Polkadoodle friday, and a book review and giveaway......

The challenge this week at Polkadoodles is black, white and one other colour - I chose red, a colour combo I am very fond of on cards.

The digi stamp image of the girl is from the All Around and Everywhere CD from Polkadoodles, I printed her out in black and white all ready to colour in with Promarkers.

The sentiment is a stamp from MFT, and the red and white paper, pleated to look like ribbon is from the Not for Girls CD
Colouring a black outfit is sooooo hard! I had to do it about four times before I was reasonably happy.
If you like a challenge, why not join us this week? Hop over and see what the rest of the design team came up with HERE

I was sent this book to review, a great big chunky book packed full of cardmaking ideas. It is beautifully photographed, and the projects are covered in a step-by-step format. All sorts of techniques are covered - using beads, napkins, heat embossing........and so on. On each page is an idea for a co-ordinating gift wrap. I would say that it is suitable for a beginner/intermediate level crafter rather than an advanced level cardmaker, and it covers the basics very efficiently. If you know anyone who would benefit from this book, I have this copy to give away. Just mention if you would like it in a comment under this post. I will draw a name out of the hat on Monday, and as always will mail worldwide



by Vivienne Bolton

this is a photograph of one of the projects, made with table napkins. I love peonies, so this one caught my eye.......

and here is a gift bag I made using the instructions. Strangely, although the instructions for the cards are very precise and detailed, the instructions for this bag were rather vague and not that easy to understand - I think she was making the point that the size of the bag depended on the size of the paper used. It would have been nice to be given precise instructions for a trial bag, so that you could then adapt the sizing more easily.

Having said that, it's a cute gift bag....... of course I had to adapt it. I made a flap for the front and scalloped that. The bag is closed with a velcro dot.

with a nice gusseted side. This one was made with a 12 x 12 sheet of paper

So there you go. If you would like to try 50 new projects, or know someone who would, leave me a comment to let me know.

We are off to see old friends of ours in Yorkshire this weekend, that is if the car is mended - I drove into a multi storey car park yesterday, pressed the button to wind the window down to take the ticket, wound it back up, and CRASH there was the most almighty bang as the window dropped like a stone into the door. There was a noise of broken glass. Oh dear. I went to pay - it cost me £2.30 and I was only in the car park for 2 minutes! It's now in the garage waiting for new bits, so watch this space