ITS ARRIVED

Well this morning my postie got pounced on before he even knocked on the door as my new shiny toy arrived. Yippeeeee!!!! :)



Graphicus rang me on Tuesday to say the brown wires that I ordered were out of stock, so I said it was fine to send me the white ones. So knowing that, I ordered some wires and B-I-A Covers from Cutting Edge Crafts on Tuesday morning and they arrived on Wednesday - now that is what I call excellent service plus they don't charge delivery!! So even better :)

Now you will have to bear with me as I haven't even had the chance too play with it. My youngest Avie had her friend over for dinner today after school and she didn't go home until 7 - plus tonight HEROES Series 2 begins on BBC2 at 9pm. So between now and then I am going to do a bit of ironing (sigh) before I go sit down and be a happy soul for an hour! So hopefully tomorrow I will be able to show you something - be it very simple!

LITTLE BIRDIE TOLD ME...

... To stop and not add any more stuff!!!!

Having a little play about this morning and had another go at making a shabby/vintage looking card but I don't think it worked this time! LOL!!

I got a bit carried away with adding the little beads! I have learned - that you have to make mistakes so you know better next time! LOL!



The paper is by Papermania and its double sided silk screened (LCS) - it has a lovely metallic look to it - you can see the sheen in this piccy. The stripes were the reverse of the paper.



This little vellum quote is from a small album that I bought ages ago from Lakeland.



The braid, ribbons, buttons and beads are from my local haberdashery shop.
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DOUBLE POCKET CARD

Managed to have a go at making one of these Double Pocket Cards tonight and i can seriously say it is sooooo easy. The tutorial can be found here http://www.jarfullofjoy.blogspot.com/2008/04/double-pocket-card-tutorial.html. The instructions are so easy and there are pictures as well, so you cant go wrong! ;)

Card with tags in place - not to keen on the tags so I will probably change them!



Card without tags



And I made a little stand for the back so that the card can stand up.



The paper/card is by American Crafts and I have had it for ages. I bought it because I liked the pattern - but its a bit too large for a card. The ribbons are from my local market and so is the button.

So I don't think I did too bad - maybe next time I will use a smaller patterned paper - which I think will give it more impact.

UPDATE ON CARDS

Just to let you know the lady who asked for the card with MEL on the front absolutely loved it - my friend rang me this morning to let me know. Also the little house card that I did the other day, my friend 'bought' it off me to give to one of her friends who has just moved in to a new house and she was delighted with it and she couldnt believe that it was hand made (blush)!! So I am very happy!

SHABBY CHIC OR JUST SHABBY

Now this is the first time I have made a card like this and I really don't know what to call it!!??? I just don't do cards like this. My eldest says its for a 'granny', hubby doesn't like it as there is way too much stuff 'going on', but my youngest loves it because of all the buttons and small flowers! And I am sitting on the fence at this present time as I really don't know if its me!

I drew the outline for the little bird the other night while I was sat reading blogs. There seems to be so many of the little birds popping up everywhere LOL that I thought I would create one without having to go out and but the stamps.



The paper is made by erm I don't know!! I did get it from LCS, but I never ask who the maker is. It is double sided, stripes on one side and the flowers on the other.



The sentiment is an Anna Griffin stamp that I have had for ages - I got it from QVC with a load of other Anna Griffin stuff.



The 'braid' I bought yesterday from local wool shop for 65p a metre (don't know if that's expensive as i have never bought it before!). The rik-rac is from Nowalinka (thank you)!. The buttons are from the market and the small flowers I think i got from Crafty Carrot - but I might be wrong! Oh yeah the legs are made with some gold embroidery thread.

DARING CARD MAKERS - HOT & SPICY

This is this weeks Friday Dare!

This week's Dare theme is a team effort rather than a challenge just thought up by just one of us.
We'd like you to take the phrase"Hot and Spicy" and make of it what you will.
It could be colour themed, food themed or maybe have just a hint of saucy spicy-ness

Here is my take on the Hot & Spicy.



Created the words in Photoshop and then found a clipart chili (took ages to find a decent one). Added a bit of glitter to the edges of the words and also on the Chili. I used foam pads to lift the chili off the card and I also cut around it to give the card some shape.

I also managed to start running out of colour ink during printing - so the colours arent as vibrant as they should be!

GETTING A NEW TOY

I finally gave in last night and ordered myself a Bind-It-All from http://graphicus.co.uk/ for only £29.99. I couldnt let it pass with a price like that.

Cant wait till it arrives!!!! Yippeeeee

Now just checked on their site and the price has gone upto £39.99. I wonder if they had put the wrong price on in the first place. So I'm a happy bunny, I bought it at the right time.

NAME CARD

I was asked the other night to put a card together for a lady who works with my friend. She had seen the brother card and wanted something similar but with the ladies name on the front.

She asked for a pink card with stripes on the letters and also buttons. No Ribbons!!!! And to be honest I haven't enjoyed making this. I find it hard to follow peoples instructions on cards - I like to make them my own way!

Here is how the card started.



And this is how it finished - I ended up changing the letter 'E' as I thought it looked too big with the other letters.



On the inside she wanted Happy Birthday Mate with the 'M' from Mel to start the word mate!



I edged the letters with my pink ink pad then added some ultra fine glitter.



On the edge with the buttons, I cut a curve so the buttons had something to follow and to give the card a bit of shape. The photo doesn't really show you this. I also threaded a few of the buttons with cerise thread.

Well my friend is picking this up on Saturday, as the lady needs it for Monday. Just hope she likes it!!!!

CRAFTS BEAUTIFUL FORUM

Over on the Crafts Beautiful forum one of the member Freehartz asked if we could help her out with her cause. Here is what she is upto...

In case you did not read my cause in the section when I asked to have suggestions for a name for my kit - here is my project: I am developing an non-profit organization that will make a special creative/craft kit and a distribution system to send them free of charge to children in a home situation where their parent is ill. These kits will also have elements in them to help give coping skills to the child, as first our focus will be single-parent homes with one or more children. The children will be referred to us...and there will be no charge to the family, at all. [fund-raising!] Special kits will be designed with the help of professionals for children whose parent is facing terminal illness or has.
This project is dear to us because we went through this situation ourselves and my daughter was left alone a lot of the time to cope on her own at the tender age of 10 - 12, and then some. In fact, she still has issues over it that requires help.

So she asked if we could help her by making some baby cards for her to sell at craft fairs etc to raise money to make these kits a reality.

Now seeing as I have been making cards already (birth announcements) - I was sat last night and made some more Baby Cards as I couldnt get on the computer as hubby was glued to You-Tube!!!!



I managed to make these and hopefully will get another 6 made, then I can get them in the post to Beverly.



I apologize for the pictures (taken this morning) but natural light drains the colour from the cards when taking the piccies, so I closed my curtains and managed to get these shots (not the best).

LOVELY SURPRISE

Today my postman came knocking with a parcel all the way from Poland from the lovely Alina (Nowalinka)!!! And WOW is all I can say! She sent me this as a way to say thank you for her name being chosen in my Blog candy giveaway!

ALINA THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH!!!! Your kindness has given me the biggest smile on my face - I look like the Cheshire Cat!!!

In the parcel there was ribbon, lollies (yum), flowers, fibres and I have to say the kids have stolen the butterfly finger nail decorations.



Alina also made me this dinky Address Book that is just way too cute (Alina your address will be the first entry :) ) and I just love it!!! There are 70 pages for addresses (my eldest Caitlyn counted them) and even the inside covers are decorated.



Now, she also made this Angel which is so adorable. Alina has told me it is a 'Lucky Angel' and it will be taking pride of place on my computer. I wouldnt know where to begin in making one! The detail is so beautiful and I apologize for not a great picture, but the Angel is holding a Heart in her hands.



So Alina - Thank You so much for making my day with these lovely goodies!! And it is a real pleasure to be able to have some of your wonderful creations in my hands.

THIS OLD HOUSE

Here is another card using a new Dovecraft Stamp that I got last week for 99p. Just love these little stamps and the price is great as well!



I tried colouring in again using my inkpads and water and I don't think it turned out too bad. I do have Watercolour Pencils - but can I find them - NO! So I have resorted to using ink pads and felt tip pens.



I added a bit of glitter to the door - pity now as I should have used green (Shakin Stevens comes to mind LOL!!) and a small bit on the swirl on the roof but you cant see it! I added 3D foam pads to both layers.

I did a bit of extra colouring just for the image to sit on as I felt it was a bit stark!! Hubby still thinks the card is too bland - he says that I need to add something on the front!! But it can wait as I took the picture and put it on here before he saw it!