loads of time!!!

Well that does make a change its my mams birthday next week and not only have i made a card from me and hubby but ive also made one for the kids to give to her, now those of you who read my blog will know im usually flying by the seat of my pants and im normally handing over the card just as the stickles are drying. So its a big thing for me to of made a card well in advance of the time its needed, i could get quite used to this LOL.

lots of stamping on this one with brayers and adirondack inks, the papers are a mix of october afternoon and basic grey and cosmo cricket, glossy accents and stickles as always im sure she will like it as it has something to do with the garde, ive also added a little bird box as she too loves the birds visiting her bird box in her garden.

We Three Kings

I was lucky enough to be given some lovely stamps from a friend and amongst them were these Christmas images of the 3 kings, ive been keen to ink them up and stamp them for over a week but work and life got im my way of crafting these last few days.

I started by inking a piece of SplodgeAway elegance card with a with a brayer using cranberry, sailboat blue and sunset orange adirondack ink, then i added a little weathered wood and black soot distress inks, (Using the splodgeaway mat makes the blending and brayering so much easier) That completed my background. I stamped the kings and Bethlehem background with stazon black then to colour the kings i used marvy glitter markers, I added a few srars using a white distress marker, i randomly stamped a verse on the backing card and mounted the image onto silver matt mirror card. glossy accents and stickles were added for a little more dimension. That is another one of my many christmas cards i need to make checked of my list.

The secret Garden

Its my Mams birthday coming up and she loves the garden so ive made her a card looking like a meadow, a secret garden, i just love the way the gateway is hidden by all the gorgeous long meadow flowers, all i need to put on is the title and its good to go. All the inks are adirondack and the stamps are art impressions, i may of gone overboard with the flowers and butterflys but i dont care its meant to be dreamy and i think it fits the brief.

More TV work

This is a picture heavy post, i thought i would get all of the create and crafts cards posted in one go, i was thinking of doing a couple a day but as some people have already seen them on various sites and of course on TV, i thought best get them over with all together.

They were all made using the wonderfull new masks by SplodgeAway, you can find them all available to buy here

All things Mr Grey

Well my blog has been relatively quiet as late and there is only one person to blame ( well no make that 3, if your reading Blog Master!)
Mr Christian Grey, im sure you've all read the books and if not, why not, you don't know what your missing. I finished all 3 books and it left me wanting more, i trawled the web looking for the elusive more, and then stumbled across a brilliant wonderful blog. It is run by The Blog Master herself (god you don't want to cross her, shes lethal!!!!) the stories are cleverly written by Jane Harvey- Berrick, if you, like me wanted more, boy does she deliver. There are plenty of new chapters 50 shades of Taylor, and chapters on Christian explaining how he became the way he is and about his younger years leading up to his billionaire status.
It doesnt just stop at the reading there is also fun things happening on the blog, competitions, music relating to the books, you really do need to take a look for yourself and check it out  ( you most definitely wont be disappointed) for your fix of more take a look here

I will be back with a crafty post shortly, unless im proccupied with all things Grey!

As seen on TV

Today was the second show of splogical inspiration on the the TV. Tom (aka Mr SplodgeAway) and Maria were showcasing brand new SplodgeAway products on ideal world and for those of you who missed it they will also be on create and craft at 6pm.

The design team only had 6 days to get some sample cards out (some only had a couple of days)  and i think we all did a very good job

Here are a few of my samples that you may of got a glimpse of i will over the next few days post more of them that made an appearence.

I will say you should check out the new stenscapes, thats what ive used to create the 3 snow scene cards and you will love the wolf creek  and city scape one.

The High Seas

We are still having our Alphabet crafting on the splodgeaway blog, we are crafting through the word "SplodgeAway" we are up to D for any thing Distress, that could be using distress inks, distressing and ripping/ tearing pop on over and see what will be created this week

D for Distress

Something more masculine from me this week

Before I give you a little run down of “How to” I’d just like to say the SplodgeAway demonstrator mat is awesome so much more Splodge space to work on, it made making this card a breeze!

I started with some Tim Holtz kraft resist card, then using shabby shutter, tumbled glass, scattered straw, walnut stain and mustard seed distress inks I coloured the kraft card, the effect of the resist showing through is impressive.

Then using a piece of SplodgeAway easy ink card I randomly stamped a ships wheel in shabby shutters when this had dried I then inked the card using tumbled glass, after this I used a splodgeAway balloon mask and ran it through the cuttlebug to emboss. I then used walnut stain to enhance the balloon pattern. To finish I distressed the edges and curled the corners.

Then for the main focus I used Adirondack caramel ink to stamp the ship on easy ink card, using a waterbrush I gently dragged the ink to give it a watercolour effect, I did the same on the waves and then added a little tumbled glass to colour the rest of the card.

After finishing all the elements I assembled the card and finished with stickles and glossy accents, charms and a fabric brad.

All inks, mats and masks available from Suzicraft

All the stamps used are stampin’ up (very old sets)

Show us what you’ve been making with your mat and masks we’d love to come and visit your blogs, just leave a comment telling us what you’ve made and we will check you out.

Im in the middle of a crafting marathon, Splodgical inspirations will be on ideal world on wednesday at 2pm so all the DT are still busy making last minute samples, yesterday my buddy Jimbo came over to craft although not a lot of crafting got done!!!!!! we'll say no more on that matter madam!
I had some secret masks deliverd so am working on them now, remember to tune in and see the wonderful new splodge products that have been released, you will be amazed.

Karen x

Christmas in August

Whilst i was busy making Christmas samples for SplodgeAway i decided to also make a start on my own Christmas cards, i always make every single card different im not into this batch making to get them all made quickly that's not fun for me.

The first one is actually for my craft buddy to give her inspiration for some quick and easy animal related cards.

I can see my cricut being very handy for this years cards, i have about 40 cards to make for my personal use that's with out any orders for commissions i wonder if ill get them all finished before the guy in the big red suit makes an appearance.

Shopping

Just as the title says I've had a crafty shopping spree, Thursday I went to the range and picked up a few supplies, i admit im a paper/crafting snob and have avoided papermania/docrafts in the past as i didnt like the quality and style of the papers but when i saw the new papermania Happy Days line i was drawn to it so put my snobby ways to the side and made a few purchases, once i got it home and inspected it i was pleasently suprised that the papers were heavy weight and well printed.

I did also buy the papermania glitter glue in similar style to Rangers stickles but after trying it, i wont be buying it again in my own opinion its not a patch on stickles, yes its much cheaper but you dont get the contol the consistency or the smae quality so i will always be a rangers stickles girl!

Then today i got the parcel i had been waiting for 85 gorgeous 12 x12 papers a variety of october afternoon, websters, cosmo cricket and basic grey, i was in heaven, i didnt forget my craft buddy either i also set a few aside for her too :)

I thought after all the christmas cards ive been doing this past week for SplodgeAway i will need an everyday distraction so deserved a crafty splurge.

 Sam, my 9 year old had an accident last night that resulted in a trip to the hospital he ran into a lamp post and we thought he may of broken a bone in his hand/wrist, but fortunatly after having it x-rayed its only very badly bruised  today hes realy sore and feeling sorry for himself so as a treat we are taking him to Teeside retail park to go to toys r us, so i may pop into hobbycraft and TK Max to see if they have any crafty offers in. 

Make a wish

I made this card a few nights ago, i was sat in my craft room with music pumping through my headphones wondering what i could do, my mojo was lost!  but with the help of the music and a few sheets of websters pages my mojo curse was broken.

Ive used websters icons and graphic 45 papers ive also used liquid pearls to add swirls to the background.

Theres nothing like music being good for the soul, a great pic me up, with a few favourite tunes you can tackle everything (including finding the elusive craft mojo)

SplodgeAway L for Lace

Over on the SplodgeAway blog we are onto week 3 of our alphabet showcase and its my turn to make a card including lace somewhere on the card, i ve decided to use lace on the flower i made.

The splodgeAway mat came in realy useful for making the effect on the card that ive stamped on, more details are on the SplodgeAway blog. 

Butterfly garden

                                    


Ive really found my SplodgeAway mat useful for this card as there are so many inked layers but every thing has blended beautifully thanks to the mat. The blank card was embossed with a cuttlebug folder then swiped with some mocha ink, layers of bazzil card and stickles frame the card, the flower was made with a spell binder die that i kindly cut out courtesy of my buddy Sue Jimson.

Im going to be busy over the next week or so as i have some Christmas design work to complete ready for SplodgeAways next TV appearance on C&C, so my apologise in advance if i go a little quiet.

Creative Expressions

The first card im entering for the Creative Expressions Design Team call, the brief was texture, ive embossed the background and added in inks in various ways, ive also added glossy accents to the watch face and dropped beads in it for more added dimension and texture, i hope ive covered the brief and good luck to every one else that has entered.

Inspired by Fifty Shades of Grey

So with all the hype over the Fifty Shades trilogy i decided to make a card for a friend inspired by the book. Im not sure what to buy her for her birthday shes like me and hooked on the books (or is that hooked on Christian Grey) So i dedcided to give her a little piece of Christain Grey in the form of a birthday card, im not that mean though i will of course include a gift voucher.

Ive paper pieced the tie with several (read that as Fifty LOL) shades of grey for the tie and mattedwith the same colours and edged it with platinum liquid pearls and stardust stickles.

SplodgeAway beaded pearls

Its my turn over on the SplodgeAway site, this is the card that is showcased.

Its made with a lovely Stamin' up stamp, mica powders and a gorgeous string of beads i found in the haberdashery shop.

Did any of you watch create and craft today and see Barbara Grey using the SplodgeAway mat, its fantasic with brayering techniques too.

Well ive just finished my last shift at work im now on my holidays for a week and have all sorts of things planned to keep the kids occupied. Weve just been on a lovely bike ride and visited the park, it was empty so Sam had the whole place to himself, i plan to keep the days jam packed with activities so they dont get bored, ive a feeling i would of got more rest going to work LOL.
I am going to sneak a little time away to visit suzicrafts to see my crafting buddies.