RIP Keith 1959-2009

Sadly I feel I cant post at the moment Certainly not cards.
Two weeks ago I received a phone call to tell me that my brother had passed away very suddenly and unexpectedly. He was only 50 and it has been a huge shock. He was a huge person in every way, 6'6"tall, with a personality to match and even although we werent close geographically I alway felt he had my back. We didnt always agree but he was my big bro and I looked up to him even though sometimes he exasperated me
I hate the thought that  I'm nobodies kid sister anymore either. I dont want to be a grown up to everyone I know. I'm sure those of you in the same situation understand what I mean.
So I am going to leave blogging for now though I will post again in the New Year. Until then I would like to wish anyone that has been kind enough to visit my blog a peaceful Christmas and New Year and ask that you take the time to contact your loved ones if you cant see them this festive season. Dont be like me and think you can leave it til later cos you sometimes don't get the chance.

three wise men

1st post for a while. Thought I would try a couple of challenges this week to get the creative juices flowing.

Started with a sketch from sketchsaturday I decided to make a christmas card as I still have loads to make and came across a gorgeous snowman digi image at Victoria Case Art Designs They are perfect for fun christmas cards. also linked to this weeks challenge at Cupcake Crafts as the challenge is to use a digi image

I am loving easel style cards at the mo and seem to be making lots They are a great way to display a card but not the easiest thing in the world to photograph

I have used Colourful Christmas papers from My Minds Eye. The snowmen are coloured with promarkers and then some cosmic shimmer glitter glue added to make them sparkle as well as the falling snow.They are actually a lot sparklier in real life than they appear in the photos! Added a couple of punched snowflakes and a snowflake brad and finished with a craftworkcard sentiment. The "Snowflakes" wording was cut on the cricut .

Just a christmas quickie

Shouldnt really have time to post today as I am rushing about getting ready for the big trip to Florida tomorrow. Yikes! Keep thinking there must be something I've forgotton butI probably wont remember what till we are half way there . Anyway it appears that its over 90 there at the mo,so I just had to make a christmas card to cool me down! As usual its a sugar nellie image This on is called "mistletoe" I have used some k and co papers and stickled the snow on the roofs Finished it with a MM metal merry christmas plaque.

Rae with journal

Wow! 2 posts in one week That must be a record for me!

Thought I would share a recent card made using one of Mo Mannings fab digi stamps. I just love her stuff so expect to see a few more cards using them popping here from time to time. This one was for a birthday swap . The image which is calles "Rae with journal" is coloured with promarkers and the papers are Basic grey Porcelain A couple of prima flowers and a charm to finish. You can find more of her images at Mos Digital Pencil

christmas wishes

Have been off work this week with the dreaded flu (possibly the piggie variety) and havent felt much like doing anything but today was the first day I have felt a bit better since Sunday so put together a christmas card using a sugar nellie stamp, basic grey porcelain papers and an xcut punched snowflake I still want to add a snowflake charm but as usual cant find them at the mo. Ilike these colours as a change from the usual festive ones Nearly forgot, the Christmas Wishes stamp is from a really sweet Personal Impressions set. Hope you like

The big 50

Was asked to make a card for a friends husbands 50th birthday. No special instructions as she was kind enough just to leave it up to me She has a wicked sense of humour so I am really hoping that this somewhat tongue in cheek card will appeal

I have used a couple of stamped images from Murray and Ethel plate #2 Coloured with promarkers I cut the 50th and the name with my new toy a cricut Expression and used papermania lettering for the happy birthday. The papers were from my stash. I'm quite pleased with the result but it's always a bit of a worry when you are making it for someone else as you can never to totally sure it will be what they want.

Dragon lady if you are reading this I apologise fo not yet responding to your very kind blog award but I will do so soon promise!

manga girl

Another birthday swap card. The birthday was yesterday so thought I would now share the card with you. The stamp is fromSugarnellie (now there's a suprise) I adore the latest manga stamps they have. They are a dream to colour (promarkers again) I also am really loving my butterfly punch. It is the same as the recent xcut limited edition one that was out of stock everywhere but I managed to track this lookalike one down. Although the casing isnt the cute black and pink of the xcut one (its actually yellow) the punch is identical. Sorry for the squint picture!

It can't be Christmas already

Now I know I don't post as much as I should, particularly at the moment as it's school holidays time but even I know its a bit early for Christmas Cards. However we had a fun swap over on the Crafttelly forum called Christmas in July and this was my effort. I love,love love Christmas. I think it is a reaction to the fact that my dear mum just didnt like Christmas at all. My parents were jewellers and the run up to Christmas was always incredibly busy So by the time the actual day arrived she was shattered after working all hours and looking after us kids and running the home. Give me a santa, a few reindeer and some petty fairy lights and I'm in heaven! My card is a stamped image coloured with promarkers then I added some glitter Jewels on the tree. Only 146 days to go....

ETA... the stamp I used is from a Craft UK Christmas Collection plate (CUKS33) called santa and penquin

Oops! What happened to June?

How come I seem to have blinked and completely missed June I cannot believe the last time I posted was in May. I have made cards since then, Honest. Sadly I just didnt feel they were up to par so they didnt make it onto the blog. So finally I have one that I like. This card was for a recent card swap over on the craft telly forum.

Another Gorjuss girl (I promise the next one will be something different) Not completely satisfied with her but I dont seem to be in love with anything I make at the moment. She is coloured with a mix of promarkers and prismcolor pencils.

thanks for looking

A bit of birthday Gorjussness

Here is a birthday card made for a recent birthday swap. Another gorjuss girl coloured with promarkers,some paper punched with my new Martha Stewart punch (I wish I could get hold of the lace doily one ) lots of nestie circles and some primaflowers,ribbon and a butterfly embellishment

Birthdays are like buses

They all arrive at the same time

Havent managed much crafting over the last week or so as I am running about like a chicken with it's head choppped of trying to get everything sorted for a weeks holiday to Turkey. So between working and sorting out insurance, money, tickets, packing etc there hasn't been much time for anyting else. (Why do men think getting ready means putting their jacket on as they leave for the airport!)

but I have quite a few birthdays coming up which guarantees that my mojo has gone awol. So, this card has been made with one of my nieces in mind, problem is I haven't decided which one!

I will get round to putting a sentiment in the centre but until I decide which one its for I will leave it blank. One is 21 this year and the other is 22, I have a feeling that I may make a more individual card for the 21st but time is limited so who knows they may both end up with very similar cards this year. I also have 2 50ths My brother and my best friend both of which I need for the day after I return from holiday. Neither of which have been started yet so I have 3 days AAAAGGGHHHH!

and now for something completely different

as I did say when I started my blog that my style was, for want of a better word, eclectic I thought that I would include something completely different from my normal coloured stamped images

so here is a new baby card comissioned recently for the imminent arrival of twins (a boy and a girl) the gatefold card is made using a kit bought from QVC on the recent craft day These cute images have both a back and a front so I've used acetate windows to show them off. I do hope that QVC decide to bring out the characters as rubber stamps as I think they are really cute, I have added sakura stardust to the stitching on the buttons to make the card sparkle aswell as teeny hand and feet brads and a jewelled motif

sugarbowl challenge 10

Can't believe it's Friday again already! Its another sunny day here in Fife. Unfortunately the sunshine is interspersed with massive black clouds and heavy downpours. Oh the joys of Scottish weather. 4 seasons in one hour never mind one day.

Thought I would take the plunge this week and enter a challenge and as I am just a bit obsessed with Gorjuss girls at the moment it made sense to pick the sugarbowl. This weeks challenge is to include buttons on your card .I have used some DCWV papers and rub ons, a couple of floradoodle flowers and a cute pink button the finish The image is coloured with promarkers. Thanks for looking

oops

Thought I would make a card this afternoon while watching a bit of the craft day on QVC so used another of the gorjuss girls with some dcwv papers and ribbons from my stash.

I thought the card turned out quite nice till I tried to stand it up while the silicone dried. I'd only made it upside down! so poor wee gorjuss girl would have to do a head stand to allow the card to stand up! I have photgraphed her the right way up as I dont want her to end up all dizzy. Guess I will be chopping the front off the card and attaching it to another one the right way round.

Please tell me you do things like this too

Gorjuss Angels

I think that this is my favourite image from the new set of Gorjuss girls from Sugar Nellie (though it is a hard choice)

This is one of my first efforts in using her but I'm sure I will do more. In this instance I made a thinking of you card but the image could be used in a sympathy card I think or even a confirmation card.

I 've tried to keep it simple as less is more with the image so it is coloured with promarkers. the background is embossed vellum and the sentiment is printed onto Safmat. Its the first time I have used Safmat but will definately not be the last as its so nice to be able to make a sentiment in exactly the size and font I want. Finally the card is edged in silver though this doesn't show up in the photograph.

Oh yes photographs, thats something else I need to improve! Took my an age even to figure out how the crop.

Finally it' s Friday

How come it always takes Friday so long to arrive? but oh what a lovely feeling when it finally does. Today was made even better by the arrival of a package from Funky kits. My set#2 Gorjuss Girls have finally arrived. I have managed to get them cut up tonight and hopefully will have some fun stamping and colouring to my hearts content over the weekend.

Last night I had to make a card for a friend at work who has a birthday next week but was finishing up today for a weeks hols. I had intended making a personalised card as it is her 50th but, as if on queue, my mojo hopped out the window. Settled on a Sugar Nellie Daisy card that I already had in my "almost finished" Pile. Added some ribbon and a charm. and she seemed pleased with it

Daisy is still one of my favourite Sugar Nellie Stamps so can't resist including another.

here goes nothing

Despite following others blogs for over a year, up until now I didn't feel brave enough to start one of my one so what changed? Well another birthday came and went and all those things on my to do list are still staring back at me. I may never lose the weight, Ride an elephant in Thailand or publish a best selling novel but I can tick on thing off. I started a blog.

And on this blog I will be mainly satifying my obsession with all things inky! Card making, which started as just another craft I dabbled in has slowly but surely taken over.My house is slowly drowning in a sea of paper, ink and rubber A scenarion I'm sure other paperholics will be familiar with

I guess if I'm going to claim to be a card maker I will need some evidence of my crimes so my intention is to post pictures of my efforts. I beleive the polite term for my "style"is eclectic (translated that means I just make what I feel like at the time) I'm particularly keen on rubberstamping (really loving sugar nellie stamps at the mo) though do sometimes decoupage

So if you stumble across me when blog hopping stop and say hello cos I feel like the new girl at school