I am sending knitting cardstock to.............................

Hi again everyone, I forgot to put a list of the peeps who wanted to get their hands on the knitted cardstock from Michaels. There weren't a lot of you from outside the US, so I am sending you all some. I won't be sending the envelopes to cut down on mailing costs, but you will all get a few
Can the following please email me at enfysc@yahoo.co.uk with their address, and I will get some in the post to you. Have fun!
Zoe (Australia)
Maile (Hawaii)
Diane (UK)
Tereesa C
Sandra (Misty) (UK)
Pauline (Newcastle)
and
StamperSue (UK)

Advent Box for Kiki

I found this MDF advent box in Hobby Lobby, and decided to get one for Max and Kiki. Here is Kiki's.

I sprayed the whole box with blue paint, and sprinkled glitter (my girl does love a bit of glitter) onto the drawer fronts whilst the paint was still wet. I covered the sides and back of the box with paper by HOTP. I then sprayed the little wooden stars I found in Michaels, and hand wrote the numbers with a black memento pen

I stuck some little metal white and silver snowflakes randomly over the front, then added a few of those tiny christmas tree wooden ornaments you can buy - I stuck those on with a hot glue gun

I had big plans to do something handmade and cute for the sides of the box, but then I found these really lightweight wooden Santas. Perfect. So I bought two and stuck them on with hot glue.
I loved the tiny little wooden Christmas ornaments I found for the front, lovingly hand made in China of course.

I have had such fun finding stuff to go in the little drawers. It's a challenge to find things that are

a. inexpensive enough

b. small enough

c. not too heavy

No doubt when the drawers are filled, and it's ready to mail, it will cost me the equivalent of a years wages for the person who made the cute little wooden ornaments, just to get it across the Atlantic. But hey, she's worth it.

I was making Max's box at the same time, his is green and red. So by this time, the floor of the garage was streaked in red, green and blue paint, and I really should have taken a photo of my hands, you wouldn't believe the mess I got into. To cap it all, the paint was very, very, very pungent, and poor Mike had an asthma attack, the first one ever. 'Have you changed your diet? Been exposed to anything toxic?' asked the doctor. I sat guiltily on my red green and blue toxic hands, trying hard to hide the evidence.

Yes, he's fine now thank you.........

See you tomorrow

UR turtley cool!

Here's a card I made with the Cricut Live Simply lite cartridge. The turtle was cut at 4". The papers are all anonymous ones that I have had hanging around for ever.

I love thinking of punny sayings to go on cards - this one made me smile. I hand cut the grass, and doodled around a bit. It's not the greatest photo today, sorry, I think I pressed the shutter too quickly and was too lazy to go back and take another one...

Be sure to keep checking back here, I am getting ready for a big blog candy giveaway, and when that's over, well, I can't wait to tell you what's next in the candy drawer.

So far, all my visits to Dunkin Donuts have been peaceful, ordinary and rather boring........ where have all the eccentrics gone?
See you tomorrow

Look what I found...... I'll send some to the UK

Look what I found in the dollar bins at Michaels. Packs of eight 5" x 5" cards and envelopes, all printed, front and back with knitted images. They are perfectly plain, with no greeting, so effectively, you are getting eight pieces of 10 x 5 printed knitting card for a dollar.

I have seen cards in the past where people have scanned a sweater or jeans to get a realistic fabric paper, now you don't have to bother doing that, all done for you, and at that price, it must be a bargain............

So what did I do with them?

For the first card, I used a snow embossing folder by Kars for the background, then cut the cute sitting snowman from the Snow Friends cartridge at 4 1/2". I used the green cable knit card for his hat and sweater, and added a pompom


Then I decided to use the jacket from the Sport Mania cartridge, and skis from Winter Woodland to make a male card for a skiing enthusiast



Doesn't that fair-isle knit look realistic? Yes, I know ski's aren't red, I used artistic licence there....

and lastly, on a snow background paper again, I cut a red cable mitten and hat. The hat is from Snow Friends, and the mittens are from Joys of the Season

I can see Kiki wearing these, they look so snuggly!

The only drawback to this great find, is that the cards are printed on glossy paper, they would have been even better on matte.

Now I also know how very irritating it is to be in the UK, and visiting blog friends who are banging on about the latest must-have bargain in the USA, so if anyone in the UK or Europe would like a few of these, say so in your comment under this post and I will send an assortment to three of you. Put your name, and where you are from on your comment. They would obviously work with sissix, or any die cut machines. I will pull names out of a hat if more than three want some, I'll put the winners names in my blog post on Friday

edited to say, of course I'll send to Australia as well, anywhere where they don't have a Michaels!

Messing around with inks..............

A bit of a project for today - whilst I was tidying up my crafty stuff, I found all my alcohol inks and distress inks, I wondered where they had got to. So I decided to have a play.

First of all I cut a couple of flower stems from my Cindy Lou cartridge at 5", I cut a couple out but decided to go with the droopy headed one...........

then I stamped a Hero Arts script stamp roughly onto a scalloped 6 x 6 white card base
I used a krylon spray repositionable adhesive to stick the flower onto the card



then started dabbing away with Adirondack acrylic paint dabbers in copper and gold

I covered the whole thing quite liberally



then peeled away the die cut. The flower shape looked too white, so I used my sponge applicator to dab on some antique linen distress ink




I took a large white Prima flower and dabbed away at that as well with my distress inks, then folded it in half with a glue dot and stuck it on. The sentiment is one I brought out with me from the UK - I think it is by Kanban, that had a liberal helping of distress ink as well

Here's the finished card.....................

and I couldn't let that gorgeously coloured mask go to waste, so I used it on this second card. I used an ivory card base for this one. The script embossing folder is a big one by Fiskars. I embossed the little strip on the side with a cuttlebug folder, swiped with a Perfect medium pad, then brushed with copper Perfect Pearls
I doodled a few dots here and there with liquid pearls, they looked a bit white, so I brushed those with the copper Perfect Pearls as well, when they were almost dry, but still a bit tacky. I like the way the acryclic paint curled the die cut up a little, so it looks dimensional. I stuck it on with silicone glue - I use Pinflair from the UK, I don't know if you can get it in the USA, but if you find it, clear the shelves, it's fantastic stuff. You can use silicone sealant available from Lowes or Home Depot - you put it on in blobs, and the blobs dry hard and raised, unlike ordinary glue that flattens when dry. It's useful for skinny little pieces as well, where a foam pad would show.

For lots of ideas on how to use Ranger products, go to their website. You can get loads of ideas from Tim Holtz as well

I keep meaning to take step by step photos of bigger projects, or interesting techniques, if you have found this useful let me know, and I'll try to remember to keep my camera handy - it's a lot easier than taking a video where I have to edit the floor, ceiling and the sound of the telephone ringing, out of the frame!

See you tomorrow - I am making some cards with an exciting new find from Michaels dollar bin.

Sweet Christmas - for Lili of the Valley Challenge

This week's challenge on Lili of the Valley is a sketch by the uber-talented Bev. You all know how I love these little stamps, and for once, I had time to join in

Here's what I came up with............



I used a Promarker to ink the sentiment stamp (by studio G) so that it coordinated perfectly, and there's a lot of stitching on the card but in white, so it is very subtle

Isn't the little image adorable? I can remember Edward with a tea towel on his head at kindergaten, looking just like this little chap

Promarkers used:

Blush and pastel pink

powder blue, denim blue, ice grey 1 & 2

sandstone, tan, caramel,

papers are by Papermania (UK)

I hope you all enjoyed the party over at Papercraft Inspirations? It helped to get me kick-started with Christmas cards, so you will be seeing a few on here from now on. No doubt the warm fuzzy feeling I get when I think about Christmas will soon be replaced by intense irritation when the shops start playing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer music in October.

See you tomorrow

Papercraft Inspirations Christmas Blog Party - day 2

The big weekend blog party is still going on over at Papercraft Inspirations, loads to see over there, and there will be new posts going on during today as well - lots of freebie downloads for you over there.

Here's a couple more Christmas card predictions. Firstly, I think the vintage look is going to cross over with shabby chic, so you get a cleaner, simpler vintagey look.

I stamped the Santa (by Woodware) in adirondack espresso ink, and very lightly shaded just some areas for definition. The crushed velvet ribbon was easy to wind into a rosette, and I added some pearly strings. The faded looking background paper is by Papermania

Secondly, trims are big news at the moment, especially pom-poms. On this card I used a wide ric-rac topped with a black and white bobble trim

The stamp is from Darcie - I love it, especially the sentiment. I think this card will be dropping through Alex's mailbox!
Back with more tomorrow

World Cardmaking Day

Today is world cardmaking day, and I have made a few samples for the Papercraft Inspirations big blog party. Why not go over there and take a look - lots of inspiration and fun going on, with some great giveaways too.

I was asked to make cards using current trends, and this is my first prediction, that non-traditional cards will remain popular, but instead of the purples and blacks of last year, there will be a move to pastels - almost baby colours.

So this is how I coloured in the little image from Lili of the Valley

Here is the base image, I cut around the stamped image with my nestability circle die. I wanted her scarf to overlap the edge of the circle, so I cut around that by hand and lifted it over the circle die so that it didn't get chopped off...................

I wanted to achieve a very soft pastel look, almost like an impression of colour, so I went over the largest central part of the image with a blender pen, you can just about see the grey shadow, which is the wet area the blender has covered


then I applied a wash of colour to the hem of her coat, taking it up to the wet blender pen area

and went over the whole area again with the blender to soften the line

I worked in small areas so that the ink would stay nice and wet

When the colouring was complete, I added some glitter to her sweet little hood, and a couple of white pom poms to the scarf. The little metal snowflakes were a box I got at the end of the Christmas season last year, I think they are meant to be table confetti,

Promarkers used:

skin blush and pastel pink

scarf pastel pink and dusky pink

coat cool aqua and duck egg

hair primrose and sandstone

I will be posting more of the cards I made tomorrow, in the meantime, have a lovely cardmaking day

Two new challenges

The first of the month means another challenge over on Funky Hand, this month Lythan set the challenge

Use at least five Funky Hand papers/elements

So I made a word book with the new Christmas download, available from the site now

These word books are easy to do, you just print out the letters you want and cut around them

I just print on the back of the sheet so that it matches with the paper on the facing page. I got it all ready for my sister to put in photos of her little grandsons, she will give it to her son at Christmas
I used my bind it all to bind the book together

Why not have a go at the challenge? Go over to the blog to see the rules, there is a prize each month for the winner.
On to the next challenge
Friday is Polkadoodles day and the challenge this week, set by Dee, was
Fancy Folds
So I made this swing card, I have no idea what this is really called, swing card thingy should do for now
I used papers and elements from the Sundae of Seasons CD

Difficult to photograph, but here's the front of the card


and this is what happens when you open it, the message swings around. As usual there is a prize for the winner of the challenge, why not have a go, I dare you.......

No need for anyone to worry about the American economy. All will be well. My sister and I have visited every store within a 50 mile radius of here. She went back with an extra case, and one seriously overweight one.

See you tomorrow

Urban Belles accordian fold + Winner of CD

The winner of the Polkadoodles CD has been drawn - as my sister is staying with me and doesn't craft at all, I have been furtively slipping out to get my daily fix of playing with paper. I had a lightbulb moment and set her the task of writing down all the entrants for the CD, cutting them up, putting them into a bowl and we had a ceremonial pulling out the name of the winner

CHERYL K

Congratulations Cheryl, email me with your address and I will get your prize in the mail

Now on to today's card, which is an accordian fold. I used Martha Stewart paper, and the stamp is an Urban Belle by Kanban coloured with promarkers. The stamp is one of a set of 4 clear acrylic stamps available from QVC (UK)

the sentiment is one from a stamp swap, so I don't have the name of the maker

Flowers are Prima and the sentiment oval is by Craftwork Cards


Promarkers used:
skin blush and pale pink
clothes denim blue and powder blue, tan and sandstone
Hair buttercup and primrose

To make an accordian fold card, take a piece of 11 x 5 1/2" cardstock
Place the long edge on your scoring board
Starting at the left hand side, score at 2 1/4"
then score at 4 1/2"
then score at 7"
then score at 8 1/2"
Fold into valley or mountain folds, following the picture of my card as a guide



See you tomorrow

Live Simply - Rabbit Card

I am a bit addicted to these Lite Cricut cartridges, yes they are expensive ($40 for 50 images), yes, it's irritating that they are only available at Walmart in the USA so you can never find them on sale, but the layering on the ones I have is superb. I couldn't resist picking up 'Live Simply', here's what I made with it as soon as it came out of the box.

The rabbit was cut at 4", and the flowers at 3 1/2". The double sided red check paper is from a pack I picked up at Tuesday Morning, sentiment by Craftwork Cards

I rather like the effect of the reversed checks, and how it looks on a black background




Mike has arrived in the US. His plane landed on Sunday evening, and of course I went to pick him up, a bit nervously, as last time I went to the airport I got on the wrong road and had to drive across a 15 mile long bridge to turn around. This time I got there okay, aided by my sister who is better at reading American signs than understanding the spoken word. They have a system in Tampa airport when you are picking someone up that you can only park for about a nano-second, after which a fierce looking chap starts blowing a whistle and making frantic 'move out of here' signals with his arms.
So because I didn't want to take the scenic route again, I was early, missed the turn for the short stay car park, so drove very very slowly past the gesticulating man, round the block, slow down..................... stop and ignore the whistle, jumping in mock surprise when he bustles up to the window and tells me to move on. 'My husbands plane has landed' I plead 'he will be out in a minute'. 'Where from?' he barked, then pointed to a huge display that I had totally overlooked telling us that the plane wouldn't land for another ten minutes. 'Move on' ordered the bossy little man. By this time I had been around the block so often I was getting giddy, and I perfected a way of driving that meant I only moved at about an inch every minute. Clever stuff. So I out-witted the whistling man by taking about 20 minutes to drive a few yards. Every time he whistled and waved his arms about I was able to demonstrate that I was moving. In the end he got fed up and went to harass someone else. Small victories are so sweet............

Miss You............

A sweet little offering today, made with a Lili of the Valley stamp. The X stitches were done with my Paper Pizazz stitching template, the scallops were cut from a sheet of DCWV paper, tiny letters are by Making Memories, and the big letters are Thickers by American Crafts.

Promarkers used:

Skin blush and soft peach

grass - pear green and marsh green

clothes - marine blue

log and shadows - tan, warm grey 4, warm grey 3, ice grey 1

Talking of missing people, I saw some cute Halloween window clings in the dollar bin at Target, which I thought Kiki would love. So I popped them in a padded envelope with a card, and trundled down to the post office. It cost $7 to mail something that cost a dollar!

My sister is still having a hard time with the American accents. As I have never had the slightest problem, I just can't understand it. It got worse in the stores today, the assistant serving her couldn't understand her either. So there they were, both appealing to me 'what did she say?' I think I may apply for a job as interpreter for the United Nations - I am getting plenty of practice.

There is still time to pop your name under the Polkadoodles post (scroll down) to win the CD

Win a POLKADOODLES CD

Today sees a brand new challenge over at Polkadoodles - a card or project with a hidden element. My hidden element is that you can guess what is inside the box I made. In my imagination it is filled with skeins of luscious silks in glowing colours, in real life it would hold a tangle of unravelled cotton reels and a split packet of pins.

I used an MDF BOX (from Hobbycraft) and painted it with antique white acrylic paint.

All the papers and elements were printed from the Sundae of Seasons CD

the scissors were printed out then cut around, I inserted a little brad which makes them look real
I twisted some real cotton around the paper cotton reels

Want to win a Polkadoodles CD? They are so easy to use and full of really fabulous images, you can print them out as shaped cards, or use the elements on their own. Coordinating papers, tags, you've got it all
Nicky is going to be sponsoring the blog on a monthly basis, so each month you will have a chance to win some scrumptious Polkadoodle goodies, and I am delighted to be able to share some of these great products with all my lovely blog followers.

Just some of the decoupage elements/shaped cards you will find on the CD

To see projects made with the CD, pop over to the inspiration gallery at Polkadoodles, and don't forget that there is free shipping worldwide, and no added sales tax. The CD's cost around $25 (with no tax or shipping) at today's exchange rate

To be in with a chance, just leave your name on this post, making sure I can identify you if you win. I will draw a winner by random.org on Wednesday 29th September. Enter any time before noon EST (5 p.m GMT) on that day.

Email subscribers, to enter, click on the going-buggy link at the bottom of your email, to leave your name

Good luck