You Rock

I made this card with my guitar hero in mind. He's been a bit on a limp with a wrist injury and hasn't played as much lately as he would like to.

Supplies: Making Memories paper, DCWV cardstock, Stamping cartridge, Graphically Speaking cartridge for the notebook background, Tsukineko ink, twine, jewels, white gel pen.
On the inside of the card, I put a frame with background and added the sentiment on top of it.

End of the week

So glad it's the end of the week and I 've survived. Plenty of things to do on the job this week, more like catch-up. Next week might be hectic too and a new nurse is starting whom I will be mentoring.
But for now I am only considering the week-end, don't have to work and the weather is warm and sunny. Ahhh! Spring has sprung at last after all the rain.
Now on to 2 cards I made this week. I 'm falling in love with my Cricut over and over again.
I used the Home Decor and Wild Card cartridges. The yellow card is my take on a card I saw in the Card making with Cricut-book.

Supplies: BG Euphoria paper and chipboard, Copics, glitter, Moonlight and Marshmallow Glimmer Mist, Flowersoft, Hero Arts white flowers, Tsukineko ink, Martha Stewart punch.

Supplies: K&Co Que Sera Sera paper, DCWV cardstock, Copic, Martha Stewart borderpunch, satin ribbon Veritas

The inside of the card has a punched border and sentiment. Just kept this one very simple.

Happy Easter

I love cute little images. I found this one on the Penny Loves Vintage blog. There are other cute ones and you can also buy a CD with more images on them.. Rather than making an Easter card, I made this one into a birthday card for a little girl -or a big one-.

Supplies: Marianne Design paper, Making Memories ledger paper, corner rounder punch and MS pansy punch, Cricut Home Decor cartridge for the crown, Papermania pearls, gold embossing powder, ribbon from Hobbycrafts, Woodware sentiment, coloring with Copics, Glue Dots pop-up.

Thinking of you with love

My holiday is almost finished; tomorrow is Easter and Monday, it's back to work.
We didn't decide on going away just yet and my DH was still working, but I have enjoyed every moment of this break.
I had my birthday last Monday and on Tuesday I went for a pampering session at the Clarins Spa. Delicious!
Then I met up with  friends, Loretta, Howard and Riza, who treated me to lunch with them at Nando's. They are so sweet, they even gave me a big bunch of flowers. Thanks a lot, I enjoyed your company! I 'd not had such a nice birthday since I came to the UK. Sorry, Howard, but the girls had to go shopping for afters.
I made a little card with my new Rose Garden Papermania paper. Sweet paper!

Supplies: Wild Card cartridge for the roses background, Versamagic Brilliance ink, scalloped circle Woodware punch, Martha Stewart border and butterfly punch, Hero Arts white flower and sentiment, Shrinkies nice little girls image, Copics, paper roses, vintage glitter.

A lovely Easter to you

Another rainy morning, but it doesn't dishearten me. Oh no, more time to craft!
I made this little gift box filled with jelly beans for my DH. Can't have an egg hunt now, too old and too wet...
Also the little eggs I bought for him, just wouldn't fit the box.
Anyway, he loves sweets, almost anything. I made him cut down, because I was afraid that one day he might get sick. All that sugar!
The box had to be green, his favourite color.

I used the Wild Card for the box and sentiment and Stretch your imagination for the bunny. I used 4 layers on the bunny and embossed the egg with the Cuttlebug. Coloring is done with Copics. I used glaze on the paint brush and liquid applique on the bunny tail.

I covered the sentiment in Baby Blue Stickles. The ribbon is from Crate Paper. I made a little acetate window and embossed it with little roses.

I 'm sure my DH will love it and definitly will love what's inside.

This project has been entered on: Flutterby Wednesday and Cricutters Anonymous.

You make my heart sing

I felt like not making a card today, so I dug out an old photo and decided to enlarge it and frame it.
This picture is taken in 2007 I believe, by my mom and we are standing on the green in front of our house. There are 5 old oaks on that little green patch and it might have been the main reason why we decided in May of that year to move to this house.
I like the sepia setting on cameras. It allows you to mimic the photos of days gone by.

It's a simple frame I 've had for ages, just glass and a board held together with 4 clips, but very versatile and easy to change. If  I want something different, then this picture will go in a scrapbook (page half done as it is 20x30 cm).
Supplies: DCWV cardstock, Wild Card and Sweethearts Cricutv cartridge, Pearl, Bronze and Sand Glimmer Mist, Diamond, Crystal, Stardust and Gold Ice Stickles, Hero Arts flowers, Martha Stewart butterfly punch.
The flourishes are cut with Sweethearts and the sentiment with the Wild Card.

I 'm sorry

Can't believe March has gone. I haven't posted much this month, but I 've had a fortnight off work. And since my mom 's been over for her holiday, I have been recuperating from those 2 journeys in the middle of the night across to Belgium and back.
I've got a little card to share that I finished last night. I got a new printer from my DH and now I was able to scan a few images I had carefully kept. I bought Shrinkies a while ago with nice little girls on them. I didn't want to use them because I wanted to keep the images for further use.

Supplies: Smirk paper, corner punch, Hero Arts and Making Memories flowers, Glimmer Mist, Tsukineko ink, Copics, Shimmerz, Basic Grey brads, beadspacers, plastic beads, Papermania pearls and  Mark Richards crystal stickers, Martha Stewart butterfly punch, Hero Arts sentiment.

Warmest wishes

Boy, oh, boy, have we had a monsoon?! Last night it started raining and you couldn't see anything outside. It was like a white sheet coming down. And this afternoon it started again at 4 o'clock.

I 've been hiding inside and I finished another little card. A sweet little Penny Johnson stamp, the little one is ready to go to her cozy little bed and before she goes she is sending you her warmest wishes.

It's a little gate-fold card cut, with the Wild Card -and all the little embellishments too-.

Supplies: K & Co Wedding paper, Hero Arts flowers, Glimmer Mist Sand, Bronze and Vintage Pink, Papermania pearls, Basic Grey and Autumn Leaves buttons, star from 99p store, lace from Hobbycraft, ribbon from Tesco. Image cut with Nestabilities and colored with Copics.

Goodnight everyone.

2 hearts 1 love

Second post of today. I 'm posting this double LO for the Practical Scrappers blog.
The challenge is to use something you 've had for a year or more. Well, I can definetly had this K & Co paper a while. I bought a big wad of K & Co paper in 2006 or 2007 at the Bluewater shopping center. I 'm still using it, it seems to last forever. Also the pictures are from 2004 and I only finished my Scotland holiday scrapbook last year. Now I take far less pictures. Most of the times I drag my camera along and forget about it.

Don't know the exact place we were, but it is around the Ballachulish-Glencoe area.

I used the Plantin Schoolbook and Storybook cartridges, I 've had them also for more than a year now. I really do love working with the Cricut. My DH wants to by me a Gypsy for my birthday, but I want more cartridges... With the Gypsy it will be easier to see what I have and quicker to use them, I think.

So glad it's Spring

Aaah! Have you got that fresh feeling too? I 'm so happy when winter is over, daylight is just arriving as I wake up. I have so much more energy now. Bring it on!
The sun is shining today and the garden is loving it; the goldfinches and bluetits have been feeding and my anemones are eager to show their flowers. I hope they will open this week so my mom can see them before she goes back to Belgium.
I have made 2 Spring inspired cards, I cut out the cards with my new Wild Card  cartridge -a gift from my mom-. I love this cart, now I can make all shapes and sizes of card and always have a fitting envelope.
Mom bought me quite a few presents, because of my Birthday next Monday. This cute Mo Manning stamp had been on my list for a while. I love how she's soaking up the sun, just how I feel today.

Supplies: DCWV Spring stack, American Crafts flowers, Making Memories brad, Doodlebug  jewel , Woodware leaf punch, Tea dye Distress ink, Woodware circle and scalloped punch, Fiskars small oval punch, yellow ribbon from stash, Mo Manning stamp, Copics, clear embossing powder, Tsukineko ink, Hero Arts sentiment stamp.
The next card is very small, the height is 5", but it's really narrow. A little Tilda with her little budgie in it's cage. I kept the colors very "Springy".

Supplies: DCWV Spring stack, Prima flowers, Papermania pearls, Diamond Stickles, McGill branch punch, ribbon from Hobbycraft, Hero Arts sentiment stamp, Fiskars small label punch, Pearl Glimmer Mist, Copics, Tsukineko ink.

Congratulations

I have made a card for the Motivet blog. I always love working with their stamps. They have such lovely little characters. I still have a few that have not seen the ink yet, so it's on the to-do-list for 2010.
Of course I had to use some Basic Grey paper... I followed the sketch quite closely and only left out the bow. It would have made my card a little bit too full.

I love that McGill pine branch punch and had to Glimmer Mist the flowers of course. A lot of Distress inking too and blue gross grain ribbon from Paperchase. The sentiment is already printed on the ribbon from East of India. They do quite a bit of shabby chic/ organic? stuff and you can by their goodies at John Lewis.
No more crafting for me now until after the weekend. Got another 11.5 hour shift tomorrow and a twilight shift on Friday 'til 23:00. Then at 0:00 we'll be driving to Folkstone-Calais - Belgium, and back immediately the same Saturday morning, to pick up my mom. It's a 10 hour non-stop roundtrip with no night sleep. Ow, ow,...

Stuck together like glue

Hey there,

Just another Magnolia card I made. I didn't follow any sketch. Sometimes I can't be bothered and want to do my own thing. Now I wanted to use my newly purchased punches from Martha Stewart. I must say I do like the pansy border, it looks very lacy.

I'm not even going to write down the whole card recipe. Just enjoy the card. It's an image I have used quite a lot of recently.

Loch Tummel

Just posting some more LO of our 2004 Scotland holiday. I only finished this album in 2008 and even in 2009, I was still changing some of the pages I had done.

For these 2 pages I followed a strict LO and just rotated the LO to create the second page. Some of the stickers are Karen Foster design and I bought them during our holiday in Scotland.

For my page I used goodies that I already had in my stash, like peel-off stickers and Sakura gel-pens. I'm all ready to go. It was my DH who thaught me to fish. We use really light equipment and use artificial lures or spinners. My favourites are the Blue Fox Minnow spinners and Storm and DAM lures. I quite enjoy fishing, but it's got to be warm and sunny for me. We also catch and release our fish and will mostly fish for perch and pike. If you strike right, the fich is caught in the mouth and there is only minimal damage to it, because these 2 species have quite a bony lip (if you can call it that). My DH has shown me how to drill the fish until it's tired, so you don't need heavy gear and I can land the fish without a net and just a pair of gloves, even the pike. I never knew these fish were so beautiful.

We did not catch any fish on this particular afternoon, but we had a lovely time. There were birds of prey hunting on the other side of the loch and it was just a nice place to be with nobody else around. You could just loose yourself in nature, it was a holiday to remember.

Find joy everyday

Hello,
I haven't posted for a while. I was too busy getting the garden tidy for Spring last week, so my days off work were consumed by re-potting and fertelizing.
I 've made a card for this weeks BBTB2 's challenge; the girl or boy from A Child's Year cartridge, but I'll enter it in 2 more challenges.
I've chosen for the boy, because most of the cards I make, have got girls on. So lets give the boys a chance. It's turned out a bit girly anyway. LOL.

I 've used several layers of card to cut all the different elements of the boy and flower. I have even tried to give his hair a bit of shape. The face and hand are coloured with Copic and the trousers and grass are sanded. I used a lot of Glimmer Mist on the hair and felt flowers. Those have been cut with Spellbinders from white felt and then sprayed and fastened with a Doodlebug velvet brad. I used different types of Stickles on the image and lime green Shimmerz on the punched out butterflies. The sentiment is from Hero Arts. I also did some inking and added some faux-stitching on the card. The border punch is from Martha Stewart, the design paper is from We R Memory Keepers Nonsense collection and the card is from American Crafts (white), DCWV (light blue), Papermania (other colors).

I'm also entering this card on Practical Scrappers: white pens/markers and on Flutter By Wednesday: # 100, well that's something to shout about. They are having an open challenge, so mine has got the butterflies...

Thanks for visiting, will be back soon.

Bless this Nest

Hello,

I finally got to finish this wall hanging. It's a wooden board and I spray painted it in 2 different shades, a gold and a bronze. Then I applied a creme craquele paint over the top surface.

All the die cut images are from the Sweetheart cartridge, except for the love stamp and the scalloped oval. Everything got a Glimmer Mist spritz. The colours I used are Creme de chocolat, Sand, Bronze, Vintage pink, Rose tea, Marsmallow and Pearl. The hearts and Tilda are colored with Copics. I also used some really old gold glitter. My mom bought the stuff when we were litlle. Not sure what she did with it though. I 've still got 2 tubes of silver and a tube and a half of the gold. It's quite a chunky glitter. I know Martha Stewart is doing the same style of vintage glitter again.

The board has a hook at the back and I attached an organza ribbon with 2 wooden beads at the end. I used Tea dye ink to distress some of the edges of the die cuts. The flowers are from Prima and Hero Arts, the little roses are from Hobbycraft and the 4 big roses are re-used from wedding favors. The dried cinnamon sticksand twigs with raffia and roses, have been in my possession for many years. I bought them in Belgium in Blokker with the intention to use them for gift wrapping. Waste not want not...

The plaque now decorates my hallway. It 's quite difficult to get a good shot, because the item is quite big, but it sure looks good hanging on the wall.

Post update 01-03-2010:

I was able to take a better shot the next morning with the sun coming in through the front door. I have added a few pearls and stars. Funny thing is; my other half really seems to like it. Not too girly for him LOL.

Carefree

Hello,
A new card with one of my 2 Magnolia stamps. I wanted to use my Basic Grey paper from the Ambrosia collection. The orange tones just excited me. I'm entering this card on 3 different challenges. The easy road? Why not!?
1. C4C26 - it's all about texture; a lot of texture on my card
2. Flutter by Wednesday - using butterfly paper from BG, just love it, didn't want to cut it.
3. cute card thursday -challenge 101: ribbon-tastic
So here it comes;

I did a bit of distressing with dried marigold and tea dye ink. The Carefree cut and branches are made with the Graphically Speaking cartridge. Some Marianne design flowers, a few brads, sequins and ribbon, some Stickles and everything coloured with Copics.

I haven't posted a lot in February, but if I get a chance I'll be posting another little project of mine. I 've been working on it for a while and it's almost dry. It's a wall plaque and I've used the same Magnolia stamp, but in a different colourscheme.

Fashionista

Hello,
I used my new Cricut catridge Sweethearts for this card. It's got some funky cuts on it. I thought this cut might be suitable for the birthday of a young lady or a fashion-loving girl.

Supplies: Papermania Retro Floral paper, DCWV cardstock, Copic markers, Doodlebug glitter and flock, Martha Stewart punch, American Crafts flowers, Making Memories brad, Bead Shoppe sequins, K&C0 rub-on sentiment, Viva Pearl pen in Salmon.

It took a bit of layering and several cuts in different paper, especially because the shoes and the dress kept tearing. I finally decided to cut the dress and make it in a skirt and blouse. The girl on her scooter is cut in 10.5 cm. I quite like how the card turned out, although next time I should put a shadow cut behind her if I use such visual busy paper again.

The search for Maria

Hi,
Got something fun to share today. It's an ad from Belgium to promote Andrew Lloyd Webber's reality TV program 2009 for the search for Maria. I think it's pretty cool. You see the surprised travellers and a few tourists getting in on the act too. Nicely done. Enjoy!

Sweet Baby

It's been raining through the night and it's still coming down this morning, but it makes me feel like spring is on the way. Can't wait for it, so I can go to work again on my little folding bicycle.
There's a cycle path right through the area I live in and it leads me up to the industial estate where the clinic is. I love it, because it leads all through trees and green and I hear the birds sing as I cycle along. It makes my heart happy and calm before the hectic workday starts. In the evening after a long day this is another story, because my legs are so tired from running around 11.5 hours, it takes me a bit longer to cycle home.

I made a baby card for a Spring baby. There 's a card in Cards magazine with the chick cut from A Child's Year for Easter, but it made me think of little ones born at this time of the year, when all is fresh and green and all in nature they 're having their babies.

Supplies: paper Marianne Design and DCWV, cardstock DCWV, flowers Hero Arts, jewels Doodlebug, pearl Papermania, glitter Glitz-it, ink Tsukineko, stamp Basic Grey Offbeat, color Copic, flock Doodlebug, baby and chick A Child's Year, Sweet from Sweethearts cartridge, lime key Shimmerz.

A close-up with the glittered and flocked die-cuts.

This card is also my entry for A Spoon full of Sugar; Spring Time.

I finally bought another permanent adhesive filling for my Xyron 510. I 've had this since 2003, but never used it much due to the price of the refills. I might just start using it a bit more now in combination with my Cricut, but only for the more complicated cuts. I use a Zig pen and mostly it dries before I finish glueing the whole piece. So I got my Xyron back out of the closet after 7 years.

Miss You

Hello,
Made a little card for my mother. Now that she is recovering at home, I know she feels lonely at times.
It's again a Penny Black stamp, but it might be the last for a while now. I got some Valentine presents from my DH; 2 new Cricut cartridges and more. We drove all the way to Crafts U Love and The Craft Barn in Surrey on Saturday. Isn't he sweet? But he got spoiled too and got some guitar stuff.

Supplies: K&Co and Making Memories paper, some punches for the flowers, leaves and border, Glimmer Mist and pearls, Cuttlebug love language die, cricut accent essentials for the speech bubble, Autumn Leaves buttons, Joy Craft ribbon.

Inside the card a small Hero Arts sentiment.
Hope you had a lovely Valentine. Night, night.

Simple Notecards

Hello,
I hope you're not outdone by the snow and the cold. I saw the news today about the snowstorm in Washington DC. The guy was knee deep in the snow. I'm glad we're not having any of it. I believe Kent and London have had snow and another cold snap. I am longing for Spring to arrive. Get some sunshine and some green on the trees again.
I have 6 notecards to share, really easy ones without much fuss.
They 're for my mother so she can send to her friends. She 's now been out of the hospital for a week and has to take things slow as they only managed to open 2 of the 3 blocked coronary arteries.

I made 3 cards in lighter shades and 3 in a darker shade. The paper is Lime Rickey from basic Grey.

Here are the 3 cards in darker colours:

Just a bit of Cuttlebug embossing, some punching, some "inking" with paint dabbers and a little Hero Arts sentiment stamp.

Hope you like them and thanks for visiting.

Love

Hello,

This is my entry for Simon Says Stamps and Cute Card Thursday 99. The theme this week is "love".

I used another stamp from the Penny Black Hugs! set. I added a swirl cut with the Cricut Accent Essentials sprayed with vintage pink Glimmer Mist.

Supplies: K&Co and Making Memories Ledger paper, Nestabilities, paper distresser, K&Co self adhesive ribbon, Prima flowers, Papermania pearls, K&Co rub-on Wild Raspberry, Tsukineko ink in Tuxedo Black, Pixie Dust, Wheat, X-Cut corner rounder.

C4C23

Hello,

This week 's challenge on Crazy for Challenges is ... Be My Valentine...

I 've got 2 cards lined up for you to see. They are small 9.5 x 9.5 cm octagonals with different elements combined on them. I got the "love language" cuttlebug pack last Sunday and used the sentiments and embossing folder with the little hearts. Asbolutely love it!

Supplies: K&Co paper, DCWV and Little Sizzles cardstock, red felt, Nestabilities, Hero Arts, Making Memories, American Crafts and Prima flowers, Papermania pearls, Penny Black stamps, Copics, Sakura gel pen, lace from John Lewis, Woodware leaf punch, Shimmerz Royal red, Tsukineko ink in Tuxedo Black, Red Magic and Wheat.

Hope you like it and thanks for visiting.

New Stamping cartridge

Hello,
I was so surprised to see I had won with the BBTB2 challenge. Big thanks to all who voted and all of you who come and visit. I also like to welcome my new followers.
Isn't this a crazy world! I 'm sure there have always been people crafting and making things, but with the invention of the www and blogging... My! It's fun to see what other people are really making and the inspiration it brings. Thanks for all of you who are sharing and ...visiting. I know, because that's what I used to do before I started my blog last year.
On with the post:
I bought the Stamping cartridge a while ago from Crafts U Love and I finally decided to start using it.
I didn't buy it with the intention to create stamps, but because it has so many sentiments. I'm always on the hunt for some nice words or sentiments in rubberstamps, that 's why I love Hero Arts. I collect even rub-on sentiments from differnt brands.
I made this little card to give to someone sweet. It says "Blessed day" and inside; "...when I met you."

The colours I used are cream, red and grey (mushroom). The paint is from Adirondack Acrylic paint dabber.

I managed to get hold of 5 colors at the Market Gallery. A rare occasion. The stamp comes free with The Craft Stamper magazine and I used VersaMagic Red Magic ink and clear embossing powder. I gave the image several layers (7 in total) with cuts from Woodware punches, Nestabilities and the very last one is from the cartridge. Some paint, embossing and glitter and ready!

The cardstock is from Tesco, Papermania, DCWV, American Crafts and the paper is from Sizzix Little Sizzles. I tried to use up my scraps and it's working. I 've created 3 more of these card toppers, which I will use on later projects.
I'm entering this card on the Saturday Challenge  #68: Hearts. There are already 222 links, but that doesn't matter to me. Just play along. Actually this card was finished on Saturday, but I 'm such a slow photographer and poster. I 've got a nice little camera, but it usually stays in the drawer of my crafting cupboard. Even when we go out, I forget to take it along and when I do, I forget to take it out of my handbag. LOL.

Penny Black stamps

Hello,
Just a quick post. I finally inked up my "hugs!" set from PB. So many stamps, so  little time.

The first one is for Penny Black Saturday Challenge - week 86: Special Someone:

The both cards are for Cute Card Thursday - challenge 97; Blooming Gorgeous and Basic Grey Challenges - week 12; Animals.

I enjoyed making these cards. Penny Black has such cute stamps that are fun to colour with Copics and as you know, I'm a big fan of Basic Grey and here I used Porcelain papers.
Other supplies: Prima flowers, Glimmer Mist, DCWV Spring chipboard, orange vintage flower button from my childhood knits, other buttons & flowers from Autumn Leaves, star buttons from 99p store, Doodlebug jewels, K&Co Wild Raspberry rub-on, Martha Stewart punch.
Thanks for visiting.