Father's Day - June 21st 2015

Hello Friends!

Well didn't we just pick the best week of weather to have a holiday in this Country!!!!! We had the best time..we are so lucky to live right on the edge of the Cotswolds..my favourite part of England and we don't have to go far to be right in it's heart, enjoying it's beauty. We have had such a 'full' week that I haven't even downloaded my photos yet, but I will share a few later in the week....Christine, if you read this...I did look out for you when we were in Stow :)

I haven't looked at a computer or iPad screen for more than a few moments for a week and it's been great, so relaxing...but I had to pop on here to share my Father's Day makes and to let you know that I will be catching up with your current posts later on.

Thank you for your comments on my Wedding project for Fran and Alex...last week I had a few messages via Facebook from friends of theirs asking me to make one, but I had to say no. It just took so long.... once I had started it I almost regretted it as it was fiddly and ever evolving, so it was truly a 'one off'....

And so to my Father's Day card and gift box: sadly I lost my own dear Dad many years ago, when I was barely out of my 20's and there were still so many chats to have and questions to ask, but luckily I have a wonderful Father-n-Law. Toni is a typical Italian, likes cars, football and good food and wine!  He also enjoys DIY and gardening, so today usually means a suitable gift card and some Prosecco for a toast. I made the card when we did our Father's Day craft workshop, but I also made a gift box.

I made the box using  black heavy card and the Sizzix mini bag die by Eileen Hull and I also made a carrying handle for the back, with some extra card and die cut a circle in the centre using Spellbinders Classic Circles.  Before putting the box together I ran through the die-cutting machine with an M-Bossabilities folder. I then rubbed it all over with silver gilding wax for an industrial look.

I made the little gift card holder for putting inside the  bag using grey card and a Sizzix Notebook Cover embossing folder,which I also rubbed with silver wax. To finish I tied with black twine, secured with a brad.

The stamps are from Visible Image.

Thank you for stopping by,  I will catch up with you all later and back to work tomorrow so will probably not be posting again until Wednesday!

Love and Hugs,

Carole X

Sporty Guy Card - Monday 18th May 2015

Hello Friends,

Thank you for all your comments on my blog on Saturday, they really did mean a lot to me....hope you all  had a good weekend?  We made the most of some nice weather..Saturday we went to Tetbury to shop, drink coffee and get some plants from a market plantsman we've used regularly over many years...lovely guy. Tom's parents have gone off to Italy to see the family, so we had Tom's brother over yesterday afternoon and Tom made his gorgeous pizzas for our meal. Aside from that we spent a good deal of time coaxing the 'girls'  to use a new feeder, cage mounted, closable, all mod cons (!)...tey don't like change but accepted it in the end!

Today I'm sharing the card I designed for my group of ladies to make at last week's Out of the Blue craft class, plus the cards they made.

We were using a classic sports car stamp, background stamps and sentiment stamps from Visible Image...we have made some more 'involved' cards lately and some had struggled to finish, so I wanted to create something that I thought they would like and that I knew they could finish comfortably in the time...they all said they loved it and were so pleased to have finished, especially a couple of ladies who haven't been crafting so long, plus it was a nice change to make a guy card!

I made two versions of my card, one for Father's Day and one Birthday, for those who didn't want to make a Father's Day card (all but one!)

 The card is 7x7 and mat and layered in silver and black. I then took a white layer and chequered background die, which I stamped using London Fog Versafine ink. The stamp is a lot smaller than the card, so repeat stamping was needed, but easy to match up.

For the top white layer I created a splattered background by mixing some brushed pewter distress paint, with a little silver-black ink, spritzed with water and then picked up on a toothbrush...those little brushes you get on a plane do have their uses! All you do is run your finger across the bristles to create the splatter. I love this effect, none of the ladies had tried it before and really enjoyed it and loved the effect.

The sentiment was then stamped across the bottom. The car was stamped separately and then cut out. I coloured it with Promarkers and then gave it a coat of watered down mica powder for a sheen. On the Father's Day card, I picked up a mica with a gold tint by mistake, but in reality it doesn't have such a colour tint as the photo would have you believe.

To finish off, I stamped a tyre mark along a strip of card using the grey ink, again the design is repeated stamping. I mat and layers on black card and added screw effect brads and die cut cogs, tied with black twine. The metal brads were copper in colour, so I coated them with brushed pewter distress paint.

I also decided on a pop of colour by making the seats red.

Here are some of the cards made by the group:

They all did such fabulous work, don't you agree?

I made some more cards using these stamps and will share them later. Thanks so much for stopping by and have a happy Monday...I'm in work today and it looks like a wet walk there!

Love and Hugs
Carole X

Father's Day at Sea! - Tuesday 3rd June 2014

Good Morning Friends,

This is my first post since the weekend - did you all have a good one? Saturday we were out all day looking for kitchen ideas as we have to replace ours (groan), but in the evening I was in a really crafty mood and stayed up quite late creating 'fairy' designs for our future workshop. Sunday was beautiful, so I got started on my desk, just boring old sanding but it was  start!

Yes it's time again for my DT post for Sam Poole.  I am really enjoying being part of Sam's team, they are all a lovely group of ladies, very friendly and helpful to us newbies, as is Sam herself.

I am loving working with these stamps: sadly my Dad, who is no longer here, would have loved a nautical themed card (he wasn't particularly a boat fan, but he loved the coast and a lot of his art work featured  harbour scenes etc) - whereas my Venetian, yes that place that is built on canals, Father-in-law has no interest in boats or the sea!!! I guess you have to be born into a Gondolier family for the love of the water, whereas Tom's dad's family have a restaurant heritage - needless to say, he loves cars and cooking! Tom on the other hand, well he does like the sea and boats and has little interest in cars other than getting from A to B...but they do all share the love of cooking!

Creative Studios DT post - Dad, Our Guiding Light

This is my card for this week's post...I know I keep asking and you have all been so kind to do it...but if you could click here  or above and leave a short comment over there, it would be wonderful! Thank you so much!!!!

I know I am so lucky to be part of such a fabulous group of crafty friends on here, I really do!

Full details of the card are on Sam's blog...I'm getting to the end of my designs that were taken to Create and Craft, so am working on some new ones and have lots of home decor ideas!

Many, many thanks for stopping by!

Love and Hugs,
Carole X

All at Sea - Tuesday 20th May 2014

Hello Friends!

Well I guess the sun had to take another break and let the rain come down last night..but he'll be back soon I'm sure! Tom had yesterday off (I don't usually work Mondays now) and we both had dental check up appointments first thing,  that was fine and afterwards we decided to head to Bath for lunch. We decided on the fish restaurant Loch Fyne and ate a lovely meal out on the terrace...Heaven!!!

It's Tuesday again and time for my latest DT  post for Sam Poole's Creative Studios. This week I used the Ship in a Bottle stamp from the new nautical singles sets, as well as a fabulous sentiment stamp and 'Happy Father's Day' - all from the sets.

Full details are over on the Design Team page at Sam's site: http://www.creative-studios.co.uk/design-team   and as usual I would be so grateful if you can spare a moment to click the link and leave a short comment. I have been so thrilled that you have been doing so, you know I really mean it.

Whilst you are there, if you are interested and have time, take a look at Sam's  post from yesterday  on her home page - she has shared photos of her new attic craft studio and I have to tell you, this is the craft room I can only dream about!

That's all for today, I'll be back soon,

Love and Hugs,

Carole X

Farher's Day -Sunday 16th June

Good morning Friends,

Sadly my much loved Dad passed away 25 years ago, way too soon and with so much still to do, so my card is made for my Father-in-law. I get on really well with my inlaws and will look forward to seeing them today!

Toni, Tom's Dad, loves cars, DIY, animals, all sport (especially football) and is a very sociable person. Over the years I have made cards with themes such as motor racing, football, DIY, even Venice (where he comes from), so this year I decided on something very different with this little House Mouse. The card is made from a template I bought at Ally Pally and we've got him a token for his present, which I've put in the drawer.

The papers I've used are from Graphic 45, Secret Garden and the image  is printed from the House Mouse CD. I also  stamped DAD using a Papermania stamp, which I paper-pieced. Sorry about the photo, it's hard to get a good angle on this design!

Not much craft time (f any!) for me this weekend..yesterday's event for people who are retiring was very busy and I was hoarse by the end after talking to lots of people about volunteering and to many colleagues from other charities I rarely get the chance to see face to face..lots of networking and chatting. The weather was very odd outside, rain, sun and very windy, so we were pleased to see so many people.I finished later that expected so we never got to the last day of the Sodbury Festival...today we will be spending some time with Tom's family...now I'm off to catch up on the ironing before we go out...

Thanks for stopping by, I hope all of you celebrating today with husbands and Dads, have a lovely time!

Love,

Carole X