Playing catch up

Im sat at home feeling sorry for myself, i dont feel too well and its my day off work, i did have big plans to go and catch up on some Christmas shopping today but i dont feel up to it, im not sure whether im coming down with something. so instead i thought i would catch up on a bit of work to share on my blog.

The cards were made last week or was it the week before (not sure i cant keep track of time these days, time is flying by far too fast)

My batteries had gone flat in the camera and each time i went shopping i forgot them but now its back up and running so with out further ado this is what ive been up to.

Graduation card

Image House Mouse coloured with promarkers, the papers are cosmo cricket

 Circle card

The image is House Mouse, coloured with distress inks. the papers are October Afternoon. The circles were cut on the cricut, and lots of stickles were added for sparkle.

Hedgehog card

The image is Penny Black, the papers are October Afternoon, the flowers are prima, ive added some hessian for texture and bronze stickles.The greeting will be added later as i know she may see this.

Rework of orange card

I know you think youve seen this before , but everytime i kept looking at it i wasnt happy so i cut it up a little and changes the papers slightly, now i think its much better

Still side tracked

Im still side tracked by reading, i have to confess that i am again reading The Education of Sebastian, its just such a lovely romance story but i have to admit its left my heart very heavy, i always wonder how a story can leave you feeling like that. I know Part 2 The Education of Carloine has been written, and it was due for release on 14th Feb 2013, but it maybe getting released a little earlier, and i for one cant wait to read the sequel if only to lighten my heart!

I havnt totally neglected my card making i have made a few but needed batteries for my camera and they died on me, i know i could use my phone but the quality is not the best, so you will get a photo heavy post in a couple of days.........................that is if i can put this book down!

A new read

So im sorry ive been missing in action for a while..................in fact no im  not sorry because ive been spending the last few days reading. 

A friend of mine, in fact now a very good friend of mine is an author, let me introduce you to Jane Harvey -Berrick,  she has been writing a new novel called The Education of Sebastian, this is adult fiction, a lovely romance, with plenty of steamy scenes too

The book is released today on Amazon. i was privileged to of been sent a copy earlier this week before its release and i could not put it down it is wonderfully written and will captivate your heart, it will have you reaching for your tissues, and yearning for part 2 of the story. Move over Christian Grey theres a new boy in town. 

Caroline is the down trodden wife of a military man, she has spent time moving from one location to another, the love disappeared from her marriage a long time ago, then she was reunited with Sebastian a young boy she met when she was 20. The story is about a love affair that is so wrong but seems so right, will their love last?????????

This book is a must read.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Education-Sebastian-ebook/dp/B00A6NG154/ref=sr_1_10?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1353085009&sr=1-10

SplodgeAway Masks

Today SplodgeAway is on create and craft at 3pm, there is a release of some new masks and i was given the oppotunity to have a play with them.

The frame masks are very veratile as they dont have a theme to them they can be used for any season as ive demonstrated by using them as christmas and general.

I've used them with guesso, gilding flakes, ive inked through them and drawn round them, infact there are so many ways to use them you are only bound by your imagination.

Christmas Morning

I bought a new Tim Holtz die on Monday and had been itching to play with it, so i used it on this card, i cut it from my mins eye papers and added it to a gorgeously cute Mo Manning image, lots of gold stickles were added and all the edges have been inked using the SplodgeAway mat and distress inks, the gold leaves and the berry in the centre of the pointsettia are pieces ive cut from a large flower pick that i purchased from poundworld.

Snowflakes

I thought id already posted this card but then realised it was on facebook that i had put it.

This really was such a quick card i took the craft card and cut a 3" snowflake on the cricut then randomly stamped some snowflakes and the greeting, i then matted it with 3d foam onto the aqua card, added a few pearls and diamond stickles, i will make a few more of these in different colour ways.

I really do need to step on the gas if im to get these cards finished in time, but on the other hand ive nearly completed my gift shopping and the majority of it is wrapped!

pretty gilding flakes

I really do wish you could get the full effect of this card, its really hard to catch the light right to see the full effect of the gilding flakes.

For my card i started by adding ink with a brayer and splodge mat, to make my base then i stamped the tree with flitter glu and added morris dance gilding flakes. Next it was time to add randomly stamped flora and fauna stamps in various coloured adirondack ink,the bird house was stamped onto patterned paper and then stickled,  i matted it onto blue the burgundy which i then added a little decoration with a white posca pen, as always ive added lots of stickles, and i will go on to add the personal greeting with a little more embellishment later as i dont want it to be known who its for.

Ive woken up to a very frosty morning and my plans were to stay indoors and craft all day but i fear i need to have a little retail therapy :) Its my Dads 70th birthday next month so we need to start making preparations for a celebration, so i see lots of party paraphernalia on my shopping list

Paper weaving

Ive got a card to share today that ive made for a friend, ive yet to add the personal greeting.

I was experimenting with some paper weaving or that should read Faux paper weaving (the cheats way)

I never ever plan my cards i just sit at my craft desk move around a few bits of papers untill inspiration hits me, thats what happened with this card.

The image is lili of the valley, coloured with distress inks and layered on nestablilities circles, the papers could be october afternoon but im not 100% sure on that as id cut of the index strip. flowers are wild orchid crafts and the flourish is a marrianne die. Ive edged everything in fruit salad stickles and diamond stickles. Dont ask me why i went down the orange route as orange is so not my favourite colour.

Ill be back tomorrow with another card, im about to embark on a mini crafting marathon as ive got the day off work tomorrow so it will be crafting all day for me so i can catch up on some orders.

So much sparkle

Wow this card is so sparkly in real life, im not sure you get the full effect on the photo.

Ive used mirror card, and lots of stickles and the background card (available from suzicraft) also has silver foiling on it.

The image is a precoloured mo manning image, ive just added a little more shading and highlights, ive edged the image with weathered wood distress inks, then edged it with diamond stickles. The snowflakes and name are cut on the cricut winter wonderland cricut.

Ive still got lots and lots of christmas cards to do and with the clock ticking down im slowly (or should that read quickly!) running out of time. but not to worry ive got a week off work at the beginning of December and if i have to i will tie myself to my craft chair (ohhh step aside Christian Grey!) and not move until they are complete.

Sorry for the picture quality, it is really dark and im using my IPhone

VIVA LAS VEGAS

Sorry to bore you with the same stamp but it is my absolute favourite. This time it was used for a couple who are to be married in Las Vegas, ive gone with vintage style again with muted peaches and pinks, rafia and ribbons with added bronze corner embellishment and love birds charm. Ive coloured the lili of the valley image with distress inks, the card started off white as i wanted a white wedding dress so ive also distressed all the background to enhance the white dress.

Onto family things, my little cherub went out trick or treating tonight with his cousins and i took photos but still had the camera set up for my cards so they all came out blurry, Silly mummy moment! i blame my tiredness and lack of sleep, its been all work work work. I did have Monday off but that was a busy day too as i strated my Christmas shopping and came home tired and laden down with goodies.

Time to Spook

Its been so much fun doing this card as we don’t always have reason to do Halloween themed projects, I do have lots of Halloween stash but there lies the problem I still have it which implies I don’t use it!

I started with the SplodgeAway clock mask and taped it to some easy ink card, I added ink using walnut stain, spiced marmalade and blacksoot, i then used a gold sparkle embossing powder on the middle section of the clock, this gave it a very subtle shine, then I mixed some mica with a little water and used a paintbrush to flick it onto the card, this added more sparkle and dimension. This card was then matted onto some ghostly patterned paper and ribbon added, then it was onto the focal point.

I had searched pinterest (which I do daily!) and came across these Halloween images (I will try to find the link and post later), I knew they would be perfect for this card, I printed them onto easy ink card and cut them and arranged them onto my card and then flicked more mica mix onto it. To finish I added the clock hands and gem, and the words Time to spook (this was cut on the cricut, as was the skull and cross bones)

Ive cheated with Fizzy Moon!

 Oh boy what can i say..........ive become a lick and stick girl. Thats what i call pre made decoupage ready made craft kits, i never thought i would see the day that i would make cards like this.

It started because of my darling hubby, he went to our local shops and whilst there he called into Wilkinsons, he was browsing through the christmas stuff and his eye caught some craft stuff he picked up  the cute fizzy moon decoupage pad and he bought it for me as he thought they were so cute and i could make my christmas cards with it. It was so nice of him to think of me and my hobby that i didnt have the heart to tell him its not really my thing, so whilst i was on a day off work today i set about making some cards with them, i added lots of patterned papers, embossing folders, stickles, a few stamps,  ink, and embellishments to try and make them my own, at least i know i will get all my cards made as i made these 4 in just about 1 hour, in fact i know my youngest son Sam will join me in making a few as they are so simple to do.

So there you go thats my big admission IVE CHEATED!

Sweet Little Princess

A lovely precious moments image is the perfect answer for a little girls card, ive made this for a friend, the brief was much pinkness and lots of sparkle, it had to look really girly and i think i acheived it.

Ive coloured the image with promarkers and distress inks, the papers are first edition, the crown is cut from the cricut, the added bling comes from the use of lots of diamond stickles.

I also used that ingigo blu tree again last night as it really does take only minutes to make a wonderful card, i inked it with flitter glu then rubbed over with the flitter flakes a bit of matting and layering and a few snowflakes cut on the cricut, i also stamped some snowflakes in white, then i added the computer generated sentiment, a light dusting of stickles and there you have a lovely card in about 20 minutes.

Ive still got poorly children and ive got my fingers crossed that they dont pass it on to me as i dont have the time to be poorly, not yet any way!

Giddy up!

My friend asked me to make her a card for her Daughters birthday, and her daughter Kate is fanatical about horses so when she approached me about making a card she asked could i put a photo of Kate on a horse on the front, i said "easy peasy"!

I got the photo off her today and set straight away at making it as she needs it for tomorrow, nothing lime last minute!
They have bought Kate this horse for her birthday so its extra special to have it on the card.

Lots of embellishments and stickles on this one, echo park papers, Tim holtz tickets, wild orchid crafts flowers.

Now onto non crafting stuff, I'm feeling sorry for myself as Ive had dental work today and had to have 3 needles on both sides of my mouth so im walking around feeling and looking like Wallace of Wallace an Gromit, ive also got two of my children home from school poorly with colds, throat and ear infections. so apart from lots of TLC for everyone, theres not much else for me to do than tuck myself away in my craft room and work through some of the orders ive accumulated.