Busy, Busy

Hi all, slacking again with the blogging but real life keeps getting in the way unfortunately.  Quite a few things to share, I'm having a stall at a local Christmas fair this year so getting some cards together to sell.  This will be the first time I've done anything like this so I'm a bit nervous.

I'm also toying with the idea of becoming a Stampin Up demonstrator, I've been mulling it over for a while and I'm not getting anywhere at work so need to focus my attentions elsewhere because I feel like I'm not achieving anything at the moment.

PS. I Love You
So onto the crafty stuff, first up is a scrapbook layout, I can't take full credit for the layout as I loosely followed a layout I'd seen on Cricut.com The papers are Stampin Up from the holiday catalogue winter frost collection, a very versatile collection as it isn't all Christmasy so can be used on other projects and I just loved the colours. The cardstock is all American crafts in lagoon, stone, robin egg and black. I just loved this photo of my hubby and really wanted to do something with it and love how the page looks :) The arrows are cut from the Cricut Southwest cart in AC slate and the words from Wall decor and more in black and white. I just added a bit of faux stitching in black copic fine liner and uniball broad gel pen and added a few accents to the arrows and flags.

Hey Cupcake
This card was a quicky card to send off to my niece in Canada.  The cupcake was cut from the Sweet Treats cart, paper is from DCWV Sweet stack which is totally adorable.   Plus I got it for a fraction of what it should have cost from The Range, along with a few other sale goodies :)  Lots of stickles in baby blue and glam pink, I used seed beads for the sprinkles and the sentiment is from a Fiskars stamp set called The Sweet Life and is stamped in SU early espresso, card stock is also SU early espresso and American Crafts lagoon I think.

Outer Space
These next two I had so much fun with, inspired by Mary from cardcrazy09 on YT.  She makes the most adorable cards.  Both of these monster were cut from the mini monsters cart, I used scraps for the majority.  The rockets are cut from the just because card cart and the stars were punched out from various punches.  The faces were stamped using the adorable Peachy Keen monster mash face stamps and I did a little extra doodling lol!  Sentiments were from SU birthday sentiments.  the black sky was embossed using the cuttlebug devine swirls folder and the orange planet was embossed with a Tim Holtz texture fade on DCWV glitter card and then I coloured over the top with an orange promarker.  To finish them off I just added a some stickles and googley eyes :)

Adorable Ducks
I have had these stamps since June I think and this is the first time I have got around to using them.  I just think they are adorable, they are from Crafty Individuals and come with a lovely sentiment too.  I stamped the background on SU crumb cake cardstock with crumb cake ink, using the Creative Expressions chicken wire background stamp, the matts were cut from SU early espresso and SU DSP Beau Chateau.  I added some SU linen thread, buttons and a tiny tag I cut on the cricut and stamp a sentiment in early espresso.  I stamped the ducks in Ranger archival on water colour paper and coloured them with distress markers.

Colours of Autumn
This card really started off with me experimenting with some Mr Huey sprays I had bought from Create and Craft when they were selling them off.  I was just messing about getting inky and sprayed some colour, then though I'd stamp some leaves and add some perfect pearls, it turned out very pretty and autumnal and so that set the theme for the next lot of cards I made.  Using the background I had made I just added a simple sentiment as a topper and stamped a leaf, added more perfect pearls and cut it out, added a few buttons and some linen thread and called it a card.  The sentiment is from SU. Cardstock is SU crumb cake and early espresso.  As this ended up being and odd size I made and envelope to match. 

Shimmering Dragonfly
Really the same as the other card except I stamped the dragonfly from Papermania dragonflies urban stamp set, once on the background and once on a piece of cream paper, I embossed the dragonfly with Stampendous fine detail black embossing powder and then painted it with perfect pearls mixed with a little water.  I used a Tim Holtz texture fade embossing folder to emboss the early espresso strip and the cuttlebug mesh folder to emboss the card blank.  The sentiment is from Papermania Vintage notes urban stamps set.

Autumn Thanks
This little set of thank you cards was made using the scraps on my desk, I challenged myself to not use anything that wasn't already out as I keep ending up with a mountain of stuff which all ends up in the scrap pile and never used lol!  All made from SU crumb cake cardstock, SU early espresso ink, SU french foliage and SeeD's leaves stamps set and the squares where stamped by inking an acrylic block with distress ink in vintage photo, spritzing with water and the stamping onto the card stock.  The sentiment is also SU.

Winter Frost
This set of cards were all made using the SU winter frost collection, the sentiment is SU from the holiday catalogue, stamped in SU smoky slate and island indigo.  The shapes were cut on the cricut, as were the snowflakes and the ribbon is from Papermania.  After I had stamped the sentiments I gently sponged some SU illuminate ink all over to give it a subtle shimmer, they came out very pretty and I made half a dozen of these to sell ;)

Gift Card Holders
All these gift card holders were made following Dawn5377's directions on YT.  These were so easy and simple to make and I can see me making plenty more as the possibilities are endless really.

This last item was inspired by Joy of Obsessed with scrapbooking on YT , I don't have the Close To My Heart cricut carts as they are ridiculously expensive to by from the States, with shipping and customs it works out around £100, money I'm not willing to pay, especially as half of that is actually for shipping and customs!!  So I decided I would give it a go using one of my other cricut cuts.  I purchased the Cricut craftroom Exclusive quilted ornaments last year and never used them so thought it was high time I did lol!  I basically followed Joy's instructions but as I didn't have any tulle, I added some roses from Wild Orchid crafts instead and think it came out very pretty.  It's cut from American Crafts, crimson, vanilla, and pomegranate cardstock, ribbon is from Papermania.  It looks really beautiful on the living room door and I think I may make a couple more for my other doors.  Very happy with this :)

That's all for now folks, I do have more to post but need to get the camera out first lol.

Happy crafting

Anna xx

Cuteness Overload :)

 Three cards, two birthday cards and my first Christmas card of the year :)

This is a tiny 3 x 3 card, the tiny kitty is a Stampendous stamp and is totally adorable.  Stamped with Memento black ink and coloured with promarkers, the flower was made using some freebies won in some blog candy from Ladybug Crafts, coloured with distress stains.
Cardstock is SU crumb cake and AC caramel.

A cute cow cut from Create a critter, the fencing cut from wall deco and more and the tree was stamped from some Nitwit stamps freebies off a magazine and paper pieced.

My first Christmas card of the year, not only did I make a resolution to do more scrapbooking, I also made a resolution to make at least one Christams card a month.  :)

The stamp is a Penny Black stamp, coloured with promarkers, mats cut from Elegant Edges cart and the Tree and bauble cut from Joys of the Season.

Hope you've enjoyed this update.

Happy crafting
Anna x

Scrapbook Pages and Valentines

Forgot to post these last month.

Firstly a double scrap book page, I kind of made a resolution this year to do at least one scrapbook page a month, so this was last months.  We went for a walk in the Peak District, it was freezing cold and the ground was frozen solid, the wind was blowing the rain horizontal and we were walking in the clouds!  But!  We had a fantastic time, the Peak National Park is one of my favourite places.  I used the Cricut cart Camp Out, SU and AC cardstock and SU skeleton Leaf stamps.  I used distress inks to add texture and some See D's texture stamps.  I did a little journalling on the computer and printed it out.

Here's the gift and card I made for my OH for valentines.  The mug was made using Tags, Bags, Boxes and More 2.  The cute little monkey was cut from Create a Critter.  The Card was made in Cricut Craft Room from the Love You A Latte  cart, I weld 2 shapes together to make the card, added the sentiment and stamped with coffee beans from a Fiskars stamp set.

Happy Crafting
Anna x

Mothers Day Cards and Clearly for Art Modelling Film

Quick post today, three cards made for Mother's day.  

All three were made using background papers printed on my new Gelli plate.  Stampin Up Tea Shoppe stamps, See D's Alpha stamps, Kaiser Crafts Sentiment stamps and American Crafts cardstock. 

This is my finished brooch made using Clearly for Art modelling film, coloured with alcohol inks and finished with a layer of Distress Rock Candy crackle.  The seam binding and lace were coloured with promarker and the button and metal piece from my stash.

Happy crafting
Anna x

Parisian Boudoir & Sunny Days

Parisian Boudoir

Well I was supposed to be updating yesterday but had a migraine and couldn't  bare to stare at the monitor, so here goes :)

This is card was cut on the cricut, the actual card is made of two mats, the back one scored about 3/4 of an inch down to create a fold and then glued to the front.  Then I cut a pink mat, black mat and then a lighter pink.  Both pink mats were stamped with TM distress ink in picked raspberry with a stamp from the SU Sale-a-bration Bliss stamp set and the edges inked with the same ink.  The smaller black mat was embossed using the Cuttlebug swiss dots folder.

The frame and dress form were cut from the Sophisticated cartridge using the Font 1 function this gives you a framed monogram.  The Back was cut in the dark pink and I also cut a frame in a piece of pink foiled card stock from the DCWV Blackcurrant stack.  The R and parts of the dress form had black diamond stickles added to them and then I applied 2 layers of glossy accents to the R.

 

Supplies

American Crafts card stock in cotton candy and taffy

Black cardstock 

TH Distress ink pad picked raspberry

scrap of DCWV blackcurrant stack foiled dots

Hobbycraft black glitter ribbon

Pink organza ribbon

rhinestones

Stickles black diamond

Glossy accents

Cuttlebug swiss dots folder

Sunny Days

This card was stamped using the simply soft and happiest birthday wishes SU hostess stamp sets.  the background paper is from First Edition Paper J'Adore stack and the spotty paper is from First Edition Paper Boho Chic.  I did a bit of rocking and rolling when I stamped the sentiment lol!  To get this two toned effect ink up your stamp with your lightest colour then take a darker ink pad and roll the edges of the stamp so it just inks the out side edges.  To finish off the card I just added some paper twine and a button, a sunny warm card, just the thing to cheer you up on a cold snowy day :)

 Supplies

Card blank

SU simply soft and happiest birthday wishes hostess sets

SU so saffron and pumpkin pie inkpads

First Edition Paper Boho Chic and J'Adore

American Crafts Cranberry cardstock

Cuttlebug swiss dots folder

Button

The Works paper twine

A New Look Blog Layout And Update

Hi crafty friends, long time no postie lol!

Firstly I have given the blog a new look, links to other blogs, fave site, challenge sites archived posts and labels etc. Are now in a pop out menu on the right side of the page, you can also change the look of the blog by clicking on the links above.  I'm loving this new dynamic layout.  Please feel free to tell me if you like it or if you prefer the old style layouts.

On to the fun stuff, yes I know I have been very lax again in posting updates, I'm a busy girl, what can I say lol!

Actually all work and no play can make for a very grumpy girl.  I've been busy with family and work stuff for the last few months and not had a lot of time to craft.  I do have some stuff but I'm only going to post the most recent for now :)

Ladybug Lolita

I spent the entire day colouring this yesterday, very please with the results, I'm loving the Promarker fine tip nibs, you can really add texture and detail.  The digi stamp is from All That Scraps and is printed on to Rymans card stock.  finished off the image by blending a little SU Pool Party ink around the edges, a little stickles on the wings and as my glossy accents nip is now a stump and no good for detail, I decided to use my nail art fine liner to colour the tiny ladybird lol!

 Supplies

White card blank and Rymans card stock
Promarkers
Outfit: Cardinal red, berry red, lipstick red, cool grey 4 & 5, black, blender
Flower: sunflower, honeycomb, burnt orange, gold, burnt sienna, pear green, forest green, khaki, frosted lea, cool grey 4
Hair:Burnt sienna, cinnamon, tan, vanilla, blender
Skin:Copics Skin Tones set, vanilla
Wings:Denim blue, polar blue, blender
Uniball Signo broad white gel pen
Stickles frosted lace
Ladybug Lolita From All That Scraps (this may be retired now)
Personal Impressions Kirsty Wiseman Tag Sentiments PICA6297
American Crafts Dandelion and Crimson card stock
SU Pool party ink pad
Versamark ink pad
Stampendeous fine detail embossing powder
Cuttle bug embossing folder swiss dots, Crafty Concepts embossing folder grunge dots
Matts cut from Elegant Edges Cricut cartridge
Wilkinson stitch red ribbon
buttons, gems and ribbon rose from stash
Glossy accents or red nail polish for the ladybird

Here are a few more items I've made, I will post more on these tomorrow as it's getting late :)

Happy crafting
Anna x

Parisian Boudoir

Dragon Wing Charm

Clearly for Art modelling Film

Sunny Days

Home decor, vintage fun and Rock Candy

Hi, back again with a few bits and bobs.  Firstly a altered frame and kiddies plastic dress form I got from a Girl Talk Art mag, I had to make a new stand for it as the part of it was missing lol!  I painted it with black acrylic, glued on strips of torn paper from the DCWV black currant paperstack and stippled more black acrylic to make it look like lace, then added small roses and lovely trim I bought years ago, from my stash.

This is the frame , I picked it up in Poundland, added some Wild Orchid Craft roses, small roses, pink feathers, acetate butterflies and a hand made flower and butterfly which I made with some Tim Holtz trimming, miniature roses and pearl trim.  Added a beautiful pin, silk tassel, and some prima bling to finish it off.  Matted and layered a quote on to some black cardstock and the black currant paperstack as I couldn't find a piccy I wanted to add in there.  The flourishes around the quote are from MCS.

Supplies

Dress form

Plastic dress form

Deco Art crafters acrylic in black

beaded and fringed trimmings

small tea roses in fuchsia

DCWV black currant paper stack

black satin ribbon bow for back

miniature cream rose from Wild Orchid Crafts

Black diamond stickles for base and top of dress form

Frame

Black damask frame from Poundland

small tea roses in fuchsia and pale pink (I think I bought the fuchsia roses from Hobby Craft and the pale pink ones from Works)

DCWV black currant paper stack

miniature cream roses and white roses from Wild Orchid Crafts (sorry I don't have the numbers for these)

pale pink feathers

Prima pearl and lace swirls

Rhinestones in clear and black

ribbon rose in pale pink

Tim Holtz Trimmings 

Pearl bead strings 

Acetate butterflies from Works in mixed pinks

Finished Frame and dress form to match the deco in my loo lol!

This is one of the background stamps I bought at the Doncaster show last weekend, I LOVE it lol!  Just stamped with espresso ink on very vanilla card stock, I stamped it twice and cut out some of the bobbin labels, coloured them with promarkers and distressed the edge with antique linen.  Added a pin which I coloured with a promarker, seam binding coloured with antique linen and some home made glimmer mist, mounted on early espresso and Sahara sand card stock and finished with a handmade flower.  Very simple and quick.

Supplies

Stampin Up cardstock in Very Vanilla, Early espresso, Sahara

Stampin Up ink pad in Early espresso

Stampin Up Tea Shoppe stamp set for sentiment

Distress ink pad in Antique linen

Promarkers in sandstone, khaki, pastel beige, ivory

buttons

heart pin from Wild Orchid Crafts

seam binding

Just Rite BG stamp Grandma's Attic

Flower Shoppe Cricut Cart for flower

Burnt sienna promarker, Adirondack copper mixative, espresso alcohol ink to colour flower 

I have never attempted any of Tim Holtz 12 tags but love looking at them so thought I would give one a go.  Very pleased with how this came out and I'm thinking I may use this as a starting point for my special Xmas cards this year.  I am in LOVE with Rock Candy crackle paint, the deer is so pretty in RL, I also did a deer in alcohol inks and used rock candy over the top and it looks awesome, I may post piccies later.  

I followed most of Tim's directions except I stamped my snow flakes with distress ink pad instead of the stains as I couldn't get a nice impression, I also stamped some more snowflakes with SU white craft ink rather than the stains too. I spritzed the tag with home made glimmer mist rather than water.  I didn't add white paint dauber to the acetate as I didn't like the way it looked, so I added stardust stickles instead and also added them to the grunge paper reindeer and snow flake along with some frosted lace stickles too.

Supplies

Distress Stains in tumbled glass, weathered wood, picket fence

distress inks in weathered wood

Stampin Up craft ink pad in whisper white

Distress crackle paint in rock candy

Grunge paper

Stampin Up card stock in very vanilla to cut the tag or #8 manila tag

rhinestones mini silver sleigh bell, beads and wire to make a snowflake (I used an old Xmas decoration I got off the front off a House Beautiful mag )

Jump rings

acetate

TH Sizzix alterations snowflake border die ( I don't have this so I made a border on my gypsy using snowflakes from the Winter Wonderland Cart and a rectangle from the Gorge and Basic shape cart and welded them together)

Reindeer cut from Gypsy Wanderings, if you don't have a gypsy you could use the reindeer from Winter Wonderland or one of the other cricut carts or the TH Alterations sizzix die

Buttons

Organza ribbon in white, ivory and aqua

Dovecraft tea party bakers twine

Stickles in frosted lace and stardust

peal glimmer mist ( I made mine with a small amount of Deco Art dazzling metallics white pearl mixed with water in a mister)

small beads in silver, clear and pearl

Inkadinkado Snowflakes stamps (large snowflakes and snowflake flourish)

Papermania sleigh stamps (small snowflakes)

 Deco Art crafters acrylic in white

 

So there you go, it seems like a lot of supplies for 1 tag lol! But in actual fact you could do this with what you have lying around.  I used grunge paper but you could use chipboard (cardboard as we call it over her in the UK)  from a cereal packet.  I used white acrylic paint to paint the snow flake and reindeer before crackle glazing them. Buttons, ribbons, beads, acetate, cardstock and embellishments I had in my stash.

I like to use what I have, as much as I would love the Tim Holtz dies, I don't have the money or space for them and this is why my cricut is invaluable to me.  For what I pay for maybe 2 dies I can buy a cartridge with dozens of images, add in the Gypsy and the Cricut Craft Room and SCAL (Shame Provocraft were too greedy for their own good, they should have endorse SCAL rather than bring a law suite against them!) and I can come up with anything I want :)

Anyhoo enough of my waffling, i must get my desk cleaned up, I can't move for crafty junk lol!

Summer Fun, Distress markers and inky fingers

Well I was going to make a video of my crafty haul this month as I have been on a bit of a spending spree and also spent the day at the Summer Craft show at Doncaster race course.  However, I was so excited to have new goodies to play with I went and opened everything before I could film anything lol!

I did have a lot of fun making a very crafty mess yesterday evening though :D  I bought quite a few stamps, some more stickles to top up my dwindling supply, some mica masks by Creative Expressions and some Tim Holtz distress markers YAY!!!  So I was a very happy bunny last night :)

I also got a few fun things from Poundland, Works and HobbyCraft, including mini frames and a larger frame to alter, mini paper roses and glittery butterflies.  I stocked up on black and white core'dination and got a beautiful DCWV black currant 12 x 12 stack which is stunning.  I also got a reduced Xmas back ground stamp and some £1 stamps.

Just something fun, I was trying out all my new goodies I bought at the Summer Crafting show at Doncaster race course. Inked, stamped, grunged, water coloured, masked, stickled, misted and crackled lol! Flowers are coloured using TH summer distress ink pads leaves are alcohol inked, butterflies water coloured with distress markers and then added a bit of black diamond stickles and rock candy crackle. Fringed trim is some very old stuff from when I used to do dress making :D I had a lot of very messy fun making this :D

Cute window card with a difference, using SU card stock, ink and ribbon, spellbinder dies, Fiskars stamp set

Gift bag with matching photo album, the album isn't finished so I will show that another time. Stampin up DSP, stamps, ribbons and cardstock used.

Well I think that's it for tonight, shattered now as I've just cleaned all the downstairs so it's a cuppa and bed for me I think.

Happy crafting

Anna x

Huge update, long time no postie :)

Hi, well I kind of lost my mojo over the last few months and haven't done much crafting.  I've been feeling a bit down and the house is a mess, plus I'm working more hours and between that and the fibro I'm constantly exhausted and in pain.

Anyhoo, this isn't a pity post, we had a week away in the Lake District which was awesome (slide shows of photos on my you tube My channel ), we did lots of walking and had a lot of fun and it's given me a bit of a boost :)

These are the latest things I've made and or finished off lol!

First up are some cards made using the Portabello Rd collection from Docrafts, I adore these papers, so much so I ended up ordering more lol!  

Supplies

Portabello Rd papers

Stampin Up card stock in very vanilla

Core'dinations cardstock from the Tim Holtz craft core collection in red and blue

Stampin Up ink pads in not quite navy and riding hood red

seam bining dyed with TH distress ink pad tea dye

Roses and hear stick pin  from Wild Orchid Crafts

brads and buttons

Tea pot cut on Cricut from an SVG file

Stamp edged mats cut from Ribbons and Rosettes cart

Next up is a card for Father's day for my Dad

Supplies
Core'dinations cardstock
Image by Bill Holms sourced from internet
Circle shape cut from Accent Essentials cart
Dad plate cut from Plantin Cart using end cap feature
Textured strip made with TH texture fade checker board
Brads, feathers and button

This next card was for my Brother-in-law

Supplies
Stampin Up card stock in crumb cake, chocolate chip, not quite navy
Core'dinations craft core in No 10
Crackle glaze
Acrylic paint
Bakers twine
Stampin Up ink pad in Early espresso
corner punch
Cricut cart Ribbons and Rosettes for border
Stampin up Stamp set Nature walk and happiest birthdays

Dads birthday card, I wanted to add lots of texture and make this feel seasidey (is that a real word lol)

Supplies

Core'dinations Cardstock kraft core in No 16 and 10
Stampin up classic ink pad in not quite navy and craft ink pad in whisper white
TH distress ink pads in weathered wood and bundled sage
Bakers twine
Buttons and brads
Image from MCS water colours
Cricut cart plantin school book

This is my first ever mini album :) and I actually started it about 10 months ago lol!  Anyhoo, I've finally said it's finished and now just need to add my photos.  I'm quite pleased with how it's turned out, there are things I would do differently and I've learned a lot of new stuff along the way lol!

Here are most of the supplies I used.
Hero Arts: Large Web #CG234, Bat background #CG385
Inkadinkado: creepy Crawley #98303, All Hallows Eve #98627, Creepy Lane #60-30185
KanBan: Tickets #AS6008
Stampers Anonymous: TH French Connection #CSS278050
TPC Studio: Patterned Borders #ST93455
Stampin UP: Sanded BG stamp (retired)
Clarity Stamps: Small naked pine, remountable set of leaves, small moon shadow
Stampin Up: Pumpkin Pie, Whisper white craft
TH Distress: Peeled Paint
Memento: Tuxedo Black
Stazon: black
Glossy Accents
Versamark: embossing pad
Stampendous: Disco black embossing powder, clear embossing powder
Card Stock:Cord'inations in grey,black,orange, Stamping Up black,cajun craze, lucky limeade, cardstock, Stampin Up Fightful Sight DSP, Create & craft Super Smooth 120gsm paper for digi scrap kit.
Cricut carts: Fabulous Finds, Happy Haunting, /Ribbons & Rosettes
Basic Grey Figgy Pudding Fibers, Divine twine orange, HobbyCraft Ribbon

I think I've covered everything, just ask if you don't see it on here.


One thing I do want to mention is the digi scrap kit I used for most of the paper in this album, I don't think the site is there any more and I don't have the files on the computer at the moment as my external hard drive died on me :( I'd love to to give credit, so if anyone knows who made it just leave a comment thanks :)

A card for my Mum-in-law, I love how this turned out :)

Just a silly card I made to try out my new Robotz cart, which I got on Ebay for a bargain price :D

This is the first scrap book page for a new project, I've been meaning to make a scrapbook of our visit to London a few years ago and want to do sections on the Natural History museum, the British Museum and the Science museum, yes we did 3 museums in 3 days lol!  I am mad about dinosaurs so was thrilled to go to the Natural History museum.  I got the dinosaur tracks cart especially for the scrapbook as I took loads of pictures of all the dinos lol!  I've even made up a list of all the dinos on the cart and prited them out ready to label all my photos lol!  I know! I know!  A grown woman getting over excited about a lot of old bones lol!  Sad really isn't it :D

A quick project the other day to cheer myself up, I finally got around to blinging up my expression :D

A quick birthday card made with the sweet treats cart.

Lots of flowers I made yesterday, I was very tired and I've been poorly the last couple of days so I just wanted something to keep my hands busy while I watched tutorials on youtube :)

All cut from the flower shoppe and mother's day bouquet carts.

Well that's me all caught up, having a bit of a rest today, although I did go out and try to cut the hedge a bit earlier, shattered now though so won't be doing much else today.

Happy crafting
Anna xx