Today

Hello

Sorry I haven't posted for a few days – I just haven't had any spare time although thinking back cannot even recall what has taken up my days and nights!

Never mind

Well our grandson Layton came yesterday to stay for a few days and we have all had a great time...

When we picked him up we went to a few garden centres that had fish departments as we sadly lost out 10 year old Oscar at the start of last week – anyway we did manage to get one from a tropical fish shop – its a small one which is what we wanted – Layton chose which he wanted and has named him Jamie – I know, what a crazy name for an Oscar but there you go.

Today we went through to Brigg which I believe is around 14 miles from here – its a lovely place and of course the sun was out which was a huge bonus – so we sat outside a fish bar and had lovely fresh Grimsby fish and chips, then a wander around before finally picking up some shopping for tomorrow then home again.

Then around 5ish we set off for seaside – Cleethorpes – it was still bright fine and warm so Pete Layton and I went onto the beach and although the sea was so far out you couldn't see how far away it really was there were lots of little pools for us to have a good splash around in!

Layton had a huge ice cream – double cornet with mountains of super whippy ice cream, flakes galore and topped with chocolate sauce, Pete & I both said he wouldn't eat it all but he stunned us when he did...

We had a few hours in the amusements and on the rides then back home collecting a kebab on the way!!

Layton was shattered so he ate a little of his tea then spent 10 mins in the shower – he would stay in there for hours if I let him...he was dried and smoothered in baby powder – I know he is now 5 years old but he is still grandmas baby!!!

Within 5 mins of him climbing into bed he was fast asleep...

Ok so that's it – I don't post anything for days then bore you all with our last few days of child minding..

Mind you its just as well he came here yesterday as his mummy Vicky was going off to her cousins big white fancy wedding today with her twin sister Nicky – well poor Vicky has been up all night with D&S...she had hoped it was die away so she could make the night party but sadly not..so with Layton here and Nicky had been at her boyfriends then she went off to the wedding Vicky has been home alone with her bug

Hope she is better tomorrow as Nicky & Vicky were due to come here for dinner...they have been nagging for a full Sunday roast dinner so bought it all in today..

The piccie shows how much fun we had!

See you tomorrow with a card = got lots to share now

xx

Stitch In Time

Hiya

This is a card I put together last week – I printed it off and sat in the evening cutting it out – saves falling to sleep in front of TV as I generally do I suppose!

The kit is called Stitch In Time and was designed by Janice MacFarlane. I believe it was from crafts you print – what I will add is there was a fault in the design which was annoying as the tail of the boy mouse curled over the hand of the girl mouse – so it was a case of clip the tail or snip the hand! Not good considering this was £2.00 for just 2 sheets of art work. This card has a corner pocket with a removable bookmark that is made up of mixed hearts!

So materials for this card I used ….

Heat mat to work on and protect your surface – I always use it...

White a4 card

Printed base card sheet

Printed decoupage sheet

Odd piece of card for the bookmark

Sticky pads

Eazi Score Board & tool

Tonic 8” guillotine

Scissors

Tweezers

Shaping tool from www.dimensionstamps.com

Foam shaping mat – stamping mat or even a mouse mat

To make the card …

The main card sheet was trimmed slightly then sprayed with Crafters Companion Stick & Stay and secured to the sheet of white card. I then cut out the whole design carefully and finally scored down the centre score line only to find the back and front was a long way from matching.

I spent as long making this right as I had cutting it all out in the first place – I am now wondering if the designer is someone I should avoid in the future as this is the 2^nd major fault so far!

Once the card was sorted I started on the decoupage elements..they were straight forward to cut out.

I actually glued the bottom corner pocket and the heart bookmark on to spare card then cut them out as I felt they both needed extra support.

The corner pocket was stuck to the card using double sided tape along the left and bottom edges only.

I also found the pocket had to be in place before the last of the decoupage for the mice.

I struggled cutting the hole from the scissors – I do tend to struggle with such things but for some reason this was far more noticeable – I think I may go back and add some colour to the edges with a pro-marker as that will tidy it up somewhat.

And that was the card – as you may have picked up I wasn't really all that taken with it...I loved it when I saw it which was why it was bought – maybe it was the bad points in it that put me off!!

Oh well

This is to go into the use it or sell it box with all the others so if it takes your fancy email me!!

See you next time

xxx

Dress Shop

Hiya

I just love love love this card!!!

In fact its from the fab new cd Fabulous Fashion by Katy Sue/House of Zandra

The cd is filled with beautiful artwork for dresses, bags and hats.

Its a double cd rom and cd2 features the shop front and a choice of toppers, single images or decoupage images to go behind the windows.

Bet you will love it when you see this card too.

So materials for this card I used ….

Heat mat to work on and protect your surface – I always use it...

White a4 card

Printed shop sheet

Printed decoupage sheet

Acetate

Sticky pads

Eazi Score Board & tool

Tonic 8” guillotine

Scissors

Tweezers

Shaping tool from www.dimensionstamps.com

Foam shaping mat – stamping mat or even a mouse mat

To make the card …

The shop front was trimmed a little then I used Crafters Companion Stick & Stay on the back and stuck this to the sheet.

I then cut out the shop front and carefully cut away all the small windows...in a few places I had white showing through so used an aqua marker that was a good match to colour in between all the panes so no white was left..

Next I placed a small piece of acetate behind the windows securing it with double sided tape.

Using my X-Cut V paper trimmer as a scorer I scored down the pre printed lines on the front and back of the card then carefully stuck them all together, this is what then formed the shop front!

The base image was trimmed and then after cutting out all the decoupage I built it up using small sticky pads.

Once that was completed I used some photo glue on the back and slotted this panel behind the acetate window, sliding it around until I was happy with it!!!

This was then left on a side to dry thoroughly.

As well as this looking a fab card it folds flat for posting which I liked.

It fits into an 8x8 envelope.

I have done some exciting things using this cd but you are just going to have to wait to see what they are!!!

Anyone from my class reading this will hopefully be pleased to know this is the project for this week!!!

This is to go into the use it or sell it box with all the others so if it takes your fancy email me!!

See you next time

xxx

Badger Sett

Hiya

I made this card the day the great new La Pashe cd arrived – its called Behind Closed Doors Pop Up cards and it is fab!!

The cards are simple to do but look great.

It was a tough choice trying to decide which to do but I have a soft spot for Badgers so that's what I went for in the end.

So materials for this card I used ….

Heat mat to work on and protect your surface – I always use it...

White a4 card

Printed main sheet

Sticky pads

Eazi Score Board & tool

Tonic 8” guillotine

Scissors

Tweezers

Shaping tool from www.dimensionstamps.com

Foam shaping mat – stamping mat or even a mouse mat

To make the card …

I started by cutting the white card down to the size of the main image then once I stuck the main image in place I cut out the doors and marked on the white card where they would go which left me plenty to chop down with the paper trimmer

Once I was happy they were the right size I stuck the door panels to the outside of the gatefold card using photo glue – don't know I opted for that but it worked so all was good.

The cd offers a sheet on how to do the pop ups as well as a template so I printed the sheets and it was easier than I thought – I simply had to cut the card I had over from my A4 sheet so it would crease and fold to make up a rectangular piece which was then glued to the inside of the doors – the cut out piece of design is then stuck to the pop out piece with double sided tape, then that's it – card made. Once you open the doors its as though you are looking into a card but close the doors and its all flat for posting!!!

I am pretty sure I will be doing plenty more of these super cards – on the cd there are some unusual designs not just animals but things to suit all ages and styles...I highly recommend this cd – its called Behind Closed Doors Pop UP Cards by La Pashe...feel free to email me for more info on the cd.

This is to go into the use it or sell it box with all the others so if it takes your fancy email me!!

See you next time

xxx

Crossword Freebie

Hiya

A card for a man now – well that's how I see it anyway!!

It was a sheet designed by Heather Howes and was bought from craftsuprint and although I said I see it as a perfect card for a man I know that lots of ladies love doing crosswords so the card is a good one to have in reserve.

So materials for this card I used ….

Heat mat to work on and protect your surface – I always use it...

White a4 card

Printed main sheet and decoupage panel

Black card for matting

A sentiment from La Pashe new cd

4 small clear gems

Sticky pads

Eazi Score Board & tool

Tonic 8” guillotine

Scissors

Tweezers

Shaping tool from www.dimensionstamps.com

Foam shaping mat – stamping mat or even a mouse mat

To make the card …

This card is one of those that really does only take 5 minutes to make

I folded the white card in half then trimmed off the excess of the main image, I got a bit slap happy and trimmed one side too much so cut off all the black and matted it to black card – sorted!

The main panel with the crossword was cut out and pads added to the back then stuck to the card.

I cut out the glasses and the fountain pen and these were put on place with small sticky pads.

I chose a sentiment from the sheet I have printed off and used pads then positioned on an angle so it would fit in

To finish I added 4 small clear gems to the sentiment corners then glossy accents to the lens of the glasses as well as the cap top and nib of the pen.

I did say it was a quick card – and so easy too.

I don't personally know anyone I could send this card to – but I'm pretty sure you lot do – so if anyone would like this card speak out – if I get more than one comment I will pop all names in the hat and draw one out!!!

See you next time

xxx

Green & Recycled

Evening

This is not a card but a set of 3 ATCs that I have enjoyed making and will serve a couple of purposes

The 1^st is I can enter them into the CD Sunday Challenge Blog as the theme this week is Green and/or Recycling – I think!!!

Anyway they are green and somewhat recycled as they were on a waterfall card I made originally but I just didn't like it so stripped it down and now have 3 super atcs.

I have used images from Peerless Designs Hedgehogs Garden Adventures – its a lovely cd for anyone who adores hedgehogs – the artwork really is top class so all credit to Sarah Hallam.

The atcs are a standard size – 3.5 x 2.5 inches or 9 x 6.5 cm.

I now always use heavy card – ie mount board – as that makes all the difference in my opinion.

The backing papers for 2 of the atcs were from a Serif 6x6 paper pad called Picnic in The Park and the 3^rd atc I used an off cut of a white sheet I had embossed, a Tim Holtz ink pad was lightly rubbed over to highlight the embossing in green

All the hedgehog toppers were shaped pyramage so look lovely when made up.

I embellished the atcs with pearly doodles and die-cut a butterfly for one, used a butterfly and dragonfly brad on another and the 3^rd quite simply have a large With Love banner across it.

So that's it for the entry blog challenge but now I have 3 atcs – anyone out there want these - free – or I will happily swap with you!!!

If no takers they will go in my box of ATCs ready for future swaps.

And thats it for today folks – I haven't been too well since last night so wanted to get this done then its off to bed for me I think!

See you tomorrow

xx

The Honey Pot

Hiya

I made this card a few days ago and had intended on sharing it once I had shared the 2 baby cards but then missed a few days, after that it was Layton's card so you are seeing it now.

The card was made using May's stamped project kit from www.dimensionstamps.com and it was used in my class this evening and very well received it was too!

So materials for this card I used ….

Heat mat to work on and protect your surface – I always use it...

Cream a4 & A5 card

A5 brown card cut into 2 pieces

rubber stamps & assorted sized blocks

Rich cocoa memento ink pad

water colour pencils

Water brush

assorted gems

Sticky pads

Eazi Score Board & tool

Tonic 8” guillotine

Scissors

Tweezers

Shaping tool from www.dimensionstamps.com

Foam shaping mat – stamping mat or even a mouse mat

To make the card …

I folded the cream A4 card in half to create my A5 card blank. The large flower cluster was stamped along the right hand side of the card, I stamped mine in the middle then half at the top and half at the bottom – the ladies in class did it their way so some stamped 2 along the edge and filled in at top and bottom while others copied mine.

The cream card was cut down to measure 7cmx19cms, then I started at the bottom with Sweet as Honey – then the honey pot – next Hope you have a BEEutiful Birthday – then the beehive – Bee Happy and finally the bee...in fact I did the bee on the cut off waste of cream card and cut it out to decoupage it.

That was all the stamping completed so next it was colouring with water colour pencils and water brush.

I don't know the correct way to colour with them so I use the water brush to pick up colour from the point of the pencil then colour and it works really well for me.

Once the large flowers on the main card were coloured I cut out around them and stuck one of the pieces of brown card behind it – lining it up with the edge of the card first.

I nipped the corners of the cream stamped panel and then cut the brown card to 7.5cmx19.5cm and used it for a mat for my cream panel.

This panel was then stuck to the left of the card front over lapping the flowers slightly – I used large sticky pads to do this.

Then it was just a case of adding different gems to the flower centres and the 4 nipped corners of the panel.

The 2^nd bee I stamped and cut out was coloured then I used cosmic shimmer glue on the wings and covered with chunky glitter..stuck it over the base bee with double sided tape but flicked the wings up rather than sticking them down

To finish I used glossy accents on the runny honey and the opening of the bee hive

Now I have heard lots of differing comments on this card – some say it will make a great mans card while others say it looks too feminine.

Some people know of bee keepers and others just said they loved it as it was different and had a cuteness about it!

Whatever your thoughts, I just hope you like it.

This is another card that will be in the to use or for sale box.

Catch you again next time – same place folks

x

Layton Does Superman!!!

Evening

I am sorry I missed the last 2 days of blogging – where does time go?

My days and nights are filled with nothing important but by the time I get into bed I feel as though I've not achieved anything..

Saturday we had one of our daughters here with Layton for the day...I was out first thing Saturday with a friend, we popped off to a few local retail parks looking for a TK MAX which we did find – then home for Vicky & Layton arriving – they had actually arrived almost an hour before I got home

Anyway Layton was talking about Superman and asked if I had a dvd of it – come on now – do I look like the kind of person to have a dvd of Superman? lol...

So I offered what I did have – some Superman decoupage and backing papers...

Layton was chuffed when I said we could make a card with it!

So after printing it off I told him to choose what colour card we were going to use – her made a good choice I think with yellow...

I sat and cut out the decoupage while his mum added the sticky pads and stuck it altogether.

Layton then showed me just where he wanted the main image – and asked me to put the Superman logo on a bouncer – he meant acetate strip...and he wanted that to bounce over a smaller Superman topper.

On the sheet we have a few different sentiments and he chose the one he liked and showed where it had to go!

It was only then that I said we hadn't used any backing paper – I know he said – I want it on the back!

So I got the small paper trimmer out and showed him what to do then told him to cut the piece he wanted – and then show me where I had to stick it...

Have to say I was pretty impressed with the card all in all – after all he is only just 5 years old!

His trimming down of the A4 sheet to add what we did was pretty good especially as he also trimmed away the white edges!!!

So that's it – Layton does Superman....

Hope you like it...

Be back tomorrow folks

xxx

Elephant Rocker

Hiya

Although I don't tend to get asked for baby cards I just love to make them – the designs are always so cute!

And this rocker card is no exception!!!

It was bought from www.cardmakingdownloads.com and is called Blue Elephant Rocker Card designed by Jan Buckton

So materials for this card I used ….

Heat mat to work on and protect your surface – I always use it...

blue a4 card

design sheet

Sticky pads

Eazi Score Board & tool

Tonic 8” guillotine

Scissors

Tweezers

Shaping tool from www.dimensionstamps.com

Foam shaping mat – stamping mat or even a mouse mat

To make the card …

I printed the sheets then stuck them to pink card before cutting out the elements.

The rocker card was scored and folded along the centre line so it stands up and also rocks.

The elephant was cut out and the bottom part was secured to the rocker with double sided sticky pads.

The decoupage elements were all cut out and stuck in place with small sticky pads!

And that is your card for today!

The card was easy to make – the cutting out so very simple too.

It come with 4 or 5 sentiments but I was happy with plain and simple.

Since photographing I have added some glitter, glossy accents and gems so it has transformed the card!!!

Really sorry I have cheated with this write up as I only changed the odd word...something nice is all ready and waiting for tomorrow though...

This is another card that will be in the to use or for sale box.

Catch you again next time – same place folks

x

Giraffe Rocker Card

Hiya

Although I don't tend to get asked for baby cards I just love to make them – the designs are always so cute!

And this rocker card is no exception!!!

It was bought from www.cardmakingdownloads.com and is called Pink Giraffe Rocker Card designed by Jan Buckton

So materials for this card I used ….

Heat mat to work on and protect your surface – I always use it...

pink a4 card

design sheet

Sticky pads

Eazi Score Board & tool

Tonic 8” guillotine

Scissors

Tweezers

Shaping tool from www.dimensionstamps.com

Foam shaping mat – stamping mat or even a mouse mat

To make the card …

I printed the sheets then stuck them to pink card before cutting out the elements.

The rocker card was scored and folded along the centre line so it stands up and also rocks.

The giraffe was cut out and the bottom part was secured to the rocker with double sided sticky pads.

The decoupage elements were all cut out and stuck in place with small sticky pads!

And that is your card for today!

The card was easy to make – the cutting out so very simple too.

It come with 4 or 5 sentiments but I was happy with plain and simple.

Since photographing I have added some glitter, glossy accents and gems so it has transformed the card!!!

This is another card that will be in the to use or for sale box.

Catch you again next time – same place folks

x