Christmas Party Invites for Papercraft Inspirations Magazine....

So way back in the summer, when the sun was shining and the flowers were blooming, I was asked to make some Christmas party invitations for Papercraft Inspirations. They have appeared in this month's issue, on sale now. Two of them made the cover (except that you can't see them because they are covered up by the free gift!). This one was my favourite make, although it didn't make the cover. I loved the look of the black and white with just that little pop of red....

 I went for an eye test yesterday and saw a new optician.  All was well until he put some drops in my eyes. I still have blurry vision 24 hours later. I had some shopping to do and felt as if I should have been wearing sunglasses and maybe a white stick - it was that bad. I stumbled and squinted my way around town, and when I got home, all plans for crafting had to be put on the back burner as I couldn't see what I was doing. It really makes you appreciate the gift of sight when, temporarily, everything goes out of focus. So I feel as if I have been grounded - no crafting, and driving would be a bit dodgy to say the least. Still, look on the bright side, as I dashed out to the optician, I noticed a huge ginormous spider lurking by the front door.  Normally I would have conducted an eagle-eyed search for this monster as soon as I got back home, but he is probably sitting on the wall behind me laughing, as I squint at the computer screen to write this.

Hopefully I will see you all a lot more clearly tomorrow! x
    

Goodbye Tension.....

 Here's a fun idea for a retirement card using punched shapes.......

You could easily turn it into a female card - a ribbon bikini top, and a ribbon turban with a couple of thread ringlets escaping from it. Oh, and a bit of bling! I used a circle punch, stamping up word window punch for the legs, an oval cut with spellbinders, and the glasses are a couple of scallops snipped off a small scalloped circle. I cut the arms freehand

No crafting for me yesterday, I took the day off and had a day out with my sister. We shopped a bit, sat and chatted over coffee a bit, sat and gossiped some more over lunch, then came back home and chatted a bit more in the garden.  As we talk though, it's amazing how human memory differs - you would think that two little girls who went through childhood together would have, roughly, the same memories. Not so. I have very vivid memories of events that my sister has no recollection of, while she remembers events - and people - that make me wonder where on earth I was when all this stuff was going on. How could I forget a woman who we, apparently, thought was a witch? Why do I remember the day we found a dead weasel and insisted on taking it to school for a 'show and tell' - a pretty significant event in my mind, I mean, how many dead weasels have you found in your lifetime? But she can't remember this at all.........although she insists that she can remember coming from my grandmothers house by train to find me in a crib by the side of my mothers bed. She was only three when I was born so this seems a bit remarkable to me - but one thing is for sure, she has now known me longer than any other person on this earth, and we still enjoy a good chat together, even if our memories are a bit fragmented! See you tomorrow x

Pansy Card for magazine...

Here's a retirement card made for Papercraft Inspirations magazine, it's one of four I have on a retirement theme in this month's issue - on sale now

The pansies were made with Sissix dies, I cut the aperture in a 5 x 7 card with a nestability die 

/

Quite happy with the way that turned out....

I get a lot of emails about blogging. Lots of folk would like to start a blog but are afraid to because they think that advanced computer skills are needed. Not so, I am living proof of that. I can only talk about my own experiences, but here are a few of the things I've learned along the way. The type of blog you have depends on what you want out of it - if you want an online diary which outlines your crafting journey/holidays/life, then you can burble away to your hearts content and limit the people who can read your blog to the chosen few, who you can invite as readers. If you want to share your stuff with as many people as possible, then you need to keep your blog updated regularly and put yourself out there - start taking part in some of the many challenges, gradually, and to your delight, people will return your visits and even leave you comments

1. Blogger is easy. I have to use Wordpress for different design team posts, and can't get on with it at all. Probably user incompetence, but if, like me, you aren't that computer savvy, go for blogger. If you choose blogger, open it with Google Chrome, blogger is a Google platform and the two work well together. You can download both for free

2. You can set up a basic blog using standard layout templates, and add a few gadgets and gizmos to it. Just a tip, make your blog as easy to read as possible, and remember that the more gadgets you have, the longer it will take to load, and people aren't going to hang around for ages, they click on to the next blog. This is especially true of music. What may bring back wonderful memories to you of a romantic and blissful honeymoon evening, may remind others of the blazing row they had with their other half when he/she got paralytic at Grandmas birthday party and disappeared for a long walk around the garden with your second cousin.......people would click that little red X faster than you can blink. Safer to do without music, it doesn't always soothe the soul in my experience

3. If you get inspiration from somewhere, put a link to that site, and try to link or name products that you use as well. If you don't, you will get emails and questions about where you bought stuff, it's easier to put it on when you write the post

4. If you want to get fancy, there are loads of people out there who will help you design a blog. Mine was done by Sarah, her link is right at the bottom of this blog, and her prices were very reasonable. Before I used Sarah, I made a blog header myself, I think they were hopping frogs, I can't quite remember now, but it was fun to do

5. Be careful what you call it. What seems quirky and funny, or clever or witty may not be such a good idea when people are saying 'I visited a blog which I loved, but can't remember what the heck it was called. Take my 'Going Buggy'. I chose that off the top of my head because in those days I was very active on the Cricut message board (in its glory days). When you made a certain number of posts, under your name appeared 'Going Buggy' or something else (anyone remember any of the other names?). So as I was 'Going Buggy' on the message board, I pinched it for my blog. However, to register it as a web address I had to put Going-Buggy, and if you miss out that vital little hyphen between the words, up pops a blog called 'For God's Sake'. which is pretty much what I am thinking every time it happens!

6. Don't expect to make any money out of it. Although I work the equivalent of a full time job in crafting/blogging, I don't make any money (I spend quite a lot though!).   I get lots of free products, and I do get paid for magazine commissions If you want to do it, do it for fun, and hobby blogging  is fun. I have made some great friends, and get quite anxious if I don't see a familiar name popping up for a while....I certainly don't regret starting this blog, I occasionally look back, and since I put a lot of little anecdotes in about the children or something that happened on my travels, I remember things that I would otherwise have forgotten. So it's like my diary, which I am happy to share

I hope this helps anyone thinking of taking the plunge, jump in and enjoy, and let me know so that I can link to your new blog here, and come and see you, bringing some of my friends with me. Put the kettle on!

New Home Cards

Here's some more new home cards made for a past issue of Papercraft Inspirations magazine. this first one was done with a Woodware stamp - I stamped the image onto a white base card, then cut a panel of peach card and die cut a large heart out of that, then popped the panel on with foam pads.....

 the 'brads' are Craftwork Cards candi.....

I used a Christmas Memory Box die for this next one, it's called Snowy Village, and worked really well for a non-Christmas card.....

and this next one was a 'reject' that I wasn't 100% sure about, so didn't send it in as one of my four commissioned cards, but I do like it - another Woodware stamp. I added some little hearts as 'smoke' from the chimney, and gave the topiary trees some dots of liquid pearls

If you live in the UK, do pop over to my best craft buddy Kath's blog, one of our friends Hina, (who works for Fiskars with Kath), is going to Mount Everest and Kath is doing a charity workshop to raise funds for her. For those who can't get up to Aberdeen, she is having an online raffle, and has the most fabulous prizes to give away, all sorts of companies have succumbed to the famous Kath strong arm tactics charm and donated prizes, including Tim Holtz. So go HERE to find out how you can buy a ticket for the raffle. UK only I'm afraid, because of postage costs

Okey dokey,  I'm staggering down to the post office now, weighed down with all the prizes that need posting, then hopefully back to the desk where Mr Mojo will miraculously reappear I hope,  so that I have something to show you tomorrow. See you then x

New Home Card

 Here's one I made for last month's Papercraft Inspirations magazine. The basic cut was a shape from the Silhouette store, but I messed around with it a bit, cutting it out in various colours then piecing all the bits together. The black dots were made with the black enamel liquid pearls

I liked the result. For some reason I love the look of red and aqua together, and black and white gingham ribbon has always been my favourite

Another disaster emerged from the big tidy up. I have lost my precious DCWV burlap stack. How could that happen. It's only 6 x 6 but is really bulky. So not only have I thrown my mojo out with the rubbish, it seems a few other things may have gone missing as well. But somethings have climbed into a box all ready to be posted to someone. Drop by tomorrow to see what it is. See you then x

More shoes....

Here's a couple more from a recent commission for Papercraft Inspirations magazine, my brief was cards with a shoe theme. This first one uses the Fabulous shoe stamp from Katy Sue Designs, coloured with Promarkers. I know a lot of you don't live in the UK, and it must be frustrating when I use products you can't get hold of, but the good news is that Katy Sue sells worldwide......

the ribbon bow is white seam binding from The Ribbon Girl, coloured with a Promarker

this next one is an image from a Polkadoodles CD, called Dollie Daydream Girl Talk -  love those summery wedges.....the sentiment is a Memory Box die cut

The photos are a bit dark today, sorry - I probably finished the cards at midnight or some other silly-o-clock then packed them up ready to go to the publisher. I work months in advance so I can't remember, but the photos look like a late night session to me!

That's it for today, come back tomorrow, it's my turn to post on the Letraset blog, and you know what that means...yep, giveaway day. See you then x 

New Home for Papercraft Inspirations magazine....

Here's a new home card I made for a magazine commission - Papercraft Inspirations, on sale now in the UK, June 1st in the rest of the world. Of the four I made, this one was my favourite I think...... 

I love that Tim Holtz brick wall texture fades embossing folder by Sissix, lightly inked it looked just like an old whitewashed wall with the paint flaking off to show the brick underneath. The little birds are a Fiskars die

Thanks for all the enquiries about my back, it's a lot better now, and I am out and about again, it was lovely to sit in the sun with the newspaper and a coffee today, although everyone was behaving perfectly normally so I don't have any tales to tell. If the weather forecast is to be believed, we are in for a bit of a heatwave over the next few days, but it would be lovely if it does happen as we have two little boys celebrating birthdays this weekend - Max will be seven, Milo five

See you tomorrow x

Flowers for Papercraft Inspirations Magazine....

Here's a couple of floral cards I made for a commission for a  past issue of Papercraft Inspirations magazine. The theme was floral thank you cards, and each card has to look totally different. For this first one I used some cute fabric covered wooden shapes that I found in Hobbycraft.....

 and this next one was made with papers and stamps from Heartfelt Creations - the white seam binding ribbon from The Ribbon Girl was coloured with ProMarkers to match the card

I really must get around to updating my little gallery buttons at the top of the blog - and maybe add one for Scan N Cut cards as well. I am not very good at the admin type side of running a blog I must admit, I will put it on my ever growing TO DO list.........

When I was in Florida catching up with all my friends there, I saw my friend Carol's latest creations and I was blown away by how she has developed her style since I last saw her - she was a fledgling scrapbooker when I first met her, and decided she liked making cards much more than scrapbooking, it is so nice to see her develop as a crafter and I took a couple of photos of her lovely cards to show you 

Thanks for letting me share them Carol x

Kitchen is back in action!

After three rather long and busy weeks, the kitchen is finished apart from a few minor details. For those of you who have put up with all my witterings about it, here is the finished room - the oak kitchen units have been painted, and are the only thing left of the original kitchen which has otherwise had a total facelift............the photos make the cabinets look,white, they are a pale cream

I love my damson accent wall............and the canvas prints I found are perfect...the colours were totally influenced by the ivory/biscuit/plum/pink striped linen fabric that I fell in love with....the canvases look a bit wonky, must play around with them......

that long wall needs more pictures........and the rug for the sitting area isn't down yet......

and although the kitchen is more or less finished, we are not straight yet - the hall and stairway is being painted now....

and in case you think I have forgotten all about crafting, here is one that I made for Papercraft Inspirations magazine, the theme was 'drinks with friends'

I did manage to fight my way to my desk today, so I'll be back tomorrow with - at last - new projects!

Say thank you with chocolate.......

Here are some magazine cards that I can share with you now that they have been published. I was asked to make some 'Thank You' cards with a chocolate theme. They were for the Quick Cards section of Papercraft Inspirations magazine, so had to be quick and easy for the readers to reproduce. Here's what I came up with

The foil wrapper on this one is from a real chocolate bar that I had to eat in the pursuit of authenticity.....the sentiment says 'good friends and chocolate make everything brighter'

and the swirls and squiggles on this one were made with fabric paint

While driving yesterday, I passed a couple of polling stations. Each one had a forest of election banners and signs, and, placed strategically far apart from each other, a bunch of Republican volunteers, and a bunch of Democrats. I felt quite sorry for them, sitting there all day on camping chairs, waving flags and banners at every car. So I waved back to the Republicans, who visibly perked up and waved back giving me a thumbs up......then I waved to the Democrats, who also got a bit excited thinking they had got another vote in the bag. Nobody can say that I wasn't impartial! Whatever the result, I send the new President of the USA
congratulations, and hope that he can lead wisely and peacefully

There is a community garage sale here on Saturday, and we are joining in. How can it be possible that nine years ago we bought a house in Florida without owning so much as a teaspoon, and now we have enough stuff for a garage sale!
Quite a lot of it is craft stuff, which, when I bought it all, probably sent the manager of the local Michaels on a nice holiday in the Bahamas over the years! 

See you tomorrow

Christening Cards

I don't know if you remember, way back in May, I was having a nervous breakdown because a set of Christening cards I had been asked to make for Papercraft Inspirations magazine had got lost in the mail. There was a tight deadline before they were due in the photography studio of the magazine, so I had to redo them in a midnight oil burning session. Well, they got there, they were published and I can share them with you now after all this time. They were for the Quick cards section of the magazine, so quite simple.........

For this first one, I coloured white chipboard letters in pastel colours. The baby is from the Sundae of Seasons CD by Polkadoodles

This next one uses a Lili of the Valley image, and is a simple easel card - the front of the card was folded in half, and the image just popped on so that it stood clear of the fold line

This next one was my favourite, probably because I drew the template for the church myself, and I thought I was being clever using a cut down letter T sticker for the Cross. the sentiment was stamped onto card candi from Craftwork Cards

I have been having a trawl through my picture folders, and have found all sorts of stuff I haven't shared with you so there will be a respite from Christmas cards for a few days

We are in for a cold (well, cool) spell here in Florida, year-round residents are delighted and looking forward to it. Me? I would be happy for it to stay just as it is until Christmas, but I will just have to be gracious and allow them all a day or two of chill, but after that there will be a stern chat with the head weather man about sunshine and iced coffee.....

See you tomorrow x

Happy Baby Naming Day.....

All the posts I scheduled to cover my travelling days have gone missing, so here's a sneaky peek at one of my cards published in this month's Papercraft Inspirations magazine - loads of inspiration this month, just as it says on the box! The Freebie with the magazine this month, is a very useful set of printed shrink plastic, can't wait to play with that

Look out for this new book as well, there are lots and lots of my cards in there, it was fun to see them all again.......

including this one, it's another baby card, made with punched hippos.....

Well, we are home, and I seem to have lost the sunshine I packed. It's poured with rain since we got home.
The journey was, as always, tedious and boring, but not without a bit of light relief. In the airports, they all seem to vary a little, the security lines are longer each time we fly. This time, in Newark, they have introduced a new instruction, to add to the barked 'take your belt off' 'empty your pockets' 'place your laptop in a separate container' -  'those over 75 years of age need not take off their shoes'...........WHAT? Is there something we don't know? Do people who do nasty evil things on planes retire at 75? Who on earth decided that anyone over 75 was incapable of hiding heaven knows what in their sturdy walking boots? Bizarre. So shoes off, pockets empty, belts off, we march through a little tunnel and the bracelet that didn't cause a problem in Tampa sets off a series of alarms.


A serious breakfast conversation between Max age 5, Milo age 3 and their Mummy. They were talking about important jobs, and she was telling them about doctors, lawyers, firemen, policemen etc, then asked them what they wanted to be:
Max: Anything with lots of fighting
Milo: Ballerina
Right, that's them sorted then.............football hooligan and Billy Elliot!


See you tomorrow