Joy - for Polkadoodles

This week, over on Polkadoodles there is a sketch, and the Dt had to use papers from the Jingle Jangle CD and the brand new stamps. Mine is very simple, I stamped the flowers first on the green, then a couple of times on the red spotty paper and cut them all out

A bit of doodling, a bit of stitching, and some of the fabulous letter tiles, and I was done


Be sure to pop over to the Polkadoodles site to join in....



The winner of the Cutting Cafe tiny boxes is


KAYE

(Kayescraftyspace)




Congratulations Kaye, email me and I will send the file to you

Folds for Daring Cardmaker and Kraft for Allsorts

Over at Daring Cardmakers, one of my favourite challenge blogs, the dare this week is 'folds'. It's ages since I made a tri-shutter card, and after faffing around with this one I remembered why....... ! I played around with the folding, because I wanted the bottom central strip to fold over the front when it was closed, and to perch a Tilda on the side. If you play around, there are a lot of variations on the folds for this card.

I went to visit a crafty buddy Phyllis today, and she had had the brilliant idea of using Tildas to perch on one of these cards, so of course I could feel a scraplift coming on as I looked at it. Thanks Phyllis. Unfortunately, she won't start a blog, which is a great shame as her work is fabulous

Back to the card, I made the base from brown cardstock, and used various coordinating papers from a Martha Stewart stack to line all the little boxes

The colours are a bit off, their faces aren't orange in real life - it's the flash

The ribbon is a dark brown felt I picked up in the dollar bin at Michaels, and the 'brads' are card candy from Craftwork cards in the UK
and here's what the card looks like closed.
do a search for tri-shutter cards and there are quite a few you tube videos out there
The sentiment is stampin up - a bit twee, but it was the right size for the space! Believe me, whoever gets this will be one of my special mates, I don't faff around this much for just anybody :)


Next, a brand new challenge for me, Allsorts. I have seen loads of great stuff on this site, but have just never had the time to play before now. Their theme for this week is Kraft, so I made this...........


The kraft is actually a torn kraft envelope, the gorgeous giraffe (Rubber Cottage)was stamped in black and clear embossed, then coloured with chalks. I ran a tag through a corrugator thingy after stamping a few leaves on it
The papers are by MAMBI

Tomorrow is a bit of a craft fest, I am going to join a group of buddies for a session, but first it will be up to the pool for a swim, it's still reaching record high temperatures here. Please don't hate me, all my UK pals....
So I'll be back on Friday, Polkadoodles day

Halloween Wreath

I am really pleased with the way this turned out. I didn't do it for a challenge/design team or a magazine, I just did it for me, and had a lot of fun doing it!

I painted a 12 inch polystyrene ring with black acrylic paint, and wrapped it with 2" wide orange organza ribbon, then came the fun part, I cut a 12" spiders web from the paper dolls cartridge, and lots of little ghosts and spiders. They were all given googly eyes

I cut the word BOO from plantin, at 3", and shadowed it in black, then stuck some little ghosts and spiders to peek around the letters. I curved the spiders around my thumb, to make them more realistic looking
Everything was attached to the wreath with a hot glue gun, messy, but at least it holds stuff very firmly in place


Don't forget to leave a comment on yesterday's post if you want to be in with a chance to win the Cutting Cafe tiny box set

It's BBTB Day, a bow for Caardvarks, and WIN a cute download from the CC

The challenge over on the Bitten By The Bug site this week was to use the chandelier from the Home Decor cartridge.

I cut it first in a pale grey shadow, at 4", then twice in black, and once in ivory. I stuck on the layers with silicone glue for dimension, (I use pinflair glue, which you use with a syringe, it flows very easily, unlike some silicones which are very stiff) and used just the candles from the ivory cut

The background label is a Go-Kreate die, that I ran through the cuttlebug

The sentiment was computer generated, and I added some American Craft thickers for the word LIGHT

I wanted to make this card for the Caardvarks challenge which is ribbon, and played around with a ribbon background, but it was all a bit much, in the end a simple white organza bow finished the card off

The lace is real, and I added lots of black gems
Just look at these tiny boxes, I cut them from a new set over at the Cutting Cafe, you get the template for the box, and a whole sheet of different sentiments, done both in circles and plain text. The sentiments are gorgeous, 'something yummy for your tummy', 'nutty about you' and the two you see here are just a few examples
All the papers are by SEI, and the flowers are punched with a marvy flower punch





The little box below is just big enough to hold a couple of Hershey's kisses, or some M & M's - how great it would be to make one to put at each of your guests place settings at the Christmas table, and they are fast and super-easy to make
Edited to say I've had some bewildered comments from my UK blog buddies asking what are Hershey's kisses. They are a brand of chocolate here in the US, that come wrapped in a little twist of silver paper. M & M's are like smarties.


and the really great thing is, Regina has given me this set to give away. If you would love to win it, leave a comment on this post, and I will draw a winner on thursday morning




Mike has arrived, and yes, at the risk of being boring, I did get hopelessly and completely lost when going to fetch him. I won't bore you with the details, but it involved driving over a very, very long bridge with no way of turning back, in the complete opposite direction to the airport. He took one look at my flushed, tearful, dishevelled face, and said 'I'll drive home' - poor chap, he had been travelling for 15 hours by then, but..............
that man knows me so well..............................

Warm Wishes......

These stamps are from the Ollyphant range by Kars (a UK company). I bought five sets and have never used them, forgot all about them in fact.................until now. The papers are by MAMBI, and the little branch is a Martha Stewart punch called Autumn Branch

Mike flies in today, I can't wait to see him - just hope I can navigate my way down to the airport without getting lost, as you know, finding my way around is not my strong point, in fact I probably couldn't find my way out of a paper bag.....

Crimbley Doodles - It's Polkadoodle Day

This is the sketch for the Polkadoodles challenge this week, and we all used the Crimbley Doodles download. a lot of inking going on here, I cut the tree freehand, and the sentiment is American Crafts thickers. These papers are a pleasure to work with

Nikky is on Create and Craft TV this weekend, with her latest CD, a double one, which is a male themed Cd, I haven't seen it yet, but judging from the rave reviews from the rest of the team, it is simply fabulous

Off to experience an American Ikea now, I wonder if it will be a replica of the ones at home? I need some stogvands and bjirons (I made that up, but they could just turn into best sellers)

Funky Hand and Lily-Boo Monthly Challenges

The challenge this month, set by my lovely teamie Allison, is Halloween. Pop over to the blog to see all the DT samples, and you have a whole month to get your card done - with a £20 Funky Hand voucher for the winner ($30)

My card was made using papers from the Funky Seasons CD, with the ghost cut with my cricut using the Paper Dolls Dress Up cartridge. The BOO letters were cut from Plantin Schoolbook. A little bow, and some googly eyes, and she looks quite sweet all dressed up for the 31st October!
Now for Lily-Boo, the second of our monthly challenges, thanks to everyone for the fantastic response to the first challenge, the winners are on the blog NOW. This month is a sketch by Jane, which I have forgotten to take a photo of, but you can take my word that I turned it on it's side and took a few liberties with.
The little girl is from the download Xmas Corners, I covered the snow with Martha Stewart carrerra marble glitter, it is very coarse, and I loved the effect. The snowflakes are sissix and cuttlebug dies.
If you love challenges, you have a whole month to join in with this one, and again, there is a prize for the winner. If you don't have any Lily Boo images, there is a freebie fairy on there for you to pick up too






THEY'RE BACK!



Yes, the caterpillary thingys that ate up my oleander bushes last year are back. Aren't they horrible? They may not stay long this time, as my oleanders never recovered from their attack, and I don't have any more goodies for them to munch through

Black and Yellow

First a couple of sneeky peeks, you will see the cards tomorrow, the first one is from my challenge card for Funky Hand's monthly challenge

and this one is from my card for Lily-Boos monthly challenge. A new challenge will be posted on both sites tomorrow, I will give you links so that you can all join in the fun.......
I did this card for Cute Card Thursday, where the challenge this week is black and yellow, and Papertake Weekly, where the challenge is black, white, and one other colour, so this fits the bill for both. I found this pack of black and white chipboard pieces from making memories on sale last year - it's one of those packs full of ridiculous sentiments that I for one would never use, even on a scrapbook page. Frolic? Can you imagine a card/scenario that would fit that word? Let's face it, the word is not in most peoples everyday vocabulary 'oh yes, we went for a picnic yesterday and had a lovely frolic in the grass', we all hear that sort of remark every day. Don't we?
I digress (as usual), back to the card, it's made entirely of frolicless chipboard pieces, so the pack wasn't a total waste of money. I added a couple of yellow flowers from Poppicrafts

The gems were from poundland in the UK

That's it for today folks. Anne has gone to her friends in South Carolina now, I have done some housework, and the coast is clear for some serious crafting.................but first I need a large iced caramel latte from dunkin donuts. See you tomorrow

Tartan Rock for Daring Cardmakers

On Daring Cardmakers this week, their dare is to use tartan. I found this tartan paper, and for some reason immediately thought of the guitar from the Indie Art cartridge - maybe it was a subconcious Rod Stewart connection, although I am not a huge fan of the wee Scot.

So I covered the front of the card with the tartan paper (HOTP), and found a scrap of music paper for the centre. The guitar was cut at 4 1/2", once in black with the blackout feature, twice in black without blackout, and a layer in red. I threaded it with red cotton, I haven't a clue how many strings a guitar has, and was not about to break off and google it - so this is an artistic interpretation!

The guitar really looks quite dimensional, I popped each layer up with silicone glue, and in my usual fashion rushed to photograph it before the excess glue was dry and I could peel it away... never mind, you get the picture

I'll be back tomorrow with a couple of sneek peeks...........

Happy Birthday Matey - The Cutting Cafe

Regina Easter has done a really great pirate set over on The Cutting Cafe, I used the happy birthday frame for this one. The image is a download from Dustin Pike called pirate boy - he doesn't look much like a boy to me, so I gave him some designer stubble. That corrugated blue card is coming in handy this week, and you will notice that my beloved easy- to- thread sewing machine is back in action

The grey of the wording looks as if I have been very clever, in fact my black ink cartridge was on the point of running out, but I quite like the shadowy look it gives
Would you believe I have no critter tales to tell you, the frogs have vanished, never to be seen again, and all is quiet on the wildlife front. What a relief!

Howdy - Fabric card

I found this great trim in the clearance aisle at Joannes, and snapped some up, I knew straightaway that it would look good on a man card. The cowboy hats were from a remnant of fabric from the same store, I covered the back with a glue stick, stuck them onto cardstock, then cut them out when dry.

I cut the feather thingy off another hat, and popped it on with a foam pad for a bit of dimension. The howdy letters are thickers by American Crafts
Two frogs seem to have taken up residence outside my front door. I don't know if they are frogs or toads, because they are orange in colour. They are probably sitting there waiting for the huge spider to come back, you're wasting your time guys, he's dead!
Have a great weekend

Halloween for Polkadoodles

This week, we could use any image we liked for the Polkadoodle challenge as long as we coloured it in ourselves, rather than using one of the many already coloured images on the CD's. I used the Halloween download (so did quite a few of the others on the design team), that purple background paper is so cute with all the little dangling spiders with the big eyes. If I think spiders are so cute, why did I rush to get a can of lethal spray to dispatch one that was sitting on my doorstep when we arrived home tonight. It was the size of a horse - well, that might be a slight exaggeration, but it was big, and is hopefully now very dead, I am too scared to go and see in case it is mad with me and runs into the house.........

Back to the card, all the images, and sentiment are from the download. Polly is coloured with copic markers, the edge of the mat was punched with the famous Martha Stewart drippy goo border punch. Love the way the cat has his little mask and cloak on, all ready to go trick and treating.

To join in and see all the other samples, go to Polkadoodles - Ruth has done two great tutorials on colouring for you this week as well

I have done two commissions for the November issue of Creativity magazine, a new magazine for me, and I had an email asking for a mug shot. The one on the blog wouldn't do, too small (the smaller the better as far as I am concerned). So I got Anne to take a few, she assures me this is a good photo. Good grief, do I really look like this? I look like someone who has escaped from an asylum and is grinning maniacally, and what's the matter with my eyes, are they always that squinty? Why is this image nothing like the image I have in my head? Anyway, as I was under pressure to send it in, this is the one that will be printed (hopefully in postage stamp size) in the next edition. I know you would all rather see the cards, but that will have to wait - for now

When I Count My Blessings I Count You Twice....

Over at the Cutting Cafe, Regina has some great new sets, including this Count Your Blessings circle.

I printed it onto brown cardstock, much too big - it was a mistake, then decided I could turn a mistake into something useful and cut the circle in half to form an arch at the top of the card. The base card is the doily cut from Wildcard, cut at 6" on blackout. All the papers are from the DCWV Indian Summer stack

I cut the flowers out of the paper, then cut the centres out of a couple more and lifted them up with silicone glue. I did this with a couple of the leaves as well
It's a beautiful day here in Florida, so off for a swim, then to do battle in Michaels to exchange a new Cricut cartridge I bought (winter woodland) which turns out to be faulty, none of the images will cut, all I can get is the font

Tree card and a horror story

Isn't this tree gorgeous? It's by Impression Obsession I stamped it in black and heat embossed it with clear embossing powder, then sprinkled with diamond glitter. I stamped three times, onto very pale pink card, cut out the paisley leaves and popped them up with foam pads. The papers are by Making Memories and the lace is some remnant scraps

The black label shape was cut using a Go-Kreate label die, and the sentiment button is from Craftwork Cards
And the horror story? This will have a familiar ring to those of you who read this blog regularly. Yesterday we drove down to St Petersburg to go to the Salvador Dali museum. That done, we drove a bit further to go to a big outlet mall. Much shopping later, we left for home at about 8.00 for a journey that should have taken 1 1/2 hours. We finally made it home at 11.30pm, all the extra time being taken up with driving round, and round, and round and round the complicated road system in Tampa. There is a road system in the UK called spaghetti junction, well the Tampa system should be called knitting wool junction. Nightmare! We sailed past the exit four times, passed the 'Welcome to Tampa' sign numerous times - approaching the city from east, west and south. We even found ourselves driving round the airport, headed for the departure terminal. Anne confessed later that she thought we were going to end up on the runway. Headline news "English women arrested for driving in the path of a 747!" Of course by this time we were reduced to hysterical giggles, and were so thoroughly disorientated we didn't have a clue where we were, the only thing we knew was that we had to head north, that we were hungry and that we needed the loo. (restroom in USAspeak)
We made it back via a slightly unconventional route and headed straight for the wine

House Mouse Autumn Card

I love making autumny cards after the bright colours of summer. I coloured the mouse in with prisma pencils, the papers are all from DCWV's Indian Summer stack, and the leaves were cut from Home Accents

The leaves look a bit frayed in the photo, they are not like that in real life......
We have been coping with a few technical breakdowns here..... I won't bore you with the non-functioning dishwasher, or the memory stick that refused to give up it's pictures to the computer. Let's concentrate on the saga of the garage door................
Anne and I went out (shopping!) one evening, got back home and the remote control for the garage door failed. We didn't have a key, so drove to some neighbours who were already in their PJ's and collected the spare key. The next day, the door wouldn't budge, or opened in a intermittent sort of way. A friend called round to take a look. He tested the remote - nothing, tested the wall switch, nothing................ then he took a look at the sensors and said 'ermmmm, you've put a sack of garbage in front of the sensor'. Voila, fully functional door. Thanks Howard. Truly a double blonde moment I think, we probably shouldn't be allowed out without supervision

Special Birthday Card

Anne asked me to make a special card for a close friend Beth, who has a milestone birthday coming up next week. Now Beth is elegance personified, so I tried to make a card that would complement this, and used these Martha Stewart papers in shades of a bronzey gold and aqua. The letters were cut using the Storybook cartridge at 2 1/2" and dotted with some glittered prima flowers.

Yes, I have finally finished unpacking and was able to get organised to make this card last night. It's quite disorientating because I have forgotten where everything is kept here, so keep rummaging in drawers to find stuff. I had a minor panic when I couldn't find my nestabilities, they had been tucked into a little side pocket of a case and got overlooked. I have doubles of all the heavy items - cricut, cuttlebug etc, but the nesties, embossing folders, cartridges etc do the journey with me. So now, all my stuff is around me, and all I need to do is to get cracking on some cards.........

Polly Polkadoodles

Well I still haven't unpacked all my crafting stuff to get organised - will I ever get it done? Well I will if I can just stop dashing around every shop within a 20 mile radius

So here is a Polkadoodles card that I did for the challenge a couple of weeks ago but never posted on my blog because it was when I was ill. All the papers and images are from the Sugar Birdies CD. Don't forget to pop over to the Polkadoodles blog tomorrow to see all the new challenge cards, there will be tutorials on there for some rather funky stuff as well

Great little sentiment circles, and don't you love that black and whlte polka dot paper
................
I promised an up to date photo of baby Monty, this was taken a week ago, he is 13 weeks now and utterly edible - even more so when he is cuddled up in his towel after his bath
and here is my Kiki, when I am there, nobody else is allowed to do the bathtime routine, and just before I took this photo she said - out of the blue - "I love you Ma" - well I love you too sweetheart, you are my most special little girl

Grandchildren are such a joy!