My Favourite Cards for 2011

Firstly, without sounding too soppy and sentimental, I want to say a big thank you to those of you who visit me faithfully, leave me nice comments, send me chatty emails and have become my online friends. Without your encouragement, there really wouldn't be any point in this blog, I mean, I really would have lost it, big time, if I spent hours rambling on about nonsense and nobody was here to read it! So thank you for another year - it's been fun for me, and I hope you've enjoyed it too

As usual, I've trawled through all the cards I've posted on Going Buggy over the past year, and come up with my favourites. I chose them because I was pleased with the way they turned out - either because of something I thought was original, the layout, the colours, the image, it doesn't matter why really, I just liked the end result.....coincidence, but they are almost all pink! 

January - Heard you caught a bug!

February - New Stamp from CHA by Stampendous

March - Sugar Nellie digi image

April - Easter for Papercraft Inspirations Magazine

May - for Craftwork Cards

June - Cricut Card 

July - Sugar Nellie digi stamp

August - For Papercraft Inspirations magazine

September - for Polkadoodles

October

November - for Polkadoodles

December 

Have you done a list of favourites if you have a blog? Leave a comment here, I would love to come over and see them.....

Is the champagne on ice? Anyone going to fantastic parties? I always find New Years Eve a bit of a letdown - even when I was much younger. There always seems to be a lot of hanging about, people looking furtively at their watches from about 10.30 PM on, then the big countdown, a quick chorus of Auld Lang Syne  (what is all that about by the way? Old who?)

and it's pretty much time to go home if you are over 30! Hardly seems worth the effort, I'd be just as happy at home with a big box of chocs and my slippers, except that this year we are going to be with very very good friends, and if I want to wear my slippers I can!

Ten, nine eight seven six five four three two one

 HAPPY NEW YEAR

  

Make a Wish........

I got back to my desk today, had quite a productive time up there, but the light had gone, so too late to photograph, so I am showing you two more cards from last month's Papercraft Inspirations magazine (on sale now in the USA). The theme was 'Quick Cards' and the brief was make a wish

The circles on this next one are really glittery. I matched the gems to the glittery circle, if I didn't have a match, I just coloured clear gems with Promarkers. The birthday cake punch is by Martha Stewart

I am loving my iPad - look what I did. I went to the Cricut website, clicked on information, then cartridge library

all the cartridges are listed (well, annoyingly they take ages to put the newer ones on there). I clicked on view in the right hand column for the cartridges I own, that opened the handbook

I sent them over to iBooks......TO DO THIS, CLICK ON THE TOP RIGHT SIDE OF THE PAGE AND YOU WILL SEE THIS ICON

CLICK ON 'OPEN IN iBOOKS - and here they all are in a virtual bookshelf 

You have to do each book individually, you can't do them all at once, but it only takes a minute to do

the pages show up just like the handbook, in colour and easy to read

This really will be a huge help to me, I really like to read the handbooks, in fact I have been known to take a pile of them to bed with me. I read them like saner people read the latest John Grisham, so now I can have a browse wherever I am, and I don't even need to be hooked up to the internet to read them. All I need is my little notepad and pen to jot down ideas - wait, I think the iPad can do that as well. Hmmm, one step at a time - I do promise that this will be the first and last iPad tutorial!


New photos of two little boys on the sidebar


I'll be back tomorrow with a round up of my favourite cards for 2011

Was it good for you?

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas - I certainly did, Santa brought me an iPad which I had been lusting after for ages, and Boxing Day saw the arrival of Max and Milo who kept us entertained and very amused. Photos to follow!

Here's a couple more cards made with the fabulous Kraft with Colour collection from Craftwork Cards - be sure to hop over there, they have a sale on at the moment

For this first one, I used one of the blank chipboard pieces in the pack, dry brushed it with white acrylic paint, and overstamped with the music note stamp. The heart was cut with the George cartridge

and on this second card, I punched holes to thread with ribbon through some of the circles intended to take the circular greetings, and used them as a border. The tiny flowers on the bottom were punched

The fridge is full of leftovers, lovingly wrapped in clingfilm or foil. They will sit there for about three days, and then get chucked out if past experience is anything to go by. I should shorten the process and chuck it out straightaway, but that seems so much more wasteful than the three day later rule! All those recipes for tasty turkey curry/turkey and ham pie/turkey soup/turkey stew, all seem to be a turkey too far for me, so, with a guilty conscience I do the turkey fling.... 

Merry Christmas to all of you

I want to wish each and every one of you a very merry Christmas, or a happy time whatever festival you are celebrating. I'll be back after the fuss dies down, in the meantime here's a little project for anyone with time on their hands - ooh, I can hear your hollow laughter......

What can you do with a single sheet of double sided cardstock and a bar of soap?

How about a really cute little wrap...........

that opens to show a little box inside......note the position of the little magnet

which is the perfect size for a bar of soap............

 start by cutting your cardstock to 8" x 6 3/4"

score across the short side at 3/4", 3", 4 1/2" and 6 3/4" - I have drawn the lines to show up in the photos

turn your paper, and score lengthways at 1 3/4" on both sides

 this is the only complicated bit, so I have taken a series of photos, showing where you need to cut to form your box.........

 1. starting from the top of your paper, cut away as shown...... 

 2

 3

 4.

 5.

 6.

you will end up with your cardstock looking like this. Sharpen all the folds with a bone folder

use a circle punch to punch a little half circle as shown......

put double sided tape as shown and assemble your box. Set aside while you make the wrap

 For the wrap, cut a piece of the remaining cardstock to 9 1/4" x 4"
Score along the long edge at 2", 3 1/2", 5 3/4" and 7 1/4"
Sharpen folds with a bone folder. 
If you like, punch a decorative border along one of the end flaps at this stage

apply double sided tape to the center of the piece as shown, and carefully center your completed box onto this

with strong glue, attach a small magnet to the inside of one of the end folds (I covered this with a little piece of the remaining pattern paper. Put a corresponding magnet onto the other end, so that the wrap stays shut

decorate your box, I just used a couple of Prima flowers and a tiny sentiment

I got the idea for this from a gift my lovely friend Gilly gave me  - I could do that I thought, and dismantled it to use as a pattern, but it tore badly when I took it apart, and it took me ages to work out the measurements and logistics for the project, so I hope at least one of you finds it useful! I think they would make great little hostess or shower gifts, and once you have made your basic 'pattern' they are a breeze to make. Have fun......

Kraft with Colour

I actually found time to sit at my desk and create a bit today - here's my first card made with the Craftwork Cards project of the month kit, Kraft with Colour.

Everything on the card is from the kit, including the base scallop edge card. The green scroll is a Fiskars die. The center square of paper is gorgeously foiled and gleaming in real life.....

We have mice!!! I went into the garage, and saw one scuttling across the floor - just a small little field mouse. 'That's okay' we thought 'it can't get into the house'

We have a bin on the inside of the cupboard underneath the sink in the kitchen, mounted to the inside of the door, it takes a plastic carrier bag, so a bit of recycling and a handy place to drop teabags all in one..... until I found it shredded, and tea leaves all over the floor of the cupboard.

I was astounded. I didn't know mice liked tea!

I was also astounded because how the heck did it get into the house? I think the answer is that we have Mickey in the garage, and Minnie in the kitchen cupboard.......

So, even though it is the season of goodwill to all men and mice, we got some poison stuff, it has been eaten, and there is a little twitching tail  underneath a box in the garage, I haven't dared open the cupboard door. I feel terrible, poor little things, all they were doing was have a nice cup of tea and now they are gone....

"Twas the night before Christmas

and all through the house

not a creature was stirring

not even a mouse"

well, not in this house anyway!

New digis......

I was sent some new digital stamps to play with from a new company called The Scrapbook Stamp Society - take a look over there, their designs are trendy, fun and a joy to colour. Here's what I made, I love this first one for a male birthday...........

and this image is just so sassy, she would be perfect for a teen who is into clubbing (when did they stop being called discos, and become clubs?) Thanks to my good pal Kath, for the idea for the bow.....

This Christmas image is so different, look at all the little peace signs in the snowflakes......

and I love the manga type images they do, you can use such funky colours on them........

Look what came in the post today, this month's Project of the Month kit from Craftwork Cards, called Kraft with Colour. Anyone who orders this months kit gets a free Cards magazine, worth £10 in with their order. You get a project sheet with lovely designs by Julie Hickey. Julie was my very first cardmaking idol - when I got bitten by the card bug, I bought one of her card books in WH Smiths, and studied it for hours. Little did I think then, that one day I would be on a design team that she leads (and she is the sweetest person you could wish to meet as well as being uber talented, you can see her on QVC, and see her work on the CWC blog).

This is just some of the stuff that was in my pack - look out later this week to see what I come up with.......

Three pots of homemade soup cooling before they go in the freezer (my family loves soup), french onion, broccoli and stilton, and cream of mushroom. We have a family tradition that on Boxing Day, we throw a large piece of pork in the oven, and lunch is homemade soup, followed by hot roast pork rolls with stuffing and apple sauce. I think we all enjoy it more than the turkey on Christmas day

and the tree is finally finished, and the presents are stacking up nicely under it

I hope you are not all too exhausted by the manic run-up-to-the-big-day, I am on top of things, and may even get to delve into my new goodies tomorrow..