring using distress inks and my marvy le plume alcohol markers.

I have used them in both cards I have made this week.

This is a gorjuss girls clear stamp which I coloured with my marvy le plume alcohol markers.  I used a dohickey die cut which I again coloured with my markers matted the image on my Kanban mat and then onto an Anna Griffin card.

I again coloured the image with my markers - I am not impressed with my efforts on her hair - black is such a hard hair colour to do - I think she looks like a skunk!  Another Kanban mat on an anna griffin card with a coloured dohickey die and some card candy to finish.

Sweet Brown and Pink

I have an awful habit of seriously limiting my colour scheme when using promarkers or inks.  I think I only used 3 promarkers for the image below!

For this card I used a couple of freebies from Papercraft Inspirations - the image is Lily of the Valley I believe and the flowery tape.  I used a My Craft Studio card wrap with the tape across it and a papermania flower which has been "distressed" by my wee boy dribbling on it!  Us crafters can use anything.  Finished the card off with some card candy.  I think I might be obsessed with card candy - thank goodness I have ten tonnes of it.

Along with promarkers I have some marvy le plume alcohol markers which I am hopefully going to have a play with this week.  They have a much more brush like tip which I'm not used to so should be interesting!

Sewing theme

Although I have not been blogging I have been sticking to my crafty promise - no more buying and trying to make at least one thing a week.

I subscribe to Papercraft Inspirations and used the free papers inside to make 2 cards.

If I'm honest this is my least favourite of the cards - there's too much going on.  I glued the dressmakers dummy onto card along with the sentiment.  I used an Anna Griffin card to mount the backing paper on then added the tape and card candy.  I used 3d foam to mount the dummy and sentiment onto the card.

This card is more my style.  I again mounted the picture which came free with the magazine on card.  I used a My Craft Studio card wrap and card candy (my favourite!) along with the tape and 3d foam for the image for a bit of dimension.  I just used a plain cream card I got in the works.

I'm quite happy with this card although its lacking a sentiment but its something I always struggle with.

I was horrified to discover a bag full of stamps I bought just before I had my baby boy that I had completely forgotten I had so my next challenge for myself is stamping - if I could only find my memento inkpad!

Felt ATCs

Felt ATCs

This week I have been making ATCs - they suit me for the moment - they can be quick and good for me to fit in between my 4 month old's naps!  Also I feel quite rusty craft-wise so they allow me the freedom to practise and get my crafty brain back into action.
I have made 2 today using papermania atcs, ranger diamond stickles and some felt sheets.

I cut by hand (as you can probably tell!)  I enjoy working with felt as it adds texture to my work.  I have a tendancy to stick to only one material at a time on a project so I am going to try to challenge myself to experiment more in my next few projects.
Hopefully I will be able to add a few more atcs this week.

First post!

I am concerned that my hobby is not crafting it is in fact buying crafty things.  I have decided to start this blog to record how I use up my ridiculous crafty stash.
I am challenging myself to try to make one craft item eg card, scrapbook page, ATC etc every week using only my stash.
I am promising myself I will not buy any more craft goodies while Im doing this - having said that I ordered some embossing folders yesterday and bought some glitter glue this morning - Ok - starting now im not buying any more!
So wish me luck and hopefully I will be able to blog regularly to stave off those crafty shopping cravings!