Queen For A Day

I made a similar design to this before, but when I saw that Daring Cardmakers wanted us to create a card with a crown on it, I just had to make it again, tweaking it slightly and changing the colours. One of the things I did was to change the size - I had a heck of a job to find an envelope for the last one, so this one sits nicely on a 6 x 4" card.

The crown is from the Happily Ever After cartridge and was cut at 4". I stuck it on the base card, (which was made from double sided cardstock,) at an angle, using dimensional foam sticky pads, and trimmed away the edges of the card around the crown on the right hand side. The sentiment is a home made rub-on (scroll down to 'Labels' on the right of the page for instructions on how to do this). The lacy border on the bottom is the famous Martha Stewart doily border punch. The edges were inked with copper brilliance ink.

You Lucky Duck

This is another of those Inkadinkadoo dollar stamps, and as soon as I saw the sentiment I thought of the little duck from Animal Kingdom. I cut at 3" and decided she would look cute all dressed up in Autumn colours! I used the DCWV Fall stack for all the papers, added doodling, and thought of giving her a ribbon bow, but left her bowless in the end.

So what's been happening here in the past couple of days? Well, I worked late into the night to finish a magazine commission, it's all ready to mail now, and later today I go to the airport to pick up Mike who is flying in from the UK. So a happy day, made happier by the fact that my High 5 card won Cardvaarks 'work' challenge, so I have a gift voucher to spend. Yipee!

Funky Hand Cards

Here are two cards made with the scrumptious papers from Funky Hand. It is such a great idea to be able to browse through a range of papers and just print off what you want. I usually print onto white cardstock, so the weight is heavy enough to make the base card if you want, and the layers add body to the card. These lovely papers are from the Paper Blossom set, which is a download you can put straight onto your computer and begin crafting!

The first one just has the front of the card folded back, and a panel of paper attached. The sentiment circle is printed off the CD. The flowers on the right hand side were cut from one of the pattern papers and a gem attached to the centre. The second card uses a stamped image by My Favourite Things, love these stamps. I stamped the tiny teacup onto pattern paper and covered it in glossy accents, then attached it with a tiny brad.

Card Giveaway Winners

Firstly, thank you all for the wonderful comments and encouragement you gave me - you made my week and I wish I could make a card for each and every one of you. So I printed out the names, including some who emailed me, and some who sent me a message via the Cricut message board. Then I cut them up and put them all in the 'hat' (actually it was a mixing bowl)

By this time I was exhausted and had to have a cup of tea. Got my friend to dip in and pick out the name of :

CarolGoughLust

Carol, I will be sending you the Halloween cards

AND

The second name picked was

Leslie (crdmkrleslie)

Leslie, I will be sending you the second batch of cards

Could both you ladies please email me with your addresses.

Elegant Thank You Card

I made this for the Caardvarks challenge, which this week is being sponsored by Cropstop, so a yummy prize up for grabs there. The challenge was to use a diecut, nice and simple! The flower was cut at 3" from George, then I cut a plain circle to stamp the sentiment on, I used a foam stamp that I got free with a magazine for the thanks circle words. Popped a prima flower in the centre, and ran the lime flower through the cuttlebug (swiss dots folder) The green strips at each side were cut using a Martha Stewart punch, and I added strips of real lace as well. I do like gatefold cards, and now that I have a score-pal they're even easier. This one is 6" square, so you cut your 12 x 12 card to 6", then score it at 3" from each side. Voila, a gatefold card.

Sneak Peek - Papercraft Inspirations

Here's sneak peek of one of the cards published in this month's Papercraft Inspirations - the whole article was about undies - titled Cheeky Undies. On sale in the UK on the 26th September, a month later in the USA.
This month they wanted a photo of me, I was very, very reluctant to send one until I had my highlights re-done (frosting on my hair for US friends :) Anyway, the deadline was approaching, the printer wouldn't wait for me to get my hair done, and I got Mike to stand as far away from me as possible, snapping away with the digi camera, 'Go back further', I kept saying, until he was out the front door. Vanity, thy name is woman.

Not one but two Halloween Cards, would you like them?

Starting with the last card, the design team on Bitten By The Bug were asked to use the house from the Christmas Cheer cartridge, I cut it at 4" and added some doodling and a little ghost from the Paper Dolls cartridge, cut at 1" Click HERE to see all the design teams ideas

The middle card is a stamp by Great Impressions, th pumkins are quite heavily glittered, what a pity glitter doesn't show on photos. The 'hey pumpkin' sentiment was from studio G

The top photo shows all the Halloweeen cards I have made - we have Boo to you with the witches feet, hey pumpkin, haunted house, ghouls just wanna have fun, and best witches. Now would anybody like these cards? I know that most people who look on here are cardmakers, but if you have loads of little ones in your life/not a lot of time/whatever, and would like these, then please just leave me a comment to say so. In the unlikely event that more than one person would like them, I will pick the names out of a hat on Friday evening. Be sure to leave your name in a way that I can identify you ( e.g Enfys from Solihull .....) The cards will all come complete with an envelope ready for you to send.

Belated Birthday Card

Once again, the inspiration for this card came from a $1 set of clear stamps by Inkadinkadoo. I immediately thought of the snail from the Walk in my garden Cricut cartridge, and cut her (well, it must be a female snail in that pretty floral skin!) at 2 1/2" out of a pattern paper by Bo Bunny, then cut the shell from another pattern paper by Martha Stewart. It lacked definition so I cut a shadow in yellow and lots of white doodling. I popped some prima flowers on her antennae, with a small black button in the centre. My crafting friend Phyllis produced the googly eye with eyelashes (how cute), and she was ready to go.

Someone asked me what white pen I use for doodling? I find the Inkessentials pen fantastic, it's a very fine tip, and very white. Shows up very well on dark paper.

Off to a crop again tonight, down at Scrapbook Fanatics. I have a load of stuff to do at the moment, but tonight will be just for pleasure, I think I will get out my photos of Kiki and Max and make a page or two..............

Sweet Birthday - Doodlecharms

This was made using a mixture of the new sweet stack by DCWV, and the gorgeous Martha Steward double sided paper that I found in Walmart of all places. The cupcake was cut from Doodlecharms at 4" the black paper underneath is the new magic paper, that when you tear it, shows a coloured core. Well it's new to me, you have all probably been using it for yonks, I was never a trend setter! The sentiment is from a clear set by Inkadinkadoo. The square scallops used the square nestabilities that I have been sent to try for a month by Cropstop. They are sending various tools to the design team to try out, and this is my first attempt. Hop over there, the forum is up and running now as well as a gallery with some great work for you to browse.

So this is my offering for this week's challenge over at Cute Card Thursday, the challenge being food. What nicer food is there in the world than a yummy cupcake.......................... The photo looks small today for some reason, click on it for a bigger view.

Ghouls Just Wanna Have Fun - Halloween

Okay, so I know this is silly, but I found the saying on a studio G set and just had to make this card. I cut the girlie ghoul from Paper dolls at 3", gave her a bow, googly eyes and some eyelashes as well as a scrolly doodle border. The papers are Daisy D, the scallop rectangles are nestabilities, cut in the cuttlebug, and the black border is a doodle bug paper frill. I thought this would be a perfect Halloween card for a teenage girl.

Talking of silly, I went to Walmart yesterday and when I came out, a truck had parked next to me, it was covered in bright green artificial turf, no paintwork, just turf. A large sign proclaimed that this work of art belonged to 'THE PET BUTLER - your dog poops, we scoop'. On the back it said 'Your dog's #2 is our #1' . There was a chap sitting in the drivers seat, he did not look a happy bunny, and given his occupation I could see why really. It set me thinking, you have to PAY someone to scoop the poop? Is there a rare breed of dog in the USA that I have not heard of, that produces vast, elephant-like quantities of the stuff? I have visions of some very rich person taking a tiny Yorkie out for a little walk, for him to do his little business, then taking out her cell phone "Hello, is that the pet butler? Can you come at once please to the corner of 42StN and 34StS, I have a scoop for you......................."

Flower Frame Card from Pooh for BBTB

This week the design team were asked to use the flower frame from the Pooh and Friends cartridge. The diversity of designs was amazing. Take a look HERE
I used Bo Bunny papers and cut the frame at 3", scattered some liquid pearls about and cut a butterfly from the Storybook cartridge.

It can be quite entertaining to be a Brit living part-time here in the USA. The nice thing is that everyone loves our accent - I can be talking absolute rubbish as usual, and everyone hangs on to every word because of the accent. I find that if I say 'Cheerio' everyone loves it, so I say it often just for effect - never say it back in the UK! I do get asked the same questions over and over again, in stores, coffee shops, hairdressers, so here is my list of frequently asked questions, FAQ's and the answers:
FAQ #1 What is the Queen Really Like? - Well, like most of her loyal subjects, I have never actually met the Queen. However, just in case she is reading this blog, Hi Liz, I'll be round at four, can we skip tea and meet at Starbucks, make mine a large latte.
FAQ#2 Is Charles really Happy with Camilla? - Who knows, who cares?
FAQ#3 Do we really eat kidneys - Well yes, we do. If you have never tasted steak and kidney pie, you are missing out on one of the great gastronomic delights of life. The trick is to ignore what the former function was of whatever you are eating - a bit like not thinking about cows when you are munching into a Big Mac.
FAQ#4 How do we get around with all that fog? - Tip: Stop reading Charles Dickens and maybe take up Harry Potter instead. We stopped having fog when they passed a clean air act about 60 years ago. Now we just have rain instead, you're right about that.
I won't go into the Diana conspiracy theories or whether Tony Blair is a nice man....................So there you go, everything everybody wants to know about the UK, cheerio for now

Black and White Cat Card

This is for a challenge on Cute Card Thursday, a simple request, make a card with a cat or dog theme. Well, would you believe I couldn't find a stamp I wanted to play with, so off to the store I went, and saw this cute set by Inkadinkadoo. As the card looks quite complete without a saying, I left it blank, and it goes into my 'any occasion' box, where I can personalise it before sending. The black and white chipboard pieces are by Making Memories, and the paper is Bo Bunny. Whilst I was cutting the nestabilities scallops with my cuttlebug, my 'B' plate snapped clean in half - oh no, oh dear, good gracious me, I will have to go to the craft stores AGAIN - said with a grin. I think I am on the list for Michaels and Jo-Annes staff Christmas parties.

I went to an all day crop yesterday, it was fun. Held at a scrapbook store called Scrapbook Fanatics, on SR 52 in Hudson, Florida. I got quite a lot done, design team work, magazine work, and just general messing around stuff. I always anticipate that I am going to finish a lot more than I do, and take everything but the kitchen sink with me to these things. I spend more time imitating a beast of burden, trudging to and from the car with my twenty sixth box of 'I'm bound to need this" stuff, than I do crafting. I always enjoy it though.

Accordian Fold Card - Scor Pal

So I gave in and bought a Scor-pal, and I love it, it makes folding so easy. I made this accordian fold card in super quick time. The coffee mugs are from Christmas Cheer, cut at 4" (they cut small because of the swirls). The papers are from a pack I found in Walmart, aren't they pretty? The first photo shows the card closed, with a 'belly band' to hold it closed. The sentiment says 'Best Friends and Coffee - the Perfect Blend' and is from a mini set by My Favourite Things.
If you don't have a scor-pal, it's still easy to do this card. Take a piece of cardstock and cut it to 4 1/4" x 11". Working from the left, score at 4", 6 1/2 , 9" and 10 1/2"
Don't fold yet. Cut three co-ordinating panels
1 1/4" x 4" (left panel)
2 1/4" x 4" (centre panel)
2 3/4" x 4" (right panel)
Glue these panels to the base card, and fold the accordian pleats (if you look at the picture of my card, you will see which way to go). Now decorate as you wish. To make a band, cut a piece of paper 7" x 1/2" (I cut two, one slightly wider)
I got it from Cropstop using my discount code they gave me for being guest designer (coupon code on the right under the cropstop logo). Super fast shipping too. They now have a message board running on their site, another place to hang out with like-minded friends, take a look.

High 5 - Congrats Card

The challenge on Caardvarks this week is 'Working for a Living' , so I used some office supplies. I used a tear out index card in bright neon green and a giant paper clip on this one. The 'high 5' was cut at 3" from the Graphically Speaking cartridge, and the 'congrats' sentiment is, what else, a studio G $ stamp. I thought this would make a good card for someone who has just got a new job/promotion.
Our house here in Florida has been painted, it was such a different way of doing things than in the UK, where most of us live in brick or stone houses, and just the windows/doors etc are painted. Here, all the windows were covered with brown paper - the house looked like an oven-ready turkey all trussed up. Then they just spray the whole thing. The only problem was, mid-spray it started to rain and the painters left (they don't have the stoicism of British painters, who huddle miserably for hours in the rain, waiting for a five minute break in the clouds), so I was in my turkey house all night, the only exit being through the garage. Each time the wind blew, it rustled the paper and it sounded just like animals prowling around...............not much sleep that night! Yesterday, the sun shone, so now we are freshly painted and looking good.

Best Witches Halloween Card

A new challenge site for me this week, Verve stamps have a challenge each week over on Splitcoast stampers. Click HERE for details. The challenge was to use the 'out of the box' technique, and as I don't have any Verve stamps yet, I used this little witch which is one of this seasons halloween releases from the dollar bin in Michaels (studio G wood mounted). The sentiment and spider are from the studio G clear sets.

So I stamped the witch in black onto white card, then cut around her by hand as it is such a small stamp, cutting around her hat and the moon. Coloured her in with prisma pencils, and inked the edges very liberally in black ink. All the papers are scraps of DCWV that I had hanging around, so I felt virtuous as well. The out of the box technique is pretty effective, and very easy to do. Stamp your image, then cut around 3/4 of it, I usually use a coluzzle cutter for this, but was able to do this one by hand. Cut out the hat and the moon, so that it is totally out of your circle/square/oval. I find that mounting it with pop dots works best as it emphasised the cut out.

Just Me And My Honey

There is a challenge on Cropstop to make a project using red, yellow and orange. I found this quite hard to do, and in the end went with quite a deep orange and red, and a pale primrose yellow. The papers are by making memories, the bee stamp was from Walmart, and the sentiment is by SeeD's - I knew I would find a use for it someday. More random wobbly stitching seemed to fit the picture.
The 10% coupon code EDTB-91 is still valid at Cropstop and they have a new gallery of the design team work, some fabulous stuff on there, take a look.

BOO! Halloween Card

The challenge on Papertake weekly this week is Autumn. I started to think of russet coloured leaves...........then when I was rummaging through my stamps, found this one from last year which I had never used. The witches feet were a dollar bin find in Michaels. I cut the word BOO at 2" using the stamped cartridge and did lots of random wobbly stitching (yes, this time it was deliberate!) Papers are by Heidi Grace.

Male birthday - Frog Card

Well, I have been a bad blogger this week, I was exhausted after the trip over the Atlantic, and have just spent a few days getting myself organised here in Florida. I have found time to go to all the craft stores within a 20 mile radius of me though.
I fell in love with this frog image from Sparkle and Stamp, and thought he would look cute all dressed in green gingham, so I stamped him twice then cut out his checked image and stuck it to the base. The sentiment stamp is by studio G. All of a sudden it sort of morphed into a male card and I am really pleased with it, I always have a problem making men's cards look bright, I always seem to reach for the browns and dark green. Added some dew drops for bubbles. The glass is coated with glossy accents. Colouring done with prisma pencils and a goo gone pen.
I've had a few emails asking me where I got the stamp. It's from Carrie at Scrapbook Fanatics store here in Hudson. Email her, she may be able to send one out to you www.scrapbookfanatics@verizon.net or call 727 819 9300
I have also been working with my kit that Cropstop sent me for the October design team, but of course I can't share those with you yet. The 10% coupon below the Cropstop logo on the right is still valid - she has all the latest cuttlebug folders in stock.

Clown Birthday Card

This week, the design team on Bitten By The Bug were asked to use the clown from the Paper Dolls cartridge. I have never made one of these little figures before, I don't know why, but I just can't warm to them, so this was not my favourite challenge. However, 'clowns' said Regina, so clowns it is. That's one of the things I love most about BBTB, it always forces me to think outside the box. Challenge is the right word for it. Take a look over on the site at all the different interpretations of the cut. My favourite this week is Sharon's card, she has done such a great job on the face.
So I am all ready for my next adventure - I fly back to Florida tomorrow, for three months. My cases weight a ton, how can that be when I have a full closet of clothes over there? It must be all those 'just in case' objects that have sneaked in when I wasn't paying attention.