Some Card Candi Samples.....

Well, CHA is all but over now, so I can share with you a couple of the samples I made for Craftwork Cards stand over there - the emphasis was on the card candi and the sentiments.....Card Candi is available in the USA from Custom Crops

The first card is BIG - 8" x 8", the onesie was cut from New Arrival cartridge on the Cricut. The green strip is a Martha border punch

and here is a sweet 16 card. For those of you in the UK, a 16th birthday for a girl, is quite a big deal in the States, some of them have quite large Sweet Sixteen parties. I wanted to reflect this and make a special card for a 16 year old girl. Again it is BIG! The cupcake was cut from the Doodlecharms cartridge, and the 'icing' was embossed with the oldie but goodie d'vine swirls embossing folder, before being dotted with Card Candi. The base kraft card was purchased ready folded from Papermania UK. The 16 numbers were made with candi   

I stamped the word 'sweet' onto plain candi.......

This shows you the folds on the card......

Sunshine and Showers....

I seem to be in a mood for flowers and Spring at the moment - a reaction to Winter and grey days I suppose. For this card I cut borders from the Martha Stewart All Occasions cake cartridge on my Cricut at 1 1/2", then cut the border of flowers at 3".

I dotted some of those clear acrylic drops around the card, I thought it looked like raindrops or dew.........

Foiled sentiment by Craftwork Cards

Using Border Punches

I have seen a lot of cards online using border punches as backgrounds to cards, and really like the look, so here is my take on the idea. The punch is by Martha Stewart and the flower stamp is by Heartfelt Creations. I put the borders onto a square of white card which was popped on for dimension. The flower was stamped twice, once onto green cardstock, and again, twice, on white. The white flowers were cut out and coloured with Promarkers, and the middle flower was cut out again, and more foam pads used, so it all looks very textured and dimensional   

Spring Promarkers

Letraset have come up with another bright idea, six brand new colours in a set called 'Spring' - a limited edition, once Summer arrives, they're gone. The colours are lovely, there's a nice fawn which will be a useful skin colour, a blush pink, a pale yellow that will be great for blonde hair, and a gorgeous muted green. I am happy to add these to my collection...........

 and here's a card made with some of the colours, I used the blue for the little mouse dungarees, and their 'fur' is the fawn shades, the only other colour I used was some grey for the watering can. The stamp is by Hero Arts

and the sentiment is one of the lovely new foiled ones from Craftwork Cards - love that font......lots of you have been asking about the Card Candi - it is available in the USA from Custom Crops at $2.71 a pack

I was browsing online (when I should have been doing the ironing) and came across someone who was busy getting her Valentines decorations out, and putting them up. WHAAAT? It takes me until February to get all my Christmas stuff back into the attic - I am still finding odd bits about the place. I love the way America celebrates all the different festivals, and decorates the houses for Easter, Thanksgiving, Halloween etc, but Valentines Day? I think it is catching on over here in the UK though. Walking through M&S today, I saw big glittery red heart wall hangings. They were also selling heart shaped hot water bottles covered with pretty red heart fabric. Now it strikes me that if you are so besotted with your dearly beloved that you want to hang red hearts up all over your walls, the last thing in the world you need is a hot water bottle............ 


As you read this I am probably in an airport, on a plane, or getting hopelessly lost in Frankfurt, but I will be back tomorrow with an update

WOYWW and a kitchen card........

Good heavens, the weeks seem to fly by - time for another scout around the crafting desks of the world already! If you Don't know what it's all about, go over to Julia Dunnits blog and see for yourselves, and join in if you have a blog.

So what's on my desk, a rather natty box which is filling up quickly with my new flexmarkers, I am loving these pens, some of the colours are so subtle and muted, easy to blend...yes, I am a fan and of course they work with my beloved promarkers as well. I already have one of these boxes for my PM's, they are from Tesco, aluminium CD cases, perfect for the job

Here is my card for the Daring Cardmakers challenge this week, set by Kathy, who is absorbed with all things culinary at the moment as she is having a new one fitted, so her dare was kitchenalia. I used the From My Kitchen Cricut cartridge, and cut the toaster at 4". I used quite retro colours for this. Come to think of it, toasters are pretty retro in design anyway, the basic shape doesn't seem to have changed much since they were invented (I googled it). Sleek futuristic kettles, coffee machines that make a skinny latte mochiata while whistling the national anthem, knife blocks that look like a sheet of glass - but the dear old toaster stays stubbornly loyal to it's roots

The sentiment inspired the whole card, it's one from an ancient set by Stampin Up......

Case half packed, Euros in my purse, all I need is a visit to the supermarket to get Mandy's order of prawn cocktail flavoured crisps (yes, honestly, apparently you can't get them in Australia) and getting excited (for those of you not in the know, I am off to the trade craft fair in Frankfurt on Friday)


Don't forget, you still have until the 5th February to join in with my challenge, click the link at the top to take you there, and if you have a little time, pop and see the entries, there are a whole lot of gorgeous cards there to inspire you


See you tomorrow..... 

Sneak Peeks and some Candi to giveaway......

Just a few sneaky peeks at some of the samples I have been making for Craftwork Cards to take to CHA this week, using the brand new sentiments and card candi.....all will be revealed later

 What on earth can this one be?

Here are some of the wonderful new sentiment sheets - they come die cut in lovely shapes, with the sentiments foiled onto pearlescent card in gold or silver........there are birthday sheets, friend, Christmas, Special Occasions.....

 and they make these wonderful message bands to stick the sentiments on, they really enhance your cards, again, they are diecut, so just pop out. Use the circle ones vertically for a diferent look, pleat the bands, ink them..endless possibilities....

 and here is a collection of the very latest card candi. Is there anyone out there who doesn't know what candi is? Clever little domes of cardstock that you pop onto your card with a foam pad, cheaper and a lot easier than using brads, and much prettier. You can colour them to match your projects, stamp on them to make words or personalise your cards, turn them upside down to make flower petals.....


Don't you love the rich colours in this pack? 

and some lovely chocolate and mocha with champagne.......

Pretty pretty pastels, all foiled with tiny stars.....

Stunning holographics, and grey, silver and black foiled in silver....

and probably my favourite, pearly cardstock with newsprint

So for all my lovely followers I am giving you the chance to win four of the sentiment sheets, with about 20 sentiments on each sheet, four sheets of the message bands, and I will take a generous handful of each of the new candi so that you get a delicious bag full of all the colours shown here. All you have to do is leave your name under this post. If you are an email subscriber, click on the Going Buggy link at the top of your email, and it will bring you here to leave a comment


I will draw a winner by random number generator (that sounds so official!) next Sunday, the 30th January. Good luck


On to the last five things on my reverse bucket list - five more things I DON'T want to do before I kick the bucket!


1. I never want to go on a coach holiday. If you are in a hotel, or ship, at least there are corners to hide around if you meet people you don't have anything in common with. Short of asking the driver to put you in the hold with the cases, it seems to me that you are stuck with them on a coach - it could make for a very, very long journey. Plus, how frustrating it must be when you pass a shop window with the most adorable dress on display which is exactly what you have been looking for for the past three years - only to have the coach drive past, leaving your dream behind in a puff of diesel smoke


2. I never want to become a vegan. No hot chocolate? No quick omelet for tea when I don't feel like cooking? No lovely Sunday roasts? Would I have to wear nasty plastic shoes? No Ugg boots? (not that I have any real ones, but they are on my bucket list, so I might one day)


3. I never want to learn to line dance - my friend Carol did try to teach me the electric slide once, but I was hopeless. When everyone else was doing that cute little  jump, I went the wrong way, which almost caused the whole line to topple over, and when they dipped back, I dipped forward, causing head injuries that could have been quite nasty. I do like the thought of the cute cowboy boots and denim though - but as I have a wardrobe full of sweet white outfits from my foray into tennis, and natty little golf outfits (including clubs and shoes with spiky things on them) that have never seen the light of day, I think I will stick to sitting in my cupboard making cards,  wearing my old jeans...


4. I never want to go to another football match (soccer that is). I have friends who love it, I can think of nothing worse than standing for hours in the freezing cold watching grown men kicking a ball around the field and spitting (they seem to spit a lot, heaven knows why!). Then you have to go to the pub and stand around for more hours discussing why the men kicking the ball were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Since the offside rule is way over my head, this is when my eyes glaze over. Cricket is a remote possibility, if it's a glorious summers day and I have a comfy seat that I can doze off in....


5. And finally, I really hope that I never have to visit, in no particular order, Antarctica (-129F), Siberia (-60F), or International Falls Minnesota (-32F), although I did see some rather nice cozy ski wear on sale the other day, so I might revise that later, now do I have 'learn to ski for the nice clothes' on my bucket list? Just off to check.........


So come on, lets see your reverse buckets   

Kraft with Colour for Craftwork Cards

Here's a card I made for the Craftwork Cards blog, using the lovely paper range called Kraft with Colour - although I didn't use any of the kraft on this one, just an embossed edge card, some of the lovely foiled pink paper, and one of the large die cut flowers with a sentiment button. The swirls are a die by Fiskars, and the tiny flowers are punched 

Samples are done and packed, and I must say that the new card Candi is just gorgeous, I will take a photo to show you tomorrow.

After a lot of thought, here is the first five on my reverse bucket list - a list of things I DON'T want to do before I kick the bucket. All very random


1. I hope I am never a celebrity, I can think of nothing worse, not being able to answer the door in your PJ's with hedgehog hair, in case it's the paparazzi. How horrible to have photos taken of you with no make up on, and published for the world to see. At least if family  do that, you can insist the evidence is destroyed, or you will tell the world that they once wore white jackets with rolled up sleeves/had a crush on Paul Young/Olivia Newton John/practised dirty dancing in their bedroom......


2. I hope I never develop green fingers. After a lifetime of killing plants by wilful neglect, I would find it hard to get out of the habit of nipping to the nearest garden center to replace them, all that messing about in compost just does not appeal, plus you have to go outside in the cold to look after them. Honestly I raised three children with less fuss than a geranium demands......


3. I never want to become one of those old women who drive cars very very slowly, sitting bold upright with their noses an inch from the windscreen. I don't particularly want to be driven by a guy doing the same either.....


4. I never want to go on a cruise ship with an Italian at the wheel....


5. Since I have escaped for a long time without bungee jumping, abseiling down a cliff or other foolhardy stuff, I had better put it on this list, in case it suddenly becomes all the rage for retired people. 'Jump love, I'll just sit here and watch, cheerio, see you later' 


I am still pondering my next five....see you tomorrow with them


  

Sunny Days.....

The weather here has been so grey and dreary the past few days, I enjoyed making this card, it gave me the warm fuzzies and made me dream of summer. I am enjoying digging out old stamps that I think would look okay coloured with Aquamarkers, this one is a Hero Arts stamp that I have had for years and probably never used. In all honesty, I hardly had to do any colouring at all, just dabbed a bit of yellow and green here and there.  The yellow mat was punched with a Martha Stewart round the page punch, and the sentiment is by Craftwork Cards. I stamped the flowers twice, and popped the blooms up to make it a bit more interesting

Apart from messing around with pens, I am working really hard to get some samples done for Craftwork Cards to take to CHA. I had a couple of comments from people thinking I was going myself, not me, not this time, just my cards! Instead, I am going to the big trade fair in Frankfurt with Mandy, the owner of Scrappy-go-Lucky, and Diane, who lots of you will know as Capadia.
We are very excited because our hotel has a spa, which sounds a bit posh, it comes with a fitness center, (but we are totally disinterested in that, walking around the craft fair will be quite enough exercise for the day thank you) but we all rather fancy the sound of the heated pool, sauna and Thai massage. What is a Thai massage anyway? How is it different to other massages? If it involves people walking up and down my spine, or hot stones, I may sit that one out........ I will only be there for four days, leaving next Friday,  but have already lugged a huge suitcase down from the attic. Well, you never know do you?


See you tomorrow, when, hopefully, samples will be parcelled up and ready for super fast delivery. 

Flexmarkers and Polkadoodles....

Friday is Polkadoodles challenge day, in case you are thinking you haven't seen a challenge card on here for a few weeks, the team has been split into two teams, so we only do a challenge card for the blog every other week, but there is always inspiration over there on a Friday. This weeks challenge was a sketch (which I forgot to take a screenshot of). It is also our Stashbox Stamp week, when the DT can use a stamp by any maker, I chose these cute little busy mice by Lili of the Valley, coloured with Promarkers, and the sentiment is by Hero Arts. Papers are from various Polkadoodles CD's - be sure to drop by here on Monday, when there will be a Polkadoodles CD up for grabs for one of you 

I do have a couple more aquamarker cards to show you over the next couple of days, this next one was really quick to make, and the stamp was perfect for a splashy watercolour effect. The sentiment is by Stampin Up  

After I have finished the Aquamarker cards, it will be back to alcohol inks, because look what arrived today - three sets of Flexmarkers, look at the gorgeous new colours. I am very happy that there are a lot of very soft blue/greys and neutral tones here, and I can't wait to use them. I already have 24 of the markers, so need to sort and store them over the weekend. 
What are flexmarkers? The same fabulous alcohol ink as the Promarkers, but with a brush nib, I did a quick video on using them a while back. Most of them are also new colours, and there are some lovely, very subtle pale tones in there, so you can get a beautiful pale shaded effect, something that is quite difficult to do with alcohol inks, because the colours are so vibrant.


I am still working on my reverse bucket list, how on earth do you cut these things down to ten? I can think of a million things I don't want to do before I kick the bucket.


Have a great start to the weekend, I'll be back tomorrow, I am busy making some samples for Craftwork Cards to take to CHA in Los Angeles next weekend, so I need to finish, pack and post....... 

WOYWW and some watercolours....

Wednesday again already, time for another snoop around about 150 or so desks in various stages of disarray. Hop over to the head honchos desk, Julia Dunnit, who keeps an unruly bunch in order every Wednesday, and join in the mayhem that is WOYWW

So what's on mine? A box containing the full set of Letraset watercolour markers, which have been very underused while I chased after perfection with my ProMarkers. Perfection elusive, I unearthed my watercolour markers, went and bought a set of brushes from The Works, and started playing. I found the colours too intense in the main if I applied with the nibs, but you get a wonderful splashy watercolour effect if you scribble the nib onto a hard surface (I used a glass stamping block) and pick up the colour with a brush.

 You might be interested to look up while you are here, I have a shelf in my converted cupboard, here is a tin tray screwed to it, a few magnetic dots, and voila, a little forest of stalactite stickles and liquid pearls 

 and here is the end result of an afternoons splashing about with water and baby wipes. The stamp is perfect for watercolours, I don't have many that will fit the bill, but I will be on the lookout for more scene type stamps now

I found it much more difficult to get an impression of light and shade than with Promarkers, but many soggy pieces of paper later, realised that less is more, and that I need more practice! 

I'll be back tomorrow with more soggy, splodgy, watercoloured cards. See you then 

Anything Goes for Penny Black

The challenge over on Penny Black's Saturday challenge this week is anything goes, well I couldn't resist that could I, so here's a simple little card. I stamped the hedgehog twice, and cut around the second image and popped him on to give a bit of dimension. The sentiment is one of those dollar studio G ones - I love the font. Kraft cardstock is by Papermania, and I used my Promarkers to colour the image 

I stayed up until silly-o-clock to watch Julie on QVC, with an hour of lovely Craftwork Cards goodies and samples. She is a natural, very relaxed in front of the cameras, and full of helpful tips. There are more shows from her throughout the day today, so you still have time to catch one. Here's a card made with the latest Kraft with Colour collection, I added a tag and a calender sheet, both pretty heavily inked with tea stain distress ink. 

Have you heard of the bucket list? This is a list of ten things you want to do before you kick the bucket. The latest thing is a reverse bucket list, ten things you definitely hope you won't have to do before you die. This is absorbing my every waking moment, I am forever thinking 'oh no, I hope I never have to have a job emptying sewerage tanks' and other ridiculous notions (hardly likely, since I was a nurse in my other life, retired, and not looking for work). Stay tuned for my definitive list later in the week, and maybe you can work on your own lists now that I have put this bizarre idea into your heads  

Tweet Card for Daring Cardmakers..

I love the Daring Cardmakers challenge blog, they always have the best 'dares' and I join in whenever I can. This week, their challenge is Social Networking - now that's what I call a challenge! Here's what I came up with

the bird is from the Not for Girls CD by Polkadoodles, the very graphic paper is by Cosmo Cricket, foam letter stickers by papermania, and the branch was cut from the Jolly Holiday Cricut cartridge. Cool?


A tale courtesy of 4 year old Max today - that child is a hoot. His parents both have busy lives/jobs, last week his Daddy was away overnight and called to say goodnight to the boys. 'What are you doing tomorrow Daddy?' asked Max 'Going to work' replied   my son. 'Well can we reschedule this call for tomorrow then Daddy, I'm a bit busy now'. Kids are like sponges aren't they? I can just imagine him listening to one of his parents on the phone, and filing it all away in his 'may come in useful in the future' little mental filing cabinet.


After a very mild Autumn, winter has arrived in the UK, definitely time to dig out the thermals and hot cocoa.. If you are in the UK, don't forget to tune in for QVC craft day on Tuesday.  See you tomorrow

Another challenge done.....

I am quite impressed with myself, the 12th of January, and my new year resolution to join more challenges is still going strong (usually they only last until the 3rd  or 4th January. Mind you, I am in this one by the skin of my teeth, as Daring Cardmakers have a new challenge coming up tomorrow!


This week it's a colour challenge, and I followed it as closely as I could, although the blue I used was more blue than aqua. Never mind, it's the effort that counts. I used a script stamp by Hero Arts, dotted some ink spots around (French Foliage set, Stampin Up) and used a flower stamp by Penny Black. The sentiment is by Great Impressions

Here's a date for your diary. Craft day on QVC here in the UK, on the 17th January, and the TSV for the day is some fabulous new collectable and inspiring stuff by Craftwork Cards. Julie will be on air at midnight, 1 AM, 9AM, 12 noon, 3 PM and 5 PM - be sure to catch one of the shows to see lots of brand new kits

Now I have to go and start visiting about 140+ blogs from WOYWW, I'm a day late...

WOYWW and a Penny Black Challenge

Time for another snoop around the world at some crafty spaces, hosted by the amazing Julia Dunning at WOYWW. I managed to get around everyone last week, quite a marathon, but it really is fun, try it. You remember the plastic document folders that I found in Poundland (the UK equivalent of the Dollar Store in the USA). I decided they would make perfect holders for some of my stamps, which were crammed into two drawers and getting very jumbled and squashed. Finding the one I wanted was a frustrating job, with all the stamps from the drawers being tossed onto the floor as I searched.......If you want to see the mess I was in, scroll down to the previous post...

Here is a work in progress - I had lots of 'odds and ends' of stamps by different manufacturers 

I put the stamps on one side, being cling, or acrylic, they stick nicely to the plastic surface to keep them tidy, then I stamped a sheet of copy paper with each image in that box

One little drawback was that there was no room on the narrow box for a label, so I put a white dot coloured with Promarkers on the end of each one.... 

and made a little index sheet which I taped to the wall below the shelf where they sit. Nice! It has freed up so much space in the drawers, that the mainly acrylic sets that live there are no longer in danger of death by squashing

Time for a card. The challenge on Penny Black this week, was to case, copy) a most lovely card from one of the design team, Beth. I copied the photo to show you, but it has disappeared into the black hole that is my computer, and heaven knows where the image is lurking, so you will just have to pop over there and see all the great stuff that the design team come up with

I found this anonymous double sided paper when I was clearing out, and fell in love with it all over again. The sentiment stamp also resurfaced from the murky depths, so it was obviously meant to turn into a man card, and here it is. The stars were cut on my Cricut (George, good old George) and embossed using a Tim Holtz folder, again, miraculously appearing like a little gem from the depths - I have never used it before, and I LOVE it, expect to see everything embossed in stripes and dots for a while

That's me done for today, I'll be back tomorrow