Project Tuesday 27 April

Well it's that time again folks! I had just a couple of hours this evening to get my project done for PROJECT TUESDAY this week. I had several things lying around on the table such as papers with a delicate pink and almost buttermilk yellow colour scheme, a flower die (that I had recently borrowed from YTOC), lace and an almost pink/peach coloured ink pad. That was my starting point this week.

Like most weeks I know what I want to create with my project - at least I get an idea fixed firmly in my head and once it's there I build on it. I had tried this frame technique some months ago when I made a cute red & blue frame during a demo day. I liked that idea then and I like it now so I knew it had to be a framed quote. This is how it finally turned out.

These colours look much brighter with the flash. If I made my projects on time I could photgraph them in natural daylight but since it's dark outside I had to make do like most weeks.

I was leaning towards a baby girl theme (probably cos I was supposed to be doing a baby card right about now) but I decided to go with this quote. My mother's b'day is comin up in June and I thought she'd like it.

I decided to get a bit sneaky with my paper this week. This was the last sheet left when I purchased it and I wanted to save some. I started with a 10" x 10" square which meant I had two 2" strips - perfect for a card. I folded up my frame then opened it back up and cut a good sized square out of the back so I have enough paper to decorate up a box lid or something.

I used nestabilities dies all over this project but because I didn't have one big enough to fit my project (the first creamy yellow scallop) I cut scalloped squares, cut them in half diagonally and placed them behind the triangular flaps. I then trimmed them flush before securing everything in place.

Even up close this looks neat and tidy cos I made sure I covered over the joins with another layer. I used glue dots to secure my ribbon and lace twisting it as I went along. This shot shows just a glimpse of the depth to the whole thing. I used foam pads on most layers including several of the flower layers too.

I cut the leaves free hand, spritzed them with water so I could get a really nice scrunch to them and set them on the heater to dry quickly - I only had a couple of hours remember! I inked pretty much everything in sight including the leaves and finally I printed off the quote with a light charcoal coloured ink so it would be a bit softer.

I plan on adding a backing. Not sure if I'll use poster board in a cream or something else but I will mount it and add ribbon or something to hang it with. I guess it could stand with a small clear plastic photo/plate stand thingy too.

I still have my baby card to do and I think I might try this technique on a card next. Why not have a go yourself and see what you can come up with. Hopefully I have inspired some of you to play along with us this week. You can check out the other DT members and their projects plus get details for the frame here.

I am also entering this flower into the SASSY DESIGNS challenge this week. If you haven't had a go at making a flower yet check it out here for a tutorial and details of the challenge. I have made a few of these ones now. I used a Sizzix Hello Kitty die would you believe? Add a bit of curling, inking and layering up - who needs to buy flowers when you can make one!

A Trip Into Town

Just look what a trip in to town turns up - this cute photo holder! I knew as soon as I saw it that it would be perfect for displaying cards either at home on my desk or on the table when I'm demonstrating. It never fails - the projects on display fall over several times when the table gets bumped a bit by customers.

This was just in my price range too (almost nothing) and at £3.50 it was definately a bargain! I know it doesn't look like much empty but when you see it full of cards........

.......then you see why it's worth jumping up and down about. It holds these cute mini cards perfectly. I ran a whole batch of them off during the week - just sat cutting out the pieces in the evenings while I watched a programme or two and then pieced them back together. There's something really therapeutic about doing that - just one more reason why I love these 'homespun' stamps sets from WMS. The are made for it!

I kept half the saying on the front and the rest inside. Things like 'my door.... ...is always open' and 'a little birdie....... ...told me'. These quick cards were inspired by Julia who is on Claire's DT but I added embossed squares inside my pen lines plus I chose to mount my text on cardstock and mount a whole bunch of elements 3D. I love that they don't need anything else - well maybe a button in the middle of the heart? I added black gems to the centre of the flowers so a button might look cute too. Think maybe I meant to do that and forgot?

I have done almost NO crafting this weekend. I did make a flower using a Hello Kitty Sizzix die though. I knew when I played with this die at Amanda's store that it would layer up real nice and I like how this flower was shaping up. A few more layers would make up even fuller. I used just tow layers of each flower but maybe 3 or 4 would work better next time.

I grabbed a few papers, crinkle edged ribbon and some lovely yellow and cream cotton lace and started to play. I even dragged the sewing machine back out and did a quick bit of stitching on paper but I just don't have time to finish it today. I will need a b'day card for my mother for June but we're busy today so it will have to stay out on the table and I will probably pick it back up during the week. We are spending the day with our daughter and eldest grandson.

Whatever I do today I think I might have to punch me a whole bunch more flowers before I give this die back. Think this one is going on my wish list too. That list just keeps growing darn it. When your budget is 'almost nothing' you have to make some tough choices!

Makin it a Quickie

Look Kay I'm posting! (inside joke folks) But I'm making it a quickie cos my weekend starts here (Friday at about 4.00pm - yay!) but I have loads to do. I cannot ignore the housework this weekend for sure, I gotta catch that lovely sunshine and get ALL the laundry dried on the line this weekend and we have a family day planned for Sunday. I guess it's time to give out the awards for football and I'm sure Zacheriah is in there somewhere winning one so we decided to make a day of it. I forgot Saturday! I get to spend that day with my hubby doin whatever we want - well after housework and laundry that is.

Oh I waffle on sometimes don't I? - you guys don't need to know all that stuff but I hope to take a photo of Zach - been a long time since I shared any pictures of the grandkids here and I know mom loves to see em'.

Anyhow I needed a quick and easy project as a gift for a work colleague who is also a fellow believer. It is her b'day tomorrow although she celebrated at work today. Last night was also American Idol night so it had to be SUPER quick and easy. No way was I gonna miss that! Still don't know who went out cos it was Idol Gives Back and they split the show in two! Not sure when the other half is on. Dave has lost all interest in it this year since he finds out from US friends and family on Facebook before we've watched it - takes all the fun out of it. As long as he doesn't tell me I'm fine!

Sorry - back to the project - in that kind of mood today I guess.

Like I said Jo is a fellow believer and so I wanted to use a few of my plain Jane scripture stamps from Verve. I knew she would appreciate having a set of cards on hand so she could share the love with others. I kept them bright and cheery since Jo's young (just a few years older than my eldest daughter) makes me feel real old! I knew she would appreciate bright and funky. Some quick cuttin with nesties - makes the job sooooooo much easier, some simple stampin and punchin and that's pretty much it.

I needed quick packaging too. I tried one of my Papertrey clear boxes but US sizes are different to UK ones so in desperation this morning before I headed off to work I grabbed a clear bag and made a quick header card for it. I added some text on this later at work this morning - real quick like - shame on me I know - but it wasn't easy. I am usually the first in the office for a good hour (nice and quiet when you have work to catch up on) but NOT this morning. Of all days Jo arrived just 15 minutes after I did. You'd know just how surprising this is if you realised how hard it is for Jo to be on time for ANYTHING. Needless to say it was hard gettin the finishing touches added in case she put her head in the door.

I'm happy to say she loved em (and the chocolate I added in the bag with them). I put something like 'wishing you all good delights and birthday blessings' (can't remember exact words - sorry).

I have another gift on my table for Amanda's birthday but it might be Saturday before I get it to her. Sorry Amanda - I know your b'day was Wednesday but I haven't been able to get by the store. At least it'll be a nice surprise when you do get it huh?

Blog Candy!!!

There is some fab blog candy up for grabs over at Posh Designs so go CHECK IT OUT now! If you've never entered one - do it - it's kinda like havin a bet on a horse, buying a lottery ticket, playing bingo - gives you a buzz of excitement! It's all good fun and you never know you just might win (but not if I get there first).

Project Tuesday - 20 April

Ok so I have to admit that this week's project was NOT something I would've tried at all if I wasn't on a design team. I'm not a big fan of 'pop up' anything so I was seriously dreading it. You might say it was 'not my cup of tea'!

Still I am up for a challenge and I think I gave it a pretty good effort (maybe?). I had a few things in my head starting out with this project. I knew I wanted to use flowers - I kinda pictured a spray of flowers popping out when the card was opened. I knew I wanted to cut my spiral from clear acetate so it faded into the background a bit easier. I also knew I wanted fairly non-fussy this week if at all possible. I just finished a class project that felt super fussy so I needed to de-fuss (think that's a made up word) but you all know what I'm gettin at.

I had left it until this evening to start my project - shame on me - but I am sooooo glad I did. I was super inspired by a handful of cards created by Julia Aston which fit the bill for what I wanted so I took my inspiration from her. Claire has a fab DT over at Waltzing Mouse and I have been a fan of a couple of the gals for a while now - Julia is one of my favourites (remember the oh so cute carrots?).

This was my take on things. I simply ADORE this stamp set and I use it again and again. I'm not a fan of decoupage but I love cutting out the many layers and then piecing them all back together again. I love the pastel colours which couldn't have been more different from the last time I used this set here. I also loved the white on white.

These flowers were perfect for cutting into various sizes to create a pretty floral spray inside the card. This is the 'spiral' element in action. I halved the sentiment so it started on the outside and continued inside the card. I would usually line my cards so it feels a bit foreign not to and I was sorely tempted to add my spiral to a liner instead but I resisted. This close up (below) shows the spiral a bit more - boy this one was hard to photograph!

Final thoughts - I'm glad I had a go. I'm pleased with the finished project too but I guess there's gonna be a week that I struggle with from time to time - it's part of the designing process and part of the challenge too. I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone else comes up with this week. Who knows it might inspire me to try this again?

Strawberry Sweetness!

I managed to get a project for an upcoming class done yesterday while I was at YTOC but I still had at least one more to do so I brought the materials home with me. This morning I played hooky from church (shame on me I know) and instead I played with my supplies. This is what I came up with.

We're obviously gettin in the mood for summer with these bright, fun papers featuring glittery strawberries and all kinds of sweetness. They're double sided which makes them perfect for this diaper fold pocket project and they work well with splashes of green and pretty pinks too.

I used two sheets of paper - one for the pocket that had a bright pink side to it so I could bring this colour in as an accent - and a second which was full of glittered text and embellishments and had this fab pink polka dot on the reverse. I used nestabilities to cut out the smaller squares and also the circles. It meant I could get right into the paper to get at these circle embellishments. They were perfect for adding to the card.

Since I already had my heart nesties out I knew I could make some super cute strawberries using these. I simply rounded off the tip with scissors to soften them, inked the edges and used a flower punch for the stem part.

Even though this might make a cute gift for a little girl I can also see it full of strawberry bath salts or something along those lines for an 'older' girly too. For now I have filled my bag with pink shredded paper. I usually buy real goodies but I never get to eat them so I gotta quit doin that. It just ain't FAIR!

I am still scheduled for surgery real soon so I'm just tryin to get ahead of the game right now. My hospital appointment on Friday went real well. As long as my bloods come back ok I'm good to go so not long now. I plan on countin down days startin Monday! I will still be able to craft at some point in my recovery - I just may not be able to get back to teaching for several weeks but think of all the cool stuff I can come up with while I have time to PLAY! Don't worry I'll share it here on the blog and some of it may end up in future classes who knows?

Supplies Used: Nestabilities - circles, squares & hearts, MS border punch, green & pink ink, Sizzix - Texture Boutique, Big Shot, tags die, Designer Paper - Best Creation Inc, Misc - ribbon, thread, flower punch, foam pads.

Why Not Yellow?

Today I hung out at YTOC and crafted for some upcoming classes. Dave was out all day with the church youth group and I was only gonna craft at home so it was nice to have the company and hang out with the girlies. The shop was buzzin' with crafters up for the Donna Downey weekend and there was plenty to eat throughout the day.

When I asked Kay what colour she'd like for the class she decided maybe yellow would be nice. We haven't used yellow since the all day workshop which was a while ago. She chose a really bright 'lime green' and I chose the spotty yellow paper from American Crafts. We threw in a yellow embossed cardstock, some black, some white and played around with several nestability dies.

I used 2 floral sets, a circle set and just for fun I created the leaves using the heart set. A little bit of inking, some doodling with white gel pen and black fine liner and there you have it. I love to outline things so they 'pop' out even more.

This was the finished product - a cute card holder filled with 4 matching cards. Everyone should have fun making up this set. I like to have everyone use equipment like the nestabilities and big shot - A. because for some it's the first time they've experienced them and hands on is always the best way - especially if you're trying to make important craft purchasing decisions and B. because even the gals who have them need to learn ways to use them, to mix them up and have fun with them. There are so many ways to make your own embellishments with crafting supplies so the investment more than pays for itself in no time at all. I'm NOT on commission - honest!

Once I had done this set I had enough scraps left over to create a square card. I know this might seem like a LOT of yellow on top of yellow but up close and for real the plain yellow has some pretty embossed details that just didn't want to photograph in the light in the store. For this card I added a larger circle and scalloped circle behind the flower.

All in all this is what today's playing at crafting produced - very bright - VERY yellow but somewhat different to what I'd normally choose. It's good to do something different isn't it - so why not YELLOW?

Donna Downey!

Well who would've thought that a volcanic erruption miles away would have such an effect around the world? Pretty frightening stuff if you took time to really think about it huh?

And of all things to happen (or rather NOT to happen) Donna Downey was scheduled to be teaching a series of workshops over the two day weekend at Your Touch of Craft. All the build up and the excitement and just before it was set to take place she called to say she couldn't make it. Like so many people around the globe she is stuck and unable to get flights home (or anywhere else for that matter). Right now she is in Germany with no way out. Amanda even has guests staying in her Florida home right now who were due to fly back but they'll have to stay longer cos they can't get a flight home either. Nothings moving in or out right now.

Despite cancelling, several of the girls had booked hotels and made plans to attend for the whole weekend so they came anyway. Amanda had already arranged the food so she kindly hosted in store for those that wanted to craft.

Everyone worked on making a canvas album and there was some real creativity going on here. I should've taken a few photos of pages cos I sneaked a peek at a few of them and they were just gorgeous.

You can just about make out the banner Amanda had made to advertise Donna's coming hanging in the front window. Donna was even nice enough to phone and spoke to everyone on loud speaker so they at least got to hear her voice. It wasn't quite the same as having her there in person but she has rescheduled for October when she'll try again so watch this space!

The day wasn't all bad. Amanda had ordered a whole bunch of these pretty cupcakes for the day and they were super yummy! I didn't take photos of all the other yummy goodies on offer but I had a double helping of the chocolate cake so you could say the day was absolutely DELICIOUS!

Rosemary adds all kinds of sparkly glitter and edible decorations to her cupcakes. They look so pretty and they always go down a treat!

Maybe next time I guess!

Project Tuesday 13 April

It's amazing how quickly Tuesday comes around again and isn't it frightening how quickly the year is going? Can you believe we are already nearly half way through April?

I had actually ear marked this project some time ago but never actually got around to making it so I'm really glad Rose chose it for one of the April projects. I made this one especially for Project Tuesday but I also started another one exactly the same using blue instead of lilac. Since I had so many pieces to cut out I went to town and cut two sets while I was at it. I should do this AGAIN!

I know I will use this project idea again and again as a gift cos it is so practical and besides it just looks so pretty . I have to say though I almost never make this size card anymore. I love square cards, mini cards and tall slim cards and I guess you could change up the dimensions to fit these sizes but this size works real well for this project.

I used my texture boutique to add dots, embossed all the stamped images using clear embossing powder over black ink, and had fun with the sewing machine, adding REAL stitches for a change. If it's kinda hard to see that in the photos it's cos when I inked the embossed dots and edges the ink also turned my white thread a matching shade of lilac - cool huh!

I used PTI stamps and stamped onto patterned paper. It may be a bit hard to see the detail in the photos cos I used patterened paper with a tone on tone colour scheme. It adds varying shades to the flower which looks really neat up close and for real but you 'll just have to trust me on that one.

Since I plan on giving these to friends the sentiment is just perfect. I did think about making each card different but in the end I kept them all the same to make mass production easier. Why make life harder eh?

I also used a colour I would almost NEVER use but then they're not for me and besides I was keen to go a bit more pastel this week. I loved using black and white and adding lots of dots too. Even the black gems add a fun 'dotty' touch but sadly their detail doesn't pick up on camera well either. I'm sure if I was better at taking photographs I could've captured it all but I just use a plain ol' digi camera same as most people - nothin fancy.

Hopefully I've inspired some of you to have a go this week. I know I sure inspired myself with this one. I want to make MORE!

If you want to see some more fab inspiration and play along check out what the rest of the design team have done here. I promise you won't be disappointed.

Card for Debs

I wanted to quickly share the card I made this evening for my hubby's sister Debs. I know this card will be late getting to her but I'm sending it tomorrow so by the time she's made it through surgery and recovering it'll be a nice surprise.






I only have the one shot to share and it's not the best shot - the batteries in my camera ran out of juice and I could only wait a few minutes of charging before shoving them back in the camera.

I stamped the images and text in black and then added clear embossing powder which is why it caught the light of the flash. It gave it a really nice finish though. I ran the plain pink cardstock through my texture boutique to add the dry embossed dots and then added ink over the top to add even more definition. I stitched around a couple of the panels and that's pretty much it. Hopefully it will put a smile on her face.

Designing Fun

Today I've stayed close to home and had a kinda lazy day designing and crafting a few things.

I have the sewing machine still out and am loathe to put it away so I have been sewing on cardstock this afternoon. No matter what I'm sewing I often sew 'production style' running one after another through the machine and then snipping them apart afterwards. I can get loads done this way.

I have stitched, stamped, heat embossed, dry embossed, layered, cut and measured my way through today and I'm really pleased with my efforts. I find myself saying that a lot lately - I think maybe it's because I have a new found freedom to 'pick and choose' what I'm crafting with and using some old favourites along with the new stuff.

I have waited soooooo long to get my hands on this PTI stamp set that I just couldn't resist using it. This is a spare set of supplies for next week's PT project. I can't share the actual project until Tuesday so you'll have to check back but I decided to 'double' my efforts this week and make not just one but TWO! One is ear marked as a gift for a friend and I haven't made my mind up who gets the other one yet.

For now I am lovin playing with this flower design. I plan to use it this evening to make a card for my sister-in-law. She is having by-pass surgery on Tuesday and I need to send her some love in the post.

Well that's enough diversion - back to it I guess.

Project Tuesday April 6th

Well this week our project was a diaper fold pocket. I had actually made one of these before but never quite so big or so detailed. You can check out the 'how to' and the other design team efforts for inspiration here. For this week here is my effort.

It turned out very bright and colourful again this week but this time it was thanks to the sheet of paper I chose from Imaginesce - one of the ones my daughter Jessica gave me a while back. I know we have had Mother's day here in the UK but we still have the US one to celebrate so this will be on it's way to mom sometime soon.

I decorated it up with die-cut flowers and leaves using an old Sizzix die - one that I've probably only ever used about once! I had the sewing machine out and was hankering to sew a bit of paper so I made the paper lace with a MS border punch and stitched it in place. I also stitched around the circle embellishment too. OOPS! I just noticed I missed out a button on one of the red flowers - or did it fall off? Got a memory like a sieve!

I used my trusty computer for the text - I do this when I'm in a hurry since it's quicker than digging for just the right stamps and ink and I used my nesty dies to cut out the hearts and circles.

Since I made it using a 12" x 12" piece of paper it turned out a pretty good size so I decided to fill it with a card making kit. I don't know if mom makes these up but I love to send these 'handmade' kits as gifts especially since I know she crafts. For extra fun I stitched on the patterned paper strips so mom could have a stitched effect on her finished cards. I also plan to make a Mother's Day card using the same supplies to provide inspiration for her by way of a sample.

These are some of the contents (I am still compiling the kit). I have included card blanks, envelopes, ribbon, patterned paper strips, paper lace, die-cut circles, flowers and leaves, buttons and text. If I can find some small foam pads I'll include those as well plus anything else I think might be nice to add. If she's lucky I might even squeeze a bit if chocolate in there - who knows.

It's always hard trying to think of something that will survive posting overseas but I think in a padded envelope this will do just fine.

Hope you join us for some crafting fun this week. I will be working on next week's project on Wednesday - my day off this week. Since joining the PT design team it has become my regular crafting day and I'm really enjoying that fact.

Baby Quilt

Today I finally got around to making a baby quilt for my boss. Although she's going on maternity leave real soon we are changing management so the last time we'll see her is in April. She's been trying for another baby for a while and sadly suffered a miscarriage last year. Finally though she is expecting a baby girl sometime in June this year.

I chose this fabric when Jilly and I went shopping a couple of weeks ago. My colleague and I agreed to go halves and I offered to make it up. I love to sew - so does she - but I kinda wanted to do it and lucky for me she was fine with that. I don't sew near as much these days and I do miss it.

We knew we wanted pretty and pink cos she already has a little boy and knows this one is a girl. I couldn't find exactly what we were looking for but we wanted a 'patchwork' feel and these pretty stripes fit the bill. I'd planned on doing machine quilting so all I had to do was layer it up and sew along each strip in turn - what could be easier. There are quilts and then there are real quilts and I have only ever made one real hand quilted quilt in my life - for my God-daughter Natasha - everything else is machine quilted but there's no shame in that.

I added really thin wadding in between because we wanted it fairly light weight for summer. I contributed the wadding and Pauline contributed the checked backing fabric. I had just enough to make the quilt a decent size and then had exactly enough wadding and fabric left over to make a quilted bag to carry it in. I even quilted the handles so the bag alone is really nice and sturdy.

Here is the quilt inside the bag. There's actually plenty of room to add a diaper or two, baby wipes and a bottle when she drops baby off at Grandma's for an hour or two; plus if you get the right kind of toy you can hook one or two around the handles. If she wants to she can use the quilt in the buggy and then use the bag for baby items for short trips.

If I'd have had more fabric I'd have added a pocket on the bag somewhere but sadly I didn't. I had a few pretty small scraps of the main fabric left which aren't good for anything much as they are. If I cut them into squares I may possible have enough to piece them together to make a dolly's quilt for Maddycakes so I won't throw them away. That project will have to wait until I find some backing fabric and I'm not in the mood to go digging today.

Since Pauline and I both contributed fabric and wadding from our own stash and only had to pay for the main patterned fabric (1 1/2 metres) it works out to be just £4.50 each. I think that's pretty good going for a lovely handmade gift for baby that you couldn't touch for that kind of money in the stores. Shelley is gonna love it!