Giraffe - Any Occasion Card

The theme over on Papertake Weekly is embossing. I stamped this cute giraffe in black ink, then clear embossed it, so he is nice and glossy. I left the card blank so that it could cover a number of occasions - including men's cards (always so difficult to make I find, if the man doesn't have a particular hobby like golf or fishing). Of course, dry embossing is a breeze with the cuttlebug, so used this small mosaic pattern as it looks something like the markings on the giraffe if you use a bit of imagination!

Relax - Female Card

My card for today is late - I have been out shopping all day with two friends, we hit a total of five scrapbooking shops, had a good lunch and a lot of fun on the way. But my new sewing machine has broken! I have to take it back in the morning, I'm a bit nervous in case there is a problem, I've only used it twice. Electrical equipment and me have never had a friendly relationship.....

The image in this card is from Pink Petticoat, the 'relax' is white rub-ons from Heidi Grace, and the saying is by Penny Black. I really like this, I love the colour combo of blue and brown. The theme on Arty Girlz is open this week, so this is my offering for them.

Baby Boy Card - Plantin and New Arrival

Here is the baby boy card. This time I cut a 5" strip from 12 x 12" cardstock and scored three times, at 4". Covered the three sections in coordinating papers, and again cut the word B O Y out using plantin at 4", and ran it through the cuttlebug as before, then cut the letters again to shadow them. I used stitching quite randomly to outline the edges, and decorated each letter.

The onesie on the front was cut from new arrival at 3". The baby word is white rub-ons from American Crafts

Baby Girl Card - Plantin and New Arrival

Another challenge site, ScrummyStash Cafe asked for a baby project. I made these two cards last night. The baby girl card was cut from a 12 x 12 sheet of card, I cut it at 5", then scored the long side at 3", making 4 folds. The B A B Y letters were cut from Plantin at 5", two in white and two in the palest of pinks. I ran them all through my cuttlebug using the swiss dots folder, then decorated - I had fun with this, put all sorts of little embellishments on it.

I covered the front with a spotty paper and made a band to keep it all together. The little dress was cut from New Arrival at 3"

For You Card - Walk in my Garden for BBTB

The designer brief this week was to use the card feature from the walk in my garden cartridge. I cut the base card in a glossy pale pink cardstock, backed it with black and white spotty paper, then cut the love lies bleeding to put as a spray on the side. The frame around the window was cut using stretch your imagination.

I used glossy accents on the flowers and the words, so this really is a shiny card!

Mermaid Card

Here is my card for today, love this cute mermaid. I coloured her with prismacolour pencils ad gamsol, then used loads of stickles. I stamped her again onto pattern paper and cut out the tail. The saying is 'florida or bust!'

It's a gorgeous day here in Florida, and the cranes are mating I think. Those of you who don't know, cranes are about 4' tall birds, grey with a red crest and spindly legs. They walk in a very slow, measured way. So we had a pair on the grass outside the house yesterday, and the male was doing everything in his power to attract the female. He was jumping quite high into the air, flapping his wings and twirling around. At one stage he got so excited that he fell over mid-twirl. The female just stood there watching this display - we wondered what we were going to see next! After about five minutes of this, she turned her back, and stalked elegantly away, leaving him hopping and twirling with no audience. If a bird can look brassed off, I tell you, he did! Hmm, not tonight dear, got to get the supper and I think I have a headache coming on...........

Distressed Card for DCM

The challenge on DCM this week is to use distressing, this card has some torn edges, lots of inking and some sandpapered edges. Again, not my usual style, but I do quite like the result.

Tutorial for Double Pocket Card that Opens.

1. Trim a piece of 12 x 12" double sided cardstock to 11" x 11". Fold in half in each direction. Your paper with now have four squares. Cut along the left hand fold to the centre point.

2. Fold the top left corner down, about 2" from the centre fold line

3. Turn your paper over, and fold the bottom right corner up to the centre

4. Turn paper back, and take the top left corner over to meet the top right corner

5. Fold bottom piece up to form second pocket.

6. You should now have a card with two pockets on the front, that stands like a regular card. Tape the loose folds, you will see where to tape, just be careful not to tape up your pockets. Create tags, and decorate the card. To see completed cards, go to blog archive on the right, and click on double pocket cards.

Have fun!

Underwater Swimming Layout

Max had swimming lessons when he was about 5 months old, and loved it. He is on his second course now, and at 11 months has learnt to grasp the bar at the side of the pool, and launches himself off on his own! Very different to his grandma, who can't bear to put her head under water - well, I can't talk under there can I? These photos were taken by the instructor with an underwater camera, and I love this layout. The chipboard waves around the edge were by Technique Tuesday, I swiped ink pads in different shades of blue and aquas all over it. The letters were cut using the sissix, and glossy accents applied so they look wet. I added dew drops to represent bubbles. To get a close-up view, click on the picture.

Ballgown Card

Over at CCT, the challenge this week is 'Girls just wanna have fun'. This card is quite plain really, but there is a lot of detailing on the dress, so it looks quite effective. I stamped the dress twice, once on white, then on hot pink, and decoupaged the pink onto the white. Added some pewter tiny beads, and it turned into a dress I would like to wear to a ball....................a few years since I went to one of those though!

Blog Candy Winner

AND THE WINNER IS............................................................

GINA

AKA GRKIDDO

CONGRATS GINA. I DON'T KNOW WHERE YOU ARE FROM, BUT EMAIL ME AND YOUR STAMPS WILL BE ON THEIR WAY.

THANKS TO ALL OF YOU - OVER 300 COUNTING THE EMAILS I HAD, LEFT COMMENTS, I WISH I COULD HAVE SENT SOMETHING TO YOU ALL! KEEP CHECKING THE BLOG THOUGH, I HAVE AN IDEA UP MY SLEEVE FOR MY NEXT CANDY!

Alcohol Inks and Plumbers Tape

The challenge over at DCM was 'Copper'. They are using different anniversaries, and this week it was the 7th anniversary - copper or wool. So I reached for my alcohol inks. This took me well outside my comfort zone, I just don't 'do' this type of card. I stuck the plumbers tape down on some white cardstock, and cut the vase from Walk in my Garden at 4", then the bleeding hearts flowers also at 4". Then I ran them through my cuttlebug, using the script folder for the vase, and paisley for the flowers. Then the messy part, playing with the alcohol inks. When I was fairly happy with the result I mounted them with dimensional tape onto a black card that I had edged with a copper krylon pen - doesn't show up at all on the photo. The end result is okay I guess, just not my style.

Funky Hand - First Cards

Regular readers know that I have just got on the design team for Funky Hand. My CD's arrived in the mail yesterday, so I have been busy making these, as Anice, the designer has a show on Ideal World TV on May 9th, so these will go over the Atlantic to be demo cards. The range of designs is fabulous, and I am going to love working with them. This was quite liberating, as when I messed up, I didn't have to panic as I usually do - oh no, all my spotty paper has gone - just load up the printer and off I go again. In case anybody wants to know, shipping is free anywhere in the world. So here are my first attempts: The punch used on the gift card - 1st card - is by Martha Stewart from Michaels. I used white cardstock to print them out, the type you get in a big pack at walmart, and after printing one side, ran it through again, making my own double sided paper, which I used for the criss cross card. The sentiment circle and backing circle was on the CD as well.The flower card is made totally with the papers, I cut the blossoms out and stuck them on the base card, then cut around the base card at the edge of the flowers. Stuck some more flowers on the inside and added dew drops for a bit of bling. The third card has the 'dad' topper ready to print out. I printed it twice, then cut out just the letters and mounted them on top of the bottom layer, using dimensional tape. Added a few brads and went over the whole word with glossy accents. The sentiment slider was part of the kit too.

We spent the morning today jet washing the lanai. As I was outside, bringing the sun loungers back in, a 3 foot black snake shot very, very quickly across the grass just in front of me. I nearly died, I shot as quickly as the snake back inside, and stood there shaking, and checking all the doors were shut! Later, much later, we found out that it is a harmless Florida resident, they call it the racer. Well, it might race, but it would have had a job to catch me up when I saw him. Jet propelled I was.

Sweet Sixteen Card and Box (Blog candy contest still open, scroll down)

The design team were asked to use the popcorn box from Tags, Bags, Boxes and More. I cut it in pink and decided that with a matching card it would make a really sweet (pun intended) gift for a 16 year old. Just big enough to pop in a piece of jewellry. The lace is real, ribbon is American Crafts. The scallop on the card was cut with Plantin, and the ice cream cone was dotted with dew drops. The stamps are Studio G. Papers are DCWV baby girl nursery stack.

I went out shopping with Mike today - a rare enough event to be documented in history books. He needed some new shorts, the weather here is hotting up now. On the way back, after a delicious iced coffee, we went into a new super Walmart and I bought a sewing machine, just for using on cards and layouts. It is only a basic one, but has the added huge benefit of an automatic needle threader and bobbin winder. So all that squinting at needles and muttering about eye tests is a thing of the past - if I can ever decipher the instructions!

Skydiving Layout - For Blog Candy Contest, Scroll Down

These are photos of my daughter Alex. She went around the world in her gap year, and this was taken in New Zealand when she did her first skydive. Luckily I didn't know that she was doing it, or I would not have slept for a month worrying about it. She said it took a huge amount of nerve to jump out of that plane, even though she was in tandem with an instructor, but she did it. I gave her a scrapbook at Christmas, and she sat there looking at it with tears streaming down her face - it was very gratifying! Anyway, I am immensely proud of all the things she has done, and the scrapbook is an ongoing project.

For the layout, I was tempted to use one of those cloud papers as a background, but thought that was a bit 'obvious', so chose these circles, and echoed the circles on the paper to frame the layout. I drew the word 'daredevil' with a cricut pen in black, then cut it out. The circles were done with the cricut, or were templates by technique tuesday, which I inked. Louis, you asked for more layouts - this is for you x

Victorian Bird Card

Here's my card for today. Totally inspired by my friend Phyllis, who is one of the most talented and creative people I know. She came up with the idea of the ribbon for a tail, doesn't it look good? The gorgeous stamp is by Art Impressions, called Victorian Bird. I stamped it in black and clear embossed it. It looks quite a 'bare' card, but the stamp is so striking, I think it's better that way.

Found some blog candy being given away when I was trawling around. Great blog too. Take a look here at Kathy's blog

Man Fishing Card

Here is my take on this week's challenge over on CCT A man card, simple as that. Here is mine. Stamps are by Judith, papers magnolia, colouring prismas. How do you like my new look blog, I wanted a change and decided to go with Cricut green since the site is 'going-buggy'. Heard yesterday that my Funky Hand stuff is in the mail, so I can't wait for that to get here and start playing.

15,000 Hits - Fun Contest

I have reached the grand total of 15,000 hits - thank you all so much for visiting, leaving your nice comments, and encouraging me. So a little blog candy is up for grabs, and I don't even need you to make a card. Just leave a comment on this post, and I will randomly draw the winners name on Wednesday 23rd April. So here is the candy - the complete set of the very latest studio G stamps, 15 in total, and a rather nice set of Rhona Farrer flower and butterfly. I made you a good luck card, just leave your comment here. I will mail anywhere in the world. Good luck.

If you are into blog-hopping Tracie-Jane is giving away stamps on her blog too, just post a comment.

Man Card

Michelle is giving away some blog candy to celebrate 5000 hits to her blog. She asked for a man's card. I love these images by Art Impressions, and have used them many times for men's cards - I must know a lot of cute old coots! Isn't he great though, don't you love his dress sense? The frightening thing is that I probably see a couple of guys just like this every day when I am in Florida!

My Exciting News

I have just learnt that I am now on the Design Team for Funky Hand - thank you so much for giving me this opportunity Anice, I am really looking forward to creating with your fabulous products. I love all the lines - great colour combos, and my head is buzzing with ideas!

Glittered Cuttlebug Card

I ran some card through the cuttlebug, then very lightly swiped over the embossed surface with a tsukineko glue pad. I sprinkled extra fine glitter by art accentz over the lot, then brushed away the excess with a paint brush. Like most glittery cards, this is much prettier in real life, but I like it, it certainly makes the embossing pop. The image is a download from Pink Petticoat and the saying inside the card reads 'soak it up, you deserve it'

I've been Tagged

I've been tagged by Jennifer, the rules are that you give 7 weird or random facts about yourself,
then tag 7 more blogging friends, leaving a message on their site inviting them to play along.
I am tagging
Heather
Cris
Debbie G
Katie
Ana
JC
Lyn
Okay, 7 facts about me, well sometimes everything in my life seems random and weird, but here we go.
1. I have visited 27 different countries in my lifetime
2. I don't speak any foreign languages which has sometime been a problem, see #1!
3. I was once voted runner-up in an Italian beauty competition in a nightclub. I would have won if the crowd hadn't all voted for that German girl!!!
4. I have never been to a horse racing meeting
5. I can carry a colour in my head for days, just take a look at a little snippet of fabric, and come back with a top that is a perfect match. My sister can do this too. There must be a colour matching gene.
6. I am a Saggitarius - supposed to be athletic and outdoor loving. Hmmm, shows what a load of old rubbish that is then....
7.I used to run my own catering company

Double Pocket Cards

So I made two more double pocket cards last night, the tutorial is HERE on Claudia's blog. I learnt that if you don't trim the paper down, but leave it at 12 x 12, you get a 6 x 6 square finished card, I rather like this size. The first one used the crawling baby from New Arrival cut at 3.5", the tags are TBBM, and the sentiment stamp is Studio G. The second one uses a butterfly stamp from Impression Obsession, the scallop tags are alphalicious.

An Award

Justine has given me this lovely award. Thanks Justine.

I hope it is in the spirit of the award to share it with all you talented bloggers who take the time to visit my blog and encourage me.

Double Pocket Card

I found this fantastic blog by Claudia. Check it out. The tutorial is to make this pocket card. The image is a Tilda by Magnolia, these are so sweet. The tags were made using TBBM, the first one is to write your message on, the second will hold a photo. I ended up with the folds messed around a bit, but by this time I was tired and decided it didn't look too bad, this is the end result. Who dreams up these things I wonder. I can't imagine sitting down with a sheet of cardstock and cutting and folding until I end up with some fabulous idea for everyone to enjoy.

DCM Envelope Fold

The midweek challenge over at DCM is to use folds ON a card. Here's mine.

Image is a dollar stamp. White metal dot from Joannes. Background stamp great impressions. Ink - cats eye chocolate.

Black and White Birthday Card

Over on artygirlz we were asked to use black and white only. I found this terribly hard, kept wanting to add a little red or fuschia pink to it. The image is by pink petticoat.

Gift Bag Baby Girl

Over on Papertake Weekly, the challenge is to make a bag using their template. It was really easy to do and is big enough for a good sized gift. Here's mine, made with DCWV nursery stack - baby girl.

Paper Dolls Cards, Cowboy Boots, Bra, Hat

Michaels had a huge sale this weekend, with cartridges on sale for $40. The difference between here and the UK is so marked, not only is there a huge choice, most craft stores seem to have sales with coupons every weekend. It makes the UK seem like rip-off Britain, makes me sad. Anyway, one of the cartridges I got was Paper Dolls. I have been on the fence about this one, although I may use the little people in scrapbook pages for the children, but I wanted to see what else I could come up with.
The cowboy boots were cut at 4" with real dial size on, and the spurs at 2 1/2". I ran them through the cuttlebug to give texture. The sentiment is a home-made rub on
The Bra was the hula girl's top, cut at 3" in white, then I stamped it in black with stampin up victorian lace background stamp. Added some paper lace from Lakeland UK. The 'thanks a lot' stamp is Studio G, 'for your support' is a home made rub on.
The hat was cut at 3", added lots of purple stickles to this. The sentiment is by stampin up

To make a home made rub on, write your sentiment using the font and colour of your choice on your computer. When ready to print, go to your print options and select 'mirror image'. Insert a transparency into your printer with the slightly rough side up, so that it prints on the smooth side. Print, remove carefully and position your words where you want it on your card. Rub with a rub on stick or your bone folder. Be very careful not to move the transparency or you will have a messy smudge. Wipe the transparency with a baby wipe and it's ready for your next rub-on.

The design team brief over on BBTB this week was to use a party hat from the Celebrations cartridge. I cut this one at 4", using papers from the DCWV glitter stack. The happy birthday were studio G $1 stamps.

Gift Card Holder

I needed a holder to put a gift card as a birthday gift for a friend who is addicted to caramel machiatto in Starbucks. So what better pressie than a starbucks card? I made this using the criss-cross template, left the right hand flap unstuck so that the card stands up, and made a pocket slightly larger than the gift card for the inside insert. The band is held in place with velcro pop dots.

The coffee bean stamp is by Judith, and the mug is cut from Christmas Cheer at 3"

DCM 5cms Challenge

Over at Daring Cardmakers this week, the dare is to make a card using no more than 5cms in total for the decorated area of the card (that's SMALL), plus you are allowed a sentiment. I decided that using the cuttlebug to emboss the background did not count, I used swiss dots which does not show in the photo. The umbrella stamp and sentiment are by Stampin Up. I cut the circle to 4cms, then used a 4.5cm scallop. I used a very narrow card, so the size of the image looks bigger.The scallop circle was done with nestabilities. I started to get quite stressed about this, making complicated calculations in cms, then decided that, hey, I was within the guidelines (give or take a teensy bit of red card!)

Life's A Beach Party

A whole week without any blogging........I have withdrawal symptoms. This card is to celebrate my return to Florida. I spent the whole day yesterday at the Paper Playhouse, my favourite scrapbook store. I have made good friends there, and it was great to catch up with everyone. Sherry, the store owner has some great new stuff in, so I had a lovely day. If you are visiting central west Florida be sure to pop in there, the shop is at 5144 US 19, Spring Hill. The bathing beauties stamp is by Impression Obsession, Saying is Art Impressions, and the flip flops are Great Impressions. The paper is by DCWV - baby boy nursery stack.