Sunday 31 August 2014

Merry Jolly Bright

Hello happy Sunday everyone!

It's a beautiful day here in Norfolk, it seems strange that I'm going to show you another Christmas card. I know several of you have been making your Christmas cards for some time now. I'm not doing too bad with mine at the moment.

This is a fairly quick and easy card and I've gone with the traditional red and green with a large splash of white.

Here is my creation...



What you need...

Die: Phrase - Merry, Bright, Jolly Decorative Strip Die (655233) - Sizzix
Patterned paper: Seasons Greetings - 12 Days of Christmas 12" x 12" Collection - My Mind's Eye
Card stock: white
Punch: corner rounder
Baker's twine: red
Jingle bells; red
Holly leaves; felt
Pearls: red
Adhesives

What you do...

Create a 10.5cm x 15cm top fold blank in white card and round off the bottom corners. 
Mat a 10cm x 11cm piece of the patterned paper centrally to the top. 
Die cut the wording in white card and stick to the patterned section.
Wrap twine around the card a few times at the bottom edge of the patterned piece and tie at the right. 
Add the holly and thread the twine through two bells and tie in a bow.
Embellish the 'j' and 'i' with a red pearl.

Cute eh?

I've had the felt holly leaves for a few years, I don't think you can get them now, but you could always make your own from felt, fabric or paper. 

These little holly leaves are great as they have a little hole which means you can insert a brad, or as I did thread the twine through and then secure with the tied bells.

So that's me for now. You still have until 11:55pm (GMT +1) to get your entries in for the Cosmic Colours Challenge #4. 

There will be a new challenge starting at midnight. 

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday. TTFN x

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Thursday 28 August 2014

Merry Snowman

Good heevnin peeps!

I hope you are all well :o)

I've really started on my Christmas cards now - hopefully I won't end up rushing at the last minute this year. 

I've made a cute snowman card using some of my old stash. I've had a look on the ol' internet and sadly the dies and papers are no longer available; but I'm sure many of you will have snowflake/snowmen dies or punches in your craft stash. As for the papers, any colour scheme would work just as well.

Here is the lovely little chap...




What you need...

Dies: On the Edge Snow Flurries; Bigz Snowman - Sizzix
Patterned papers: Colorful Christmas - My Mind's Eye
Card blank: A6 white
Card: black, brown, orange, white
Gems: turquoise
Ribbon: lime green
Adhesives

What you do...

Cover the blank with a slightly smaller piece of pale turquoise paper. 
Die cut a snowman, embellish and stick to the blank about 2cm from the bottom.
Die cut the snowflakes and fix across the card so that the cover the bottom of the snowman. 
Mat striped paper 3.5cm x 10.5cm to the bottom of the blank. 
Wrap and tie ribbon around the join between the snowflakes and the striped paper so the knot is at the left. 
Add a sentiment to the bottom right of the blank and finish with a few gems.

I love looking through my old stuff. It's amazing what you forget you have, especially when it comes to Christmas. 

I've vowed not to buy much in the way of Christmas crafty things this year, but my resolve soon weakens. I'm going to continue to use stash items and re-live those past purchases.

Well that's it for now my lovelies. Don't forget you still have a couple of days to get those entries in to the Cosmic Colours Challenge (see sidebar) to win some yummy craft goodies.

Ta ta and thanks for dropping by....xx

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Monday 25 August 2014

Win yummy craft goodies!

Hello all you lovely crafters!

I hope that you have had a lovely weekend wherever you may be :o)

Just a quick reminder that the Cosmic Colours Challenge #4 ends on 31st August 2014 at 11:55 pm (GMT+1). 

You have just under a week to get your lovely entries in and win some craft goodies. Click here to take you to the challenge and entry rules.

I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

See you soon! xx

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Wednesday 20 August 2014

Ball!

How do my lovelies?

Today I would like to share with you if I may, an amusing little Christmas card. I thought of this masterpiece last night in bed (I was trying to get to sleep).

I got up this morning all excited, ready to start on it whilst it was still fresh in my mind. 

I used a couple of stamp sets that I have in my stash to get the right effect. 

So here is the end result...





What you need...

Stamps: Swanky Snowdudes, Healthy vibes - Paper Smooches; Snow Day (K-1750CL) - The Cat's Pajamas
Card Stock: white, aqua
Promarkers: Frosted Jade, Ice Grey 1, Ocean Teal, Pastel Green, Pumpkin
Ink pad: Onyx Black - Versafine
Button: white
Baker's twine: black
Gems: black
Adhesives

What you do...

Stamp two snowmen, one with a little round mouth from the Swanky Snowdudes, the 'splat' bug from the Healthy Vibes and a snowball and 'Ball!' from the Snow Day stamp sets.

Colour in and cut out. Create a top fold white blank 10.5cm x 15cm and cover the top with an 8.5cm x 14.5cm piece of aqua card.

Stamp the sentiment in the bottom right corner. Wrap twine around the base of the card, over the edge of the aqua piece, thread through a button and tie in a bow above the sentiment.

Adhere the 'splat' to the face of the snowman without a mouth, mount the 'Ball!' onto a piece of aqua card, trim and fix to the blank along with both snowmen and the snowball. Add black gems to the eyes of the snowmen to finish.

Isn't it cute? I wanted to keep it CAS and use only a couple of colours; cool aqua shades and ice white were perfect.  

Don't be afraid to mix and match different stamp sets, it's amazing what you can come up with. Here are the sets I used.

©Paper Smooches - Swanky Snowdudes
©Paper Smooches - Healthy Vibes
©The Cat's Pajamas - Snow Day
Craft tip!!! If you stamp your images with Versafine, use a heat gun to 'set' the ink. The image won't bleed when you use alcohol based markers.

That all from me for now folks! Thank you so much for stopping by. Until next time...

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Monday 18 August 2014

Making Spirits Bright

Hello my lovelies!

Wonders will never cease! I managed to make another Christmas card yesterday. :oD 

So without keeping you waiting, here it is...




What you need...

Stamps: Christmas Star Stems - The Octopode Factory; Joyful Greetings - Paper Smooches
Card stock: white
Patterned card: Sn@p 3x4 Cards-Christmas - Simple Stories
Promarkers: Heatwave, Moss, Pastel Green, Pear Green, Warm Grey 4
Ink pad: Onyx Black - Versafine
Scissors: Scallop - Fiskars Paper Edgers
Button: aqua
Baker's twine: black
Adhesives

What you do...

Stamp and heat set the stars, colour in and cut out. 
Create an A6 top fold white blank, stamp the sentiment in the lower left corner. 
Attach the star image near the top right of the blank so the stars are dangling down. 
Cut scallops along a piece of a dotty card, trim to 2cm deep, snip the left end off at an angle and fix above the stars so the right edge is in line with the right side of the card. 
Finish with a button tied with twine.

I used The Octopode Factory Christmas Star Stems unmounted rubber stamp, which I don't think is available now, but you can download the digital version from Etsy (click here to take you to the page).

©The Octopode Factory - Christmas Star Stems 

The Joyful Greetings by Paper Smooches is still widely available.


©Paper Smooches - Joyful Greetings

Well that's another post from me. I do hope you all enjoy the rest of your day, wherever you may be :o)

Until next time xxx

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Sunday 17 August 2014

Reindeer Crossing - Cricut® Explore

Hello peepsicles!

Wah-hey! I've finally made my first Christmas card! - for me, not for magazine projects.

I've had another play with the Cricut® Explore and here is what I came up with...




What you need...

Die-cutting machine: Cricut® Explore
Die images: Reindeer Crossing #M355DB (Winter Frolic Image Set #S10D); Reindeer #M3E370 (Jolly Holidays Image Set #SE0) - Cricut®
Card blank: white 14.5cm square
Card stock: white, red, green, mid brown, dark brown
Baker's twine: red
Button: red
Felt holly leaf: green
Flat-backed pearl: red
Adhesives

What you do... 

Select the images, re-size to suit, cut out and assemble.

With the fold at the top of the blank, fix the wording to the bottom. Stick the reindeer centrally over the wording.

Thread the button with twine and tie in a bow at the back, glue to the holly leaf and attach to the wording between the first 'R' and 'E'. Add a red pearl to the reindeer's nose to finish.

And there you have it, a quick, simple but bright card. I had great fun looking through Christmas images, there are so many cute ones to choose from.

You don't need to purchase full image sets to make this card, you can purchase single images from £0.79. 

The good thing is that you can have a play with images and pay for them just before you cut. This way you are not committing yourself to buying images that you are not sure about. 

Of course, once you have purchased and image, it is yours to use time and time again.

I'll be soon choosing colour swatches with Christmas colours for the monthly Cosmic Colours Challenges, so it will be great to see all your Christmas makes! 

I know some people don't celebrate Christmas or don't want to start making cards too early, so you will be able to use the Christmas colour themes for other occasion cards too :o) Don't forget, there is still time to enter this month's challenge, click here to take you to the colour swatch and challenge rules.

I'm going to say ta-ta for now. Thanks for popping by. xxx

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Saturday 16 August 2014

Special Delivery - Crafts Beautiful June Issue 2014

Afternoon peeps!

I hope you are all having a lovely weekend. My mum is staying with us for a three week holiday at the moment, I can't believe one week has nearly passed!

I got all my Christmas stuff out yesterday in readiness to start on my Christmas cards - yikes!

Anyhoo, I've got a lovely little card to show you today, perfect for those who wish to announce the birth of their little one with style :o)

It was shown in the June issue of Crafts Beautiful along with another announcement card for a boy.




What you need...

Card: white, pale pink, raspberry, yellow
Patterned papers: Flutterby, Bouquet, Fancy Free, Pinwheel - My Girl 12"x12" Collection - My Mind's eye
Punches: 2", 5/8" circle
Ribbon: yellow
Gems: clear, black
Pen: fine tip black
PC and printer
Adhesives

What you do...

Use the template to make an envelope in Bouquet paper. Type out and print the announcement in your chosen font, mat onto the chevron side of the Pinwheel paper and trim so that it fits inside the envelope.

Punch two 2" circles one in raspberry, one in pale pink card; punch four 5/8" circles in pale pink card. Use the template to cut two ovals and a bow in raspberry card and the hair in yellow.

Make the baby's head using the pale pink 2" circle and two pale pink 5/8" circles. Attach to the envelope so it looks like the baby is peeping around it. Add the hair, bow and two black gems for the eyes and draw a mouth. Fix the raspberry circle below and position the hands and oval feet as shown on the finished card.

Cover the top of a 13cm white tent fold blank with the grid side of the Fancy Free paper, 10cm x 12.5cm. Trim a section of arrows from the reverse side of the Flutterby paper so it is just slightly wider than the blank. Attach to the bottom of the grid section and cover the join with yellow ribbon. Add the baby to the blank and finish with a few gems.

Ta da!

Sadly, only the template for the envelope is available to download. So I've added the templates for the oval, hair and bow along with the envelope for you to save and print here...

Shown at 100%
Shown at 50%
A cute card made basically from circles. Of course you can do a blue boy themed one if you wish. I think this would make a nice gift if you made the happy new parents a batch of these to send out.

Check out the internet for loads of free fonts to download. There is a section in my sidebar with links to some great sites. I used 'Abeg Pretty Linda Cute' font from Fonts101.com.

The template for the envelope is available to download free from the Crafts Beautiful site. You just need to register (quick, easy and free) to be able to download patterns, templates and papers.

I hope you like this cute little card. Thank you for popping by and I'll be back soon. xx

P.S. Don't forget to join in the Cosmic Colours Challenge #4. It's always lovely to see your lovely makes! This current challenge is open until 31st August 2014 11:55pm GMT (+1).

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Sunday 10 August 2014

Amelia

Afternoon chums!

A while ago I mentioned that I'd made a rag type doll for my Mum. I decided to call her Amelia. I couldn't post a picture at the time as I hadn't given Amelia to my Mum and I wanted to keep her a surprise.

Well, my Mum has her now, so here are a couple of pictures...

Without mop cap and apron
With mop cap and apron
I got the pattern for the doll, dress, apron, bloomers and mop cap from the January 2008 issue of Crafts Beautiful. 

The good news is that the pattern and instructions are still available. The pattern template can be found here and the project instructions can be found here. You will need to register with the Crafts Beautiful website, but it's free and simple to join. 

I altered the dress slightly from the pattern and added felt bows to the shoes.

This is about the fourth doll I've made using this pattern. I've made them with different coloured hair and different coloured gingham dresses.

This is a fantastic doll to make; it is simple to do and you can re-size to suit. Amelia is approximately 18" tall. 

For the main body I bought special doll fabric which gives the flexibility that you need and is soft to the touch; you can use flesh coloured jersey if you wish.

Mum was over the moon with her and I'm sure I'll be getting a few more orders :o)

That's me for the nonce. I'll be back soon with another post. Thanks for calling by. xx

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Saturday 9 August 2014

Hello Peachy!

Good afternoon peeps!

I'm sat here typing this whilst sat at my Mum's in Yorkshire. I brought Emily back after spending two weeks with Simon and I (hence the lack of posts). So I'm spending the weekend at Mum's. 

This morning I popped into Samuel Taylors at Embsay to say hello to Dawn (I met her through my blog), a very lovely and talented lady :o)

Today I thought I would show you a little card I did for an earlier issue of Crafts Beautiful.




What you need...

Dies: Labels Eight - Spellbinders; English Roses - Marianne Designs Creatables
Card stock: white, pale green, cream, mid peach, dark peach
Stamp: Chit Chat - Paper Smooches
Ink pad: Aloe Vera Dew Drop Chalk Pad - VersaMagic
Ribbon: pale green
Pearls: white, mid peach, dark peach

What you do...

Cover the bottom half of a 12cm blank with mid peach card. Die cut the second largest label in pale green card and the third largest in white card. With the labels in landscape, layer and fix to the blank so the points are in line with the top of the peach section.

Die cut and assemble three roses in cream, mid peach and dark peach. Attach to the bottom left of the label. Tie a bow in ribbon and stick just above the roses.

Stamp the 'hello' sentiment in Aloe Vera ink on the lower right of the label and add three pearls just above.

There we have it, a simple yet pretty card. I usually scrunch up the roses before assembly to give them a shabby chic look.

Why not pop on over to www.crafts-beautiful.com? There are loads of ideas, projects, inspiration and free downloads!

Before I go, don't forget to post your entries in the Cosmic Colours Challenge, the colours this month are adorable. Click here to take you to the challenge and rules of entry.

Well, I must go for now. Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I'll be back soon. Thanks for dropping by xx

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Friday 1 August 2014

Cosmic Colours Challenge #3 Winner and Top 3!

Aft'noon chums!

Exciting stuff...I'm here with the Winner and Top 3 for the Cosmic Colours Challenge #3. It was so difficult to choose again, your entries were just stunning.

Gumball Brights - Design Seeds®
So without further ado do the winner is....
Carol
Carol!!!! Congratulations Carol. If you email me with your postal address I will get the goodies out to you asap and reply with the code for the winner badge.

I loved the way Carol used the swatch colours to look like streaks of paint coming from the paint brushes. The over stamping of the sentiment sits perfectly over the colours and the sequins add just that touch of bling.

Okay, now on to the Top 3. Again this was so difficult, but here are the three I've chosen...

Beth
Grandma Bonnie
Radhika
Beth
Grandma Bonnie
Radhika
Well done Beth, Grandma Bonnie and Radhika. Email me and I will send you the code for the 'Top 3' badge or you can copy the image from the side bar.

The Cosmic Colours Challenge #4 has now gone live and will end 11:55pm (GMT +1) 31st August 2014. Click here or click on the image in the sidebar to take you to the challenge.

Thank you so much to all who entered, I enjoyed looking at your beautiful creations. I do hope you will all have a go at #4, the colours are so summery and fresh. Don't forget to tell your crafty friends!

Toodle-pip for now. xx
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Cosmic Colours Challenge #4

Hello all! Hope you are well :o)

Wow! It's that time again when I launch the next challenge, this one being #4!

Here is the colour swatch for this month...

Summer Hues 3 - Design Seeds®
Aren't the colours just scrummy?

Here is my take on it...


I used the Cricut® Explore to create the Best Wishes (#M3BC69) from the 3 Birds - On Parade set (#S1) and the leaves (#M4695F) and 3D flowers (#M3D7D0) from the Flower Shoppe set (#S120).

The creator of the winning card will receive some craft goodies and also a code to display the Challenge Winner badge on their blog.

Three runner up cards will be chosen and they will get a code to display the Challenge Top 3! badge on their blog.

There is also a 'play along' badge that you can display on your blog. The code is in the sidebar.

This challenge will run until 31st August 2014 23:55 (GMT+1).


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