Here's an idea....

Have you seen adhesive sheets? You can order them online, I think they are made by companies called JAC and 3L. They are also sold in Hobbycraft in the UK, and Michaels in the USA. I use them a lot, they are perfect for skinny little die cuts - whenever I use glue it always seeps out from under the die cut and makes a mess. They are waxy sheets covered with tiny glue dots. For this project, I cut a honeycomb background on my Cameo (honeycomb from the Silhouette store) and stuck it firmly to the sheet, then trimmed the sheet around the edge. I cut the same honeycomb twice more with double sided pattern papers....

Then I started adding the coloured shapes quite randomly into the honeycomb spaces, and rubbed on some mica flakes in silver and bronze (by Stampendous) into some of the vacant spaces, just a few flakes here and there......

Then I dumped ultra fine glitter from Martha Stewart glitter over the whole thing, rubbing gently with my fingers to adhere it to the vacant glue spaces.....beware the glitter blizzard when you shake it off! I found myself drinking a cup of tea with glitter floating in it.....

I found a tiny sentiment stamp, which just fitted the shape, I popped that one on with a foam pad.....

and here is the end result, as always, it is almost impossible to photograph glitter and shine, but this card has it in spades....

 this next photo captures a little of the sparkle...

So look out for these glue sheets, they are a great addition to your stash if you use a lot of die cuts, particularly the skinny little Memory Box dies

I have had another email from Max, the child is in a frenzy about his scrapbooking weekend. It will probably last for two hours on Saturday, then we will have to take a scooter break to the park!

See you tomorrow x

Snail Mail

The idea for this card came from one of those dollar stamps they have in Michaels - I always find odd sayings, and an idea for a card often pops into my head. I needed a snail, so I found this little lady in the Silhouette store and cut her out with my Cameo....

I thought it would make quite a good 'sorry I'm a bit late' birthday card, which seems to happen quite often these days. Another oopsie moment!

My day yesterday was a bit like the Curates egg - good in parts. I had a great lunch with some girlfriends, nice enough to sit outside and eat, with only the wasps for company. Then I spent hours making a project for a design team, only to discover that the merchandise I was highlighting had been discontinued. Sob. The rest of my day was spent getting together armfuls of stuff to take down to London on Friday. Young Max was given a holiday project by his school - to make a scrapbook. He is very excited and even sent me an email from his own email address to remind me (email? He is only six!) Still he wrote 'I love you very much' so that was enough to send me into a frenzy of preparation for the big project. You will get to see the work in progress of course....

See you tomorrow x

Some winners - and a monkey!

 I first created this little chap for a magazine commission, and was asked to use a 'sorry sentiment'. I really liked the way he turned out, so decided to reproduce him, this time with a happy little face.....

All the shapes were cut with my Cricut and George cartridge - it's my default cartridge and lives permanently in my machine, ready to churn out circles and hearts... I gave his some rosy cheeks with chalk. The spiky fur on top of his head was handcut and stuck on to the back of his face with a glue dot

The card is 6 x 6 and the sizes of the shapes are:
3 1/2" circle for face
4" oval
2 1/2" heart
2 x 1 1/4" circles for ears
4 x 1" circles for ears and eyes
I used a tiny circle punch for the pupils of the eyes

Now for some winners. The two randomly drawn winners are:

Bonbon Belles double CD - Guida Machado

Halloween download - Andrene

Congrats to you both, email me with your address/email address and I will got your prize in the mail.

See you tomorrow with some snail mail.....

More Halloween

Here's a couple more Halloween cards made with the great new download from Polkadoodles.....
This little guy has really gone to town on his costume...

I hand doodled a spiders web in the background... 

Yes, I admit I went to town a bit with the spooky bat fence, but since I haven't been able to find it for about two years, now I've unearthed it, it must be used before it disappears into the crafty black hole....

I cut out one of the bats from the paper and attached that to the image with a foam pad...

So there you go, you still have time to pop your name under the first Halloween post to be in with a chance to win. 

It's a Bank Holiday weekend here in the UK, which of course means nothing to me now that I am retired. When I look back to how I longed for these long weekends when I was at work, now it's just a bit of an inconvenience. Post office closed? Drat, I walked here especially, and why is Costa Coffee so crowded? Who are all these people sitting in my usual spot?
Funny how perspectives change....

See you tomorrow x 

Win a Halloween download....

 I warned you it was going to be spooky here today....Nikky Hall the talented Polkadoodles designer has come up with a great digital download for Halloween - you get 54 images, and just look at the papers! You can get it HERE for only £3.49 (that's about $5.50  and you can print them out over and over, bargain). No waiting around for the postman either, you can start playing right away. Nikky is offering a free download bundle to one of you, leave your name under this post and I will draw a winner on Tuesday



Couldn't resist this little witchie cat....

and I knew that Martha Stewart bat fence punch that I bought on clearance would come into it's own one day (normally, I cut off the bats, and use it as a regular fence...) Love this paper as well, it graduates from purple to orange..I added quite a lot of inking to these cards, I think it adds to the spooky look 

I really like this next image, it would be perfect for a teenage girl, and lets face it, they are the ones who really go to town with the make-up and skin tight costumes on October 31st!I hand cut a spooky banner to match the background paper, although there are some great banners on the download. I found some orange glitter letters to spell the word...

I'll have two more cards to show you tomorrow from the download. 

I think the UK are catching up with the USA in going to town at Halloween, I was talking to someone earlier this week who said that her neighbour took a week to decorate her house, inside and out for Halloween, including a coffin in the hall. Yuk! A couple of cute pumpkins and cats, and maybe a little friendly ghost would be my limit, if I was going to make an effort (which I don't, cards for the grandchildren are my limit, but maybe one day I will throw a party) How about you? 

More BonBon Belles Cards

 A couple more quick cards today, both made with the Colourburst BonBon Belles CD from Polkadoodles. Don't forget you still have a chance to win one, scroll down to yesterday's post and leave your name

The first card today was the result of finding this stamp for a child's birthday - an old Stampin Up stamp that I have had for ever

Again, I wanted to showcase how you can get great results even if colouring images is not your forte - you can print them out in black and white, or ready coloured like this one. I used a ready made easel card from Craftwork Cards, and just cut a blue scallop to fit using a Spellbinders die. The paper was printed from the CD as well as the image

You can't get much more clean and simple than this next one - my three girls (daughter and daughters in law) love unfussy cards, so this one will come in useful. I printed out the beach huts (aren't they cute?) already coloured, simply cut them out and popped them on with foam pads. The banner was printed as well, and the individual flags cut out and popped on. I drew a thread between the flags with a black fine liner pen

I have a lot of regular questions asked about using these CD's so thought it would be unseful to list those most frequently asked

How much ink do you use?
Well I print a LOT of stuff, I just have a regular HP inkjet printer and I change the cartridges about three times a year, but I probably print out a lot more than the average crafter

Do you need special computer skills to use the CD's
Well, if you do, I don't have them. I just click on print, windows gives me an option of what size I want - full page for papers, small for images etc, and away I go....believe me, if I can do it, anybody can. I know that you can manipulate the images by importing them into photo editing software and I have seen fabulous work by people who do this, but for me, simple is best and I haven't felt the need to mess around when I can just click on 'print'

Does the ink run when you print images then colour them?
I have honestly never had a problem, and as I said I have a very ordinary cheapo printer. I mainly use Promarkers and Flexmarkers which are alcohol based and have never had a problem.

What type of paper do you print on?
I usually use thin cardstock - I still have stacks of Georgia Pacific which I bought from Walmart in the USA and find that works really well, it goes through the printer easily and is more substantial than printing onto copy paper - even good copy paper. I think Staples do a similar weight cardstock in the UK 

Hope this clears up a few questions. The bottom line is that they are VERY user friendly.

I finally got around to changing my hairdresser, I haven't been very happy since my long standing lady who understood every hair on my head, decided to up sticks and go and live in Tenerife (honestly, how inconsiderate of her!), and her replacement just didn't get it right. So I stalked women with short hair until I found someone with hair that looked good and asked them who cut it. So, off I went to make an appointment. What a palaver. They made me fill a form in with all my details, including my date of birth. No way! Are they going to send me a birthday cake with the right amount of candles on it? I don't think so. So that stayed blank. Then they gave me a skin test and put a bit of dye on my arm to see if I got a reaction, and carefully covered it with a plaster, which I tore off as soon as I left the salon. So by now they had as many details from me as my doctor and dentist, all that was missing was my national insurance number and blood group. Happily, the new girl did a good job, or at least it looks good today. Tomorrow will be the test when I morph into a hedgehog overnight.....

See you tomorrow when I may have a spooky surprise for you....x

Win a double CD by Polkadoodles

Oops, I'm a day late. I wanted to show you some of the lovely things that are on the Colourburst BonBon Belles CD from Polkadoodles, it's a double CD, so you get two discs. I wanted to make a couple of quick cards and this is what I came up with.....

I just love this balloon, I printed it out already coloured, and cut the image down so that it fitted perfectly onto a 6 x 6 card front. I inked the sky a bit with distress inks, and added some clouds cut with a memory box die. The sentiment on the banner was handwritten.....

and here is the CD you have a chance of winning...

and a peek inside, it looks like a delicious sweet shop! The digi stamps are called the BonBon Belles..

There are six colour collections - three on each CD. In each collection you have a huge choice of papers, digital stamps and embellishments, all beautifully colour coordinated....

This collection is called Berry Crush...

and here is Tropical Sorbet.....

and Coconut Ice....

and just a peep at some of the papers that you can print out, this snapshot is from the Tropical Sorbet collection, and you get many many more choices in each collection -  just click on the one you like and print, the quality is first class. I print out onto cardstock

All you have to do is leave your name under this post, I will draw a winner on Monday, you can enter from anywhere in the world. Good luck

I'll be back tomorrow with a couple more cards that I made using the CD x 

Winners - and a load of old Junk!

First of all, the winners of the Letraset fine liner pens which I drew using a random number generator are:

Number 7 MARG

Number 17 SUE BRAILEY

Congrats to you both. Email me with your address, including a phone number if you are in the USA/Canada and Letraset will mail your pens to you

Nothing new has been happening in the crafty cupboard, in fact, nothing has been happening at all there, as my visitors only left yesterday morning, and I spent the day doing a long overdue clear out of some of the duplicated stuff I have from the States. Time to put my Ebay hat on I think.......

Love this photo of our gorgeous little Monty, fresh from the bath in his summer PJ's.......

I spent a lot of time chasing after the two of them as they scooted along!

It will be back to work today, and a Polkadoodles giveaway for you tomorrow..

My son and his family are on holiday in California and were watching a spectacular firework display at Disneyland. 'That woman dressed as Tinkerbell shouldn't be on that wire when they are letting off fireworks' said six year old Max 'it's very dangerous'
Not quite the reaction old Walt had in mind when he devised the jaw dropping spectacle...........our boy has a bright future as a health and safety officer in some government department!!!

See you tomorrow x

Candi Winner

Nothing crafty from me today, I have been busy being a kitchen assistant to Kiki, here is the Victoria Sponge cake she made (with a bit of help!)

and some rather misshapen cookies (but they taste delicious)

I had to smile, after we put the cake in the oven and were clearing up, I said 'do you want to scrape the bowl and lick the spoon?' 'oh no' she said in a shocked voice 'it contains raw eggs'.... How times have changed, her Daddy was always first in the spoon-licking queue, and I don't think it did him, or me any harm. I am constantly amazed that I managed to bring up three children safely and healthily considering the way they were allowed to sit in the back of the car with just a seat belt on from the age of three when they outgrew the Britax seat (babies were just placed in a carry cot on the back seat, remember? Mine rolled about all over the place when the car went round corners, we just didn't have those cute little baby seats that you carry in and out of the car). They ate 'raw eggs' whenever I baked cakes, they carried milk in glass bottles in from the doorstep every morning, a packet of crisps (chips) was considered a healthy snack (well, it's potatoes, potatoes are a vegetable, right?), and you started weaning them at about eight weeks. All this, in just a few years. Sigh

The winner of the card candi drawn randomly is:

HELENA (GVENDALEN)

Congrats, email me with your name and address and your prize will be on its way

See you tomorrow, although young Monty will be here as well as Kiki, so not a lot will be going on in the crafty cupboard again x

Zentangles - and win some fineliners

I've been bitten by the Zentangle bug! Read all about it on the Letraset blog
Fine liners are the perfect pens for this (well, not just for this, you can use them to draw in detail on stamped images, doodle backgrounds, even when you are using alcohol markers, they won't smear or run). Here is the official description:

Letraset Fine Line Drawing pens combine an everyday low price point with superlative performance. They use waterbased, pigmented inks that are quick drying and resistant to light fading. They’re also fully marker proof, making them ideal for use alongside Letraset’s alcohol based Tria and ProMarker ranges. 

Four line widths are available, for sharp accurate line work and an ultra-smooth art surface feel

Read more: http://www.letraset.com/products/71-Fine-Liners/#ixzz2by1XdfAw

The great news is that I have two prizes of five FineLine pens to give away, all you have to do is leave a comment on the Letraset post then pop back here to leave your name. I will draw a winner on Monday, and let you know on Tuesday who won. Good luck

I have been introduced to Minions today, I took Kiki to see Despicable Me and loved it - subtle humour that Disney is so good at, I laughed out loud and I want a Minion for Christmas...

See you tomorrow x 

Grandma duty.......

I haven't posted for a couple of days, mainly because I have my grandma hat on this week. On Sunday we were down in London for a family tea party for Kiki, and to pick her up for her week with us............make a wish Kiki

On the way home we saw one of the prettiest summer skies - Kiki insisted I take a photo.....

We bought a school notebook/diary for her, and spent an afternoon altering it, the pink cardstock is really glittered, which met with approval....

and she wanted to cut things on the cricut, so here they are. Cinderella was drawn with a cricut pen and coloured in by Kiki

and what on earth have I been doing? All will be revealed tomorrow!

Yesterday was the official international Left Handers day. Now I am left handed, so are two of my three children. I am sure if I had told you all in plenty of time I would have been inundated with cards :) There is a touch of inequality about this, apparently there isn't an official international Right Handers day. People should be rising up in protest about this. Being left handed has never been a big deal for me, I don't have to use special left handed scissors. I can pretty much do everything the 'right way round' apart from write of course - oh, and I can't eat a boiled egg with my spoon in my right hand. After that random remark I will just add that at least my brain is in the right place!!!

See you tomorrow  

Win some Candi!

It's my turn to post over on the Craftwork Cards blog today, hop over there to see what I have been doing.......

Sign up on the Craftwork Cards Blog to become a follower, then pop back here to leave your name and one of you will win TEN packs of the very latest delicious Card Candi - wonderful 'legless' brads that you can pop anywhere on your project with none of that punching holes hassle - you get some special Candi fix foam pads to stick them on as well. The prize will be mailed worldwide, so everyone can enter.  I will draw a random winner on Thursday and let you know who won on Friday. Good luck!

Birthday Cake

Here's one I made using a cuttlebug birthday folder and Craftwork Cards papers from their Happy Days goody box and a couple of their paper bows.....

I cut rectangles and rounded the top corners and assembled the 'cake' with a little space between the layers. The candles were just strips of paper with teardrop shaped flames that I cut by hand and coloured with ProMarkers

Sharing with you the photo my daughter in law sent me of Kiki taken in Portugal on her ninth birthday which was yesterday. She looks so grown up, especially wearing the glitzy clip-on earrings she wheedled me into buying her! Happy birthday sweetheart x

Be sure to drop by tomorrow, I may have a nice little giveaway to share with you, see you then x

Celebrate

I needed a simple birthday card and found this cut on the Martha Stewart holiday cake cartridge, it was meant to be a very quick card, but then I started to mess around with it and decided I liked the negative space more than the cut, so I backed that in black - oh yes, and it needed a couple of balloons too, and they needed a coat of glossy accents....

and after a lot of faffing about, here is my very quick card that took ages to make!

Our little grandson Max is six now, and his vocabulary is growing every day, his language is really quite expressive. His Daddy took him out for breakfast the other day as a treat, and Max ordered pancakes (he got to love them on an American holiday). One of them was very brown on the underside, not burnt, just brown. So the waiter came and asked if everything was alright. 'Lovely thank you' said my son. 'I don't like this pancake' announced the six year old gourmet 'it's a disgrace'
Disgrace! Where did he pick that up! He is off on a three week holiday to California soon, he may shatter a few American conceptions of ultra polite British kids if he goes around doing his food critic act over there :)

See you tomorrow x

A Jar of Buttons......

I found a 12 x 12 paper pack called Neopolitan by American Crafts in TK Maxx here in the UK, and despite the three large boxes of paper stacks that were shipped over from Florida in January, I bought it. I knew straightaway what I wanted to do with the cute jars printed onto one page..... 

the sentiment says 'a tight squeeze from me to you', all the papers, and the jar are from the pack. I cut the little banner strip from one of the papers

and cut two lids so that I could pop one on with foam pads

I had happy post today, a very regular visitor here and blog friend sent me a lovely card, and a Wild Rose studio stamp (which will be used very soon, it's lovely), just to say how much she enjoys reading my waffle - thank you so much Sandy, you made my day. Sharing your super Loralie lady card for everyone to see..

I missed posting yesterday, felt a bit out of sorts, nothing drastic just a headache and it would be a day when I was flying by the seat of my pants finishing a magazine commission with a deadline later this week. All done and packed up ready to go, text written, supplies list done...breathe

I am trying to get ahead a bit with design team stuff, as I am going down to London to pick up Kiki on Sunday and bringing her home with me for a week, so next week you will be probably looking at her creations instead of mine. Be prepared for a lot of glitter!

Talking of family, here is a photo of little Milo, just four years old and 'graduating' from his nursery before he goes to 'proper' school in September

and here is a cake that my very talented and artistic daughter in law Annabel made, just look at those chocolate roses - I am in awe!

See you tomorrow x