If it's friday, it must be Polkadoodles........

This week the team were asked to use the new Love and Cherish CD, which is packed full of the most stunning papers and images. Of course, I couldn't resist these owls, I printed them out twice and decoupaged some of them. I scrunched the velvet ribbon a bit to give it some texture, and really quite like the end result

Pop on over to Polkadoodles blog to see what the rest of the team came up with, there are some rather stunning offerings over there this week, and why not join in the fun, as usual there are goodies to be won

Quite what I am going to do with all these valentine cards that I am having to make for design teams I do not know. Mike would probably faint if I presented them to him.................any ideas folks?

I heard a little tale about my nephew's little boy that I must share with you, it really made me laugh. Dylan is a very bright little 2 1/2 year old little boy. His mum organised a hairdresser to cut the childrens hair in their own home. This did not go down well with Dylan, who roared and protested very loudly. 'Nearly finished now Dylan' said the hairdresser soothingly 'I just have to cut around your ears'
"NO! NOT MY EARS" yelled the frightened little boy " I NEED THEM FOR LISTENING"

Lovebirds for the Cutting Cafe - win the file

Regina Easter of The Cutting Cafe has come up with the cutest valentine stuff this year. These little lovebirds are one of my favourite downloads

The paper is DCWV Be Mine stack, I fussy cut around some of the leaves to overlap the image

Would you like to win this download? Regina has kindly said that I can give it away to some lucky person. Leave a comment on this post, I will draw a winner on Wednesday the 20th January and the download will be emailed right to you. I think this would make a great anniversary card as well.

Copic markers used - tree E37,E39

Birds - B 02

Leaves - RV32, RV23

Here's today's sneaky peek at another Funky Hand sample, all will be revealed on saturday........

Running the risk of being boring here, but the snow keeps coming - quite remarkable really, I think Mother Nature took a wrong turn somewhere and thinks she is in Iceland. Hello lady, this is the United Kingdom, we are supposed to have rain not all this white stuff. In the meantime, I am still in dormouse hibernating mode, finding it difficult to get motivated to do anything but curl up by the fire with a bar of chocolate and a good book
Keep Warm!

Paisley Teenager Card - and a Sneaky Peek

Here's a sneaky peek at one of the cards I made from the new Funky Hand CD, Dreams Come True, which is on preorder now on the website, and will be premiered on Create and Craft TV on Saturday 16th January at 12.00, and again on Ideal World TV on Friday 22nd January at 2 p.m

The design team have been beavering away to get the samples done, and boy, you are in for a treat, the CD is full of wonderful papers, word books and extras. Don't forget, if you live outside the UK, shipping is free to anywhere in the world

I will be showing a sneaky peek every day, and will show the whole cards on Saturday morning

At last I found time to play with my new Paisley cartridge, this one is full of girlie images, just what I wanted, but in fact this card would do for a teen boy as well. The colours were determined by the background paper, which I couldn't resist when I saw it - DCWV Generation

The phone was cut at 3 1/2", and the letters were cut with george, at 2". I used red mirri card, very unlike me, but some of the words on the background are red foil, so it seemed to go. I used some black metal shiny dots (Jo-annes) as an accent

Sad person that I am, I had to google to see how teenagers would wish each other happy birthday in a text!!!

I used this particular cuttlebug embossing folder because I think it has quite a strong tech-design sort of feel, it looks like those metal floors you get in trendy loft conversions

You must hop over to one of my Polkadoodles teamies, Brenda's blog, she is organising this blog hop, it sounds like a lot of fun




I promised a photo of my copic storage, here it is.........................works perfectly, and spins round with the flick of a finger




That's it for today, back to the drawing board now, I am working on some magazine stuff, I have done my thinking and planning and am now ready to start seeing if the ideas work out on paper
See you tomorrow x

Penny Black Saturday Challenge

I haven't done the Penny Black challenge for the longest time, but I am loving this sketch (see below)

This is another stamp that I totally forgot I had, I really must have a good sort out one of these days

These papers by WeR Memory Keepers are among my favourites, so bright and cheerful

Papers - WeR Memory Keepers 'over the rainbow'

Stamp - PB 'Gone Shopping'

Sentiment stamp - hero arts

Nesties - mega curved rectangle, and scalloped oval

Copics - face E00, E02, RV13

Hair Y13

Dress and Bags YG23, YG 13, RV06, B93

Shadow - Prismacolour cool grey 10%

I have started putting the numbers of the Copic markers I use down, I don't know if it will help anybody. I have more emails about Copics than anything else. I am no expert - I would love to do a Copic course, and you will see that I have supplemented the markers with some Prismacolour markers that you can buy in Michaels, so when they are on sale, I stock up - I use the cool grey 10% all the time to add a shadow around a stamped image. They are alcohol based inks as well, so work perfectly well with the Copics. I have a mixture of sketch (the oval ones) and Ciao (round), the Ciao are cheaper, they don't hold as much ink, but they are both refillable and have the same nibs. I prefer the sketch, only because they have the number stamped on the cap, so it saves a lot of rummaging for colours. I am going to try Promarkers to build up my colours as well, they are more reasonable and seem to give lovely results.
If you are just starting off down the Copic road, my best advice would be to look online for the best deals, and buy shades that look pastel to start with, you can get a depth of colour by going over the colour you lay down first with the same marker, to add shadows.
Another question I get asked is how I store them. I have a round kitchen utensil holder from The Pampered Chef, it's on a turntable so just swivels round, and has compartments so that I can keep each colour family together. If I remember, I will take a photo of it tomorrow......

Seriously fed up with the white stuff now, I went to the dentist yesterday. 'Oh my' he said, as I rolled in like the michelin man, 'you are well wrapped up against the cold'. Honestly, it took me more time to take off enough layers to sit in the chair, than it took him to scale and polish my teeth.

A Child's Year for BBTB2

There has been a big change over on BBTB - Regina is very busy with The Cutting Cafe and has given up her role as team leader, but luckily, Heather stepped in, so the site continues, under a slightly changed name - Bitten By The Bug 2, the design team is unchanged, so we will be carrying on as before, and Regina will still be joining in with the challenges when she can............

This week, we were asked to use the little girl and boy with flowers behind their backs from A Child's Year. I always find that even though they are quite detailed cuts, that these little silhouettes look better cut small - about 2.5", so they are perfect for mounting onto an oval to look like an old fashioned silhouette picture. See the fabulous stuff the rest of the DT have done over on the site

I cut the figures twice, and mounted the top layer with silicone glue for dimension

The paper flowers were inked, and I used some purple rain drops in the centres


Cricut and A Child's Year cartridge

Paper flowers - Michaels Bridal Aisle (white) and Prima (purple)

Sentiment - Hero Arts

Border punch - Cornice by Martha Stewart

TIP

If you have a little group of flowers, try putting a larger gem in the lowest, and graduate the gems to a small one, as shown, it gives depth and dimension to your project

Two cards to share...........

First of all for Moxie Fab World, I have never entered a challenge on this site before, and these colours were so far outside my comfort zone I just had to join in. Of course, after rummaging around for ages I couldn't find an exact match, especially for the blue, so a compromise was reached...............

The papers are all bits and pieces that I have had hanging around for the longest time, so I can't give you the names of any of them




Butterfly - QK butterfly die

Border punch - double loop by martha stewart

embossing - swiss dots and cuttlebug

Next, on to the challenges at Papertake Weekly and Cute Card Thursday, and By the cute and girly, and Fussy and Fancy all of which specified

NEW

and as this stamp has been lying around lonely and uninked, it counts as my new element, super little image, mind you, just looking at her makes me shiver...............







Inky Impressions stamp - Flower Lili
Mega nesties - curved rectangle
D'vine swirls cuttlebug embossing folder
Copics
face - E00, E02, R12, B93 (eyes)
Hair E31, E36
Jeans and hat - B93, B24
Detail - R29, B02, YG 23
Shadow - cool grey 10% prismacolour
ink - memento black tuxedo and cloudy blue martha stewart
flowers Prima
heart gems - Papermania.UK
Flower paper - DCWV from my kitchen stack
sentiment circle - Craftwork Cards

Have you noticed I have little snowflakes drifting down over my blog? As if we didn't have enough drifting down outside - I think it's snowing all over the world. Apparently parts of FLORIDA have had snow. Whatever next!

Song title challenge for Polkadoodles

The challenge over on Polkadoodles this week is 'Song Title'. I was short of time, so made this card very quickly using the already coloured elements from the Back to Nature CD.

I had Kiki in mind when I made it, so my song title is

You Are My Sunshine

which of course, she is

Shimmerz dots are my new passion, they are less blingy than gems, but add a subtle sparkle to a card


Papers and digi stamps - Back to Nature CD by Polkadoodles
shimmerz dots by Papermania UK

I understand it has been almost as cold in a little town called Hudson, Florida, as it has been here, so no wistful shivering thoughts of 'I wish I was there' from me, although it seems colder than ever today. Don't we all look ridiculous when we walk on snow/ice? There is no elegant way to do it, you either do the ice shuffle, which makes you look as if you forgot to put your skates on and are practising to be a contestant on 'Dancing on Ice', or take tiny mincing steps (as seen yesterday by a girl who was clearly so taken with the thigh high stilletto boots that Santa gave her, that she couldn't bear not to wear them regardless of the weather). I have witnessed a couple of those 'will he.................won't he?............' moments as well, you know, the one where someone suddenly lurches forwards, takes a few giant strides, arms flailing madly, and sort of hangs suspended for a while before landing on the ice.

Keep warm x

Lili of the valley Fairy.........

I won this gorgeous little fairy by Lili of the valley in a challenge, it was waiting for me when I returned to the UK, and this is the first time I have had a chance to ink it up, I just love her. I used my new label #1 nesties as well.

coloured with Copic markers and glamour dust

love these scrunchy flowers........................, I think this is the last of them, I got them on clearance somewhere, I should have bought a barrow load when I had the chance
Papers - dill flowers by SEI
Flowers - Prima
stamp - Lili of the valley
sentiment - Craftwork cards
nestabilities label # 1 dies
colour box bronze cats eye inkpad
glamour dust glitter
pearls - michaels

Well, the cold and snow continues to hold the UK hostage, with more on the way. Apparently it's the coldest winter we've had for 30 years. Theories will abound of course as to the reason why. I was tickled pink the other day when Kiki (age 5 1/4) said 'can you switch the light off please Ma, to save the little polar bears'

Stripes and Scallops for Caardvarks

Caardvarks is one of my favourite challenge blogs, the design team over there are super-talented and I love their creations. This week, they challenged us to use this sketch by Becky Flack, of Pagemaps. To be honest, I struggled a bit with it, but although the result is a simple little card, I do really like it

For the lines on the sketch, I used cuttlebug borders
and I liked the fresh look of the shocking pink and white stripes against the white. The pink nestie circle is exactly the same colour, it looks a bit different in the photo

I am going to start listing the 'ingredients' for each card after each post
pink pattern paper - Paper factory
white scallop cut with zooballoo cartridge/cricut machine
flowers - wedding aisle at Michaels
pink shimmerz dots by Papermania UK
Embossed floral border punch Provocraft

Sentiment circle Craftwork Cards

So here is my tiny patio garden this morning, now those of you who live in the Northern States of the USA, or Canada, will laugh scornfully at this pathetic sprinkle of snow. Believe me, it's a big deal here in the UK, we usually have a light snowfall maybe once a year, the country crawls to a bewildered standstill, it melts, and we go back to grey drizzly days again. This year, we have had a long period of really, really cold weather, and I have made a startling discovery, .................
I think I was once a dormouse!





I feel a definite, almost uncontrollable urge to hibernate, I want to fluff up my duvet and bury myself in it until the sun comes out again. Failing that, I will wrap up in my thermals and try to think sunshiny thoughts.....

A New Month - two new challenges

Two monthly challenges for you to join in with, if you like challenges that is - the first one is for Get Funky, where the challenge is spots and stripes. There are spots and stripes on here, honest, they just got a bit lost under the tree. All the papers and images are from the fabulous new CD from Funky Hand, called Dreams Come True. This CD is totally and wonderfully interactive, but shhh, this is a sneek preview

It will be premiered on Create and Craft TV in the UK on 16th January at 12.00

. The tree and bird were printed out from the CD as well. I dotted some red buttons onto the tree to give it a bit of a pop

The tweet sentiment is DCWV and the tiny letters are making memories. You have a whole month to do the challenge, and the winner gets a £20 (about $32) gift voucher to spend on Funky Hand products


Next comes the Lily-Boo monthly challenge, which is Valentines, and the good news is that there is a freebie image over on the site for you to pick up

I used the cute owls, Martha Stewart heart punch, cuttlebug heart embossing folder, and more tiny letter stickers to say 'love makes the world go round'


Again you have a whole month to join in, and the winner gets two lily boo downloads of their choice from the boutique


We had a lovely new years eve at a party with friends. I love seeing all the celebrations from all over the world on the TV, and I must say, London did pretty well on the firework stakes, but it was so cold I was glad I was seeing it from the comfort of a warm and cozy house

Happy New Year to all of you

I haven't had much time for making cards I can show you lately - working on a magazine commission at the moment, so thought I would pop these on, all cards I made for a recent edition of the 'Quick Cards' section of Papercraft Inspirations magazine. This is a section of the magazine that shows cards that can be made in 30 minutes or less, maybe for crafters in a hurry or less experienced cardmakers. Any shapes used are printed as templates in the back of the magazine for the readers to trace or copy. For the first one the brief was a male card using an iconic travel image, this is what I came up with

I stamped the image twice, once onto the pattern paper which does away with colouring (well, they are quick cards :)

and again onto the red, then cut out the sphinx image
For the second one, the brief was a male card again, using a car image. I found this really cute key charm that I stuck on. The car is from Going Places, and the words were printed off the computer and chopped up. The edges of this one look a bit battered, but these cards have travelled to the Editor's office, then to the photography studio, then back to me, I never think of photographing them before mailing them


This little chap was done with scallped ovals/circles and a lot of doodling. The sentiment came to me in a flash as I was making the card, I thought it was funny, always love a play on words. It's always quite a challenge to come up with something a bit different that people can copy in 30 minutes or less.

So, any new year resolutions? I always have such a long list, most of them are broken by the middle of January, so don't think I will bother, although I could do with being a bit more organised, a bit less fluffy, and a lot less talkative. Whatever your resolutions, I hope 2010 is a happy and healthy one for you all and your families, and thank you all so much for all the support you have given me in 2009 - I wouldn't do it without you!

2009 Favourites

Over on my friend Kath's blog, she has listed all her favourite cards for each month of the year. What a great idea Kath, so I am joining in, here are my personal favourites of all the cards I have made this year. They are favourites for various reasons, some simply because I love the way they turned out, some because they were a real challenge to make, and some because I think I was a bit crafty and came up with something new...........

January

February




March






April





May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Do you agree with me? Any of your favourites in there? If you are a blogger, list the favourite cards that you made in 2009, and let me know so that I can pop over to take a look