Baby's First...... - Saturday 3rd January 2015

Hello Friends,

OK so I chickened out and omitted the word 'Christmas' from my blog title...I noticed there are still a few seasonal cards being posted and I didn't get the chance to show this one before. It was for a neighbour's baby, who was born in July. They loved the card, I'm pleased to report.

It is one of the tent fold cards, ever since I designed one for a DT post for Sam Poole and we used it in a workshop, I have made quite a few using this fold and will continue to do so as they go down well with the recipients. The Christmas card I made for Tom, with the little light inside was a big hit, not only with him (men do love cards that they can fiddle with!), but with all our guests: note for any craft fairs I do!

 This isn't a quick card, but it's fairly easy. I didn't want to add lots of inking, more and more I like the 'clean' look and I think on this card distressing even the edges would have taken away the pure and simple idea of a Christmas card to celebrate the first Christmas for a baby.

I embossed the background wit 'Merry Christmas' and the teddy is cut out for the Tilda Sweet Christmas paper pad, then I just added ribbons and a typed greeting.

I learned some valuable lessons this Christmas season...previous years I had struggled to make cards for everyone and I send and give about 150 cards. This year, I let the sewing take over and I had no choice but to buy about 60 of them and they were sent to people I rarely have contact with through the year or who probably don't really notice I make them! Close relatives, friends and fellow crafters(Of course) all received hand-made and that's the way it has to stay I think..AND....taking the inspiration from some of you who carry on making seasonal cards and enter them in challenges through the year, all my Christmas stash and stamps have remained close at hand so that I can do the same!

Tom and I are finishing our little project for the craft room today...so I hope to post a photo tomorrow. 

Tomorrow we will be dismantling the Lemax village for another year (sobs!), the rest of the decorations will stay for Epiphany, it's sad that Christmas is over so quickly, so it's nice to have an Italian side to the family, which extends it those last few days.

That's all for now, enjoy your Saturdays! If you find any 'h's missing during this post it's because the key on my keyboard seems to have developed a sticky 'H' :)

Love and Hugs

Carole X

Nicecrane Two-fer - Wednesday 26th November 2014

Hello Friends,

Thank you so much for all your lovely comments and encouragement...I worked two long days Monday and Tuesday, yesterday helped by one of my office volunteers, Julia and we made a heavy dent in the web updates we have to do..in fact they have now put the big launch date back to January 5th as there have been so many problems...so that's good news!

I brought a bit of work home, but other than that, I'm not back in until next Tuesday, so time to finish off the cards and decorations I've been making.

Glad you liked my Tilda: really these dolls aren't hard to make and I find it very relaxing; I trace the pattern and sew (with Tilda patterns you cut out afterwards, which is much better). I then cut them out and the rest is stuffing and hand sewing, which can be accomplished at leisure in front of the TV. Nice.

Tom's Dad had a lovely 80th Birthday last weekend: as I mentioned, on Sunday we took Tom's Mum, Dad and brother (bro drove..yay!) to Highgrove for lunch. The food was beautiful, the restaurant is gorgeous and decorated for Christmas and everyone had a fabulous time. Now they want to do a garden tour next year, Tom and I have been twice and are due for a Spring visit, so we'll have to arrange it! It is a shame photos aren't allowed, just one of the menu I brought home! :)

Today I am sharing two  design team cards I have made from Nicecrane's Christmas releases. This time I have used the Vintage Christmas Collection 1.

There are so  many gorgeous vintage digital designs over on the website, just click the link at the end of the post to go an have a mooch around the shop!

For the first card, I used this gorgeous traditional Santa image, he looks so jolly!

The card is 7x7 backed with paper from Tim Holz. 

I matted and layered the image on cream silk card and also added a layer of red card beneath, which I had embossed with a holly embossing folder.

   

To finish, I added ribbon, holly, cones and buttons and die cut a little snowflake. I also painted over the highlights in the beard and hair with my  clear Twinkle of Stella pen.

For my second card, I used a really sweet image and also made a matching tag:

For the card I used a 6x6 Kraft card blank. The script paper is from my stash and I stitched around the outside, leaving room the curl the card inwards afterwards. I printed the image on a silk card as for the Santa card and dusted with embossing glitter to highlight the snow on the trees and background.

I made a mini wreath from wire, which I covered with twine and then again dusted with snow embossing glitter. I tied red ribbons at intervals and added red paper roses, just for a change from holly! I then added a bow and twine to the side and placed over the image to frame it.

To finish I added some gems and snow glitter to the edges of the card.

I also used kraft card for the tag and covered with the same script card. I curled the edges of the printed image and inked the edges with worn lipstick distress ink, before adding the glitter.
To to finish I matched the bow and flowers and added some red twine.

This is the image sheet showing all the designs in the ranges:

I really enjoyed making these cards and there are many more gorgeous vintage images on the site, just click on the link here:

http://nicecranedesigns.com

Just to also add that Nicecrane is the sponsor of the current challenge over at

Our Creative Corner

Thank you so much for stopping by, I have some more images from Nicecrane to work with so will be posting them soon,

Love and Hugs

Carole X

Dasher in a Box - Wednesday 5th November 2014

Hell Friends,

Sorry I've been awol again...stupidly decided to clear out the craft room as I couldn't move here and 4 days later I've finally finished! I did get around all your blogs I think, but sorry if I missed any!

I've been finding it very hard to get into Christmas card making, in fact at the moment I seem to be happier creating  mixed media and altered art and doing some Tilda sewing for Christmas than cards!

Today I'm sharing one of the cards I made for Sam Poole's DT before she went on maternity leave.. and talking of Sam, she had a gorgeous baby boy, Max, last week so many congratulations! She has been posting lots of lovely pics on Facebook and her daughter Leah seems to be thrilled with her little brother.

So a quick post today..I think between  now and the end of the month I will still be posting less frequently as the more time I spend here, the less I have to craft - and with work being busy as well, you just have to 'give' sometimes don't you? 

Be back soon,

Love and  Hugs,

Carole X

Christmas Joy - Monday 27th October 2014

Good Morning Friends,

I hope you all had a good weekend! I didn't get much time to craft, although I rarely do at weekends. My craft days are the week days I don't work, however I did start to get the Halloween 'decor' ready for Friday when I'll be decoratong the porch.

Thank you for all your lovely comments about my lantern...my lanterns and the Halloween scene were started back in the summer, working on them when I could find time in between paper craft 'commitments', but they were great fun to make.

Today I am scheduling this post as I am in work (not my usual day)..the new national volunteering database is being launched today, so this week I need to go in when my volunteers are there to make sure they are good to use it (and I am to, haven't seen it yet!!! lol).

This card is the one I designed for my groups to make in the last two Out of the Blue workshops for this year..Amy and I have a break now until January - she is of course very busy in her shop and I need to get to grips with Christmas, especially as I am making some presents this year. I will finish off Halloween tonight  as Tom is going to be away for work and then it's my quick Christmas cards, some special birthday and my sewing machine will be working hard to :). I don't normally craft at night, but when Tom's away I don't sleep well so I'll be up late!

We were going to be using this Dreamweaver stencil with Cosmic Shimmer Texture paste in the class and I decided to use a silver paste and make up the card using three different  effects.

I used black and pearlised card and an  8x8 blank. I hardly ever make large cards now -usually only for commissions and to be honest, since I offered 7x7 instead, most people are going for them. However this is a large stencil and I think that it benefits from the large card.

For the first pearl layer I stamped Sam Poole's mistletoe background stamp with versamark ink and then heat embossed using WOW snow twinkling embossing glitter. The small panel is embossed through a Grand Calibur using Couture Creations 'New Year Dove' embossing folder.

For the top black layer I used the stencil: because of time constraints in the class we were going to have to dry the paste with a heat tool...we did this a few years ago in a workshop we attended that was delivered by Lynelle Harlow who designs these stencils. When the paste is allowed to dry naturally it gives a glossy, flat effect which is gorgeous, but heat drying until it bubbles up gives quite a bit of texture, totally different but just as good.

I allowed the dried image to cool and then added some glitter using a glue pen, just to give a bit more sparkle.

To finish, I tied some sheer white ribbon around the panel and added a bow using the same ribbon. I tied so while tulle around the bow and then using glue dots I attached the layered poinsettia (Spellbinders) using some glitter paper. Finally I threaded a little bell through some white twine, tied a bow and adhered it to the front of the flower.

Thank you so much for stopping by, I will hopefully share the cards that the ladies made tomorrow,

Love and Hugs

Carole Z X

Christmas Delivery - Friday 17th October

Good Morning Friends,

Catching up, an accolade and new pens!

Well, I hope I have managed to catch up with you all this morning, even if I have just managed to comment on your latest posts. I was hoping to get back on track this week, but it's been a bit of an up and down week really...first there was news about a good friend's health which has been such a shock, that I can't stop thinking about her; I've been working odd days and had a library meeting last night, which was fine...ssshh...but it is literally the only meeting I go to that I enjoy! Probably because they are a nice bunch of people and there's no work pressure.

Tomorrow morning myself and a couple of my volunteers are taking part in an event in the library aimed at people who are soon to retire (though anyone can come), we will be extolling the benefits of volunteering.

Because my work days were messed about this week, I was actually home Tuesday and Wednesday and it was good to be home two days in a row. I got a few Christmas cards made, some Halloween bits and pieces and made a start on the birthday cards I need to make. I have some commissions from a regular customer who gave me her year's requests back in January and a lot of friends and family have their birthdays coming up in November...then yesterday one of my librarian friends asked if i could make a retirement card for the lady who drives the mobile...by next Thursday! I really have no time, but she is such a lovely lady, I just couldn't say no.

I have been working on a mega Halloween creation, remember my haunted house? Well this is a whole scene and is seriously Edgar Allen Poe. I'm having problems getting good photos, so am going to have another go after writing this post!

Speaking of my haunted house, I was thrilled to  receive a Top 3 in Eileen Hull's Artists on the Block Challenge: http://www.eileenhull.com/2014/10/spook-tacular-sizzix-projects.html

I thought of the joy I felt when I heard I got this placement (thank you Anne, I saw your comment first letting me know the news!) when I read Darnell's very inspiring post today, in which she talks about how we feel when we do or don't receive comments or accolades about our craft. I had put a lot of time into that house, so to get a bit of recognition for it did raise a big smile.  If you haven't read Darnell's post,  pop over and have a look, because I am sure it applies to us all....http://www.djkardkreations.com/2014/10/enjoy-journey-banishing-old-man.html


Now finally to today's post! I am a very lucky girl because recently one of  extended my US family sent me some pens. An illustrator friend had passed them to her,in case she knew anyone who could use them. She isn't a crafter so she had no use for them and sent them over. I received them at my busiest time, thought they looked very interesting, but resolved to leave them in the box until I had time to play..yeh right! Within a day I had them out (late at night, when I normally don't craft) and made this card, but I haven't had time to post it before.

I am a Promarker girl through and through, I have tried other pens but none have even tempted me to replace my beloved promarkers. My dad, when he drew a cartoons used them, a person I used to work with who did graphic art used them and I love them. I have a big collection and intend to keep it growing...but these pens are a totally new idea and I have to admit I love them!

They are called Chameleon pens and imagine by amazement the other week when I happened to tune in to Create and Craft whilst I had an hour to craft and saw them there...not only that but it seems you can only buy them there in this Country for several months...what a wide smile, I have them and they were a gift!

These are alcohol pens, just like the Promarkers and other makes, the difference in these is that you can create a great number of shades with just one pen by using a mixing chamber included in each pen. They will take a lot of practice to get used to the mixing. I thought I would find that part a bit tiresome, but I didn't and they have a good site with tutorials. They aren't meant to replace your usual alcohol pens and they worked perfectly in conjunction with my Promarkers, which would still be my first choice for something where not much blending and highlighting is needed, but you will be seeing a lot more of Chameleons on here!

All the green on the car was coloured with one pen, using the mixing chamber to lighten the colour...I was pretty pleased with it as the first time I'd used them. This was several weeks ago and I've not had much time to colour since, but I have used them a few times and I can see that they could become an addiction! :)

This is a Stampendous stamp, that I think I brought back from the USA last year. I created the snow using Cosmic Shimmer Glitter Jewels: Iced Snow, which give a lovely glistening raised effect as they are quite thick in texture. The backing paper is from a paper pad by Lily of the Valley that I bought last year.

Well I am  off to try and photograph the spooky scene whilst the sun is still shining making the light  a bit better! I realise I have still not show the photos from last week's workshop, so will endeavour to do so at the weekend.


Love and Hugs
Carole X

Shaker Card Teaser - Tuesday 29th July 2014

Good Morning Friends,

I can't believe I've been awol from here since Friday! It was such a lovely weekend that my little craft room in the garden beckoned. I don't think I touched the computer between Saturday morning (very early) and yesterday... and not the iPad either. It was lovely being out in the 'craft barn' doing some painting on MDF shapes...I'll show you what I got up to tomorrow. 

It was a great way of being outside without being 'outside' because this 'prickly heat' is certainly taking a time to go away...and I tried everything!..then one of my very 'out doorsy'  American friends suggested I try baking powder mixed to a paste with white vinegar or water, as they use it for Poison Ivy rashes...I tried it with water and am pleased to report the calming was instantaneous!  As I type the rash seems to be on the retreat!

Well I may be a bit of an old romantic, but do you remember the Peacock butterfly that got stuck in the craft barn last week? When I was working in there at the weekend, one came fluttering in and landed on my hand..it stayed there ages, so beautiful...of course I told myself it was the same one come back - mindless of the fact that these last few weeks our garden has been a pure kaleidoscope of butterflies, I've never seen so many!

Apart from painting, I did have a play with some pop up box cards, as our group is going to be making them at our next workshop.

Today is Tuesday, so that means it's my post for Sam Poole's Creative Studios...thank you so much for all your comments last week, I certainly seem to have sparked a debate both here and there about CAS cards!

I do hope you will spare  a few minutes to pop over there today and have a look at this week's card...it's a Shaker and that's all I'm saying...here are a few sneak peeks:

Ha! Not giving away much I'm afraid!

Here is the link: http://www.creative-studios.co.uk/blue-christmas

Many thanks and I'll be back tomorrow for WOYWW,

Love and Hugs,
Carole X

Santa's Little Helper - Tuesday 7th August

Good Morning Friends and a very big welcome to my new follower!

How is everyone enjoying Team GB's success at the Olympics over the weekend? I was so happy to see Andy Murray win the Gold at Wimbledon and yesterday, my favourite sport, Show Jumping won the Gold too! I was especially happy for Nick Skelton, he was one of my equestrian idols in my teens, a true legend and to think not so long ago he broke his neck, almost died and had to retire...such a sporting hero!

It's back to Christmas today! This little Maxwell House Mouse stamp is one of two that are going feature on most of my Christmas cards to post this year (the other is an LOTV stamp). I send a lot of cards and make them all, so except the more elaborate ones for close family and friends, I have to batch make a lot of cards, so go for a simple stamp or one of my own designs (but I don't get time for that lately). I'm not going to be showing my batch cards on here, in case anyone who is getting one sees them (!) but this is one of the cards I've made for my 'selling at a craft fair' etc box.

I love House Mouse and feeling a bit 'sad' that I've not had time to enter one of their challenges for a few weeks - guesting as a designer for them a few months ago was awesome. This stamp is called 'Santa's Little Helper' and the card is tiny, made on 4 x 4 card stock.

I stamped Maxwell with Memento and coloured him with Promarkers, then die cut him using the Spellbinders Heart Circles die, shading the edges with spun sugar distress ink. I also cut a piece of red paper using the Heart Squares die. I covered the card in the same red and then cur four triangles from stripy Christmas paper and used them to mat and layer over the base card. I used a Martha Stewart punch for the decorative edge and cut a strip of patterned paper to divide the card. The poinsettias were cut in glittered felt from the Spellbinders Poinsettia die and the flourish is a die cut from my little box of random pieces I've cut and not used.

Thanks for stopping by!

Carole X

PS Photo a Day for 8th August - today's topic is 8 O'Clock...I'll be on way to work then, so will have to tweet today's photo instead!