Friendship

It's been a few weeks since I've posted anything but things took an unexpected turn and there has been a lot happening.

A couple of weeks ago, and within the space of twenty-four hours, both my friend and her Brother-in-Law were rushed to hospital. My friend suffered a stroke less than 20 hours after her Brother-in-Law had a massive brain haemorrhage - needless to say it's been a rough time for her family.  Her B-i-L was being transferred to a hospital 30 miles away as she was in the ambulance going to the one he was leaving.

Both are currently still in hospital, however, things are beginning to settle down now and everyone is now getting in a routine. Instead now of taking my friend shopping or for a coffee it's visiting time with the impatient patient at the hospital - she has told me that as soon as she's able I've to take her on a good day out, but not to Hobbycraft (as if!).

I decided to try this week's Freshly Made Sketches Challenge 

not sure if this first card fits the sketch - perhaps it is a loose interpretation, but then again . . . maybe not!

I've used three dandelion stems instead of the first three oblongs:

I used Spellbinders D'Lites Dandelion die set cut from black cardstock which was highlighted using Cosmic Shimmer Gilding Wax (Pearl Moon and Golden Green). The  sentiment stamp was from a Kaisercraft set. 

I thought I'd try something a little closer to the sketch the dandelion one and used my Cheery Lynn Pierced Banner die set for this one:

Tim Holtz Distress Inks were used to create two separate backgrounds one shades of blue and the other combining various blues, yellows and orange. The plain blue was used as the background and the other used to cut the banners and Happy Birthday from. The Creative Expressions Happy Birthday was cut twice, the first was coated with clear embossing powder but didn't seem to stand out enough so I cut a second and used a gold embossing powder which I layered it over the first to create a drop shadow. The ribbon was also coloured using the Distress Inks.

Friends

I do wish that the weather would make up it's mind what it wants to be! Just when you start to dream that a sunny summer could be just around the corner, a few days of heavy rain bring you back to reality!

I've been telling hubby for a while now not to put bread on the patio for the birds as it's not the best thing for them to eat. Finally I found an article on the subject and that, plus the heavy rain causing the bread to make a soggy mess on the patio which I made him clear up, he decided to stop it.  In return I bought some special wild bird food balls that he could put out for them. Neither of us could believe how hungry our fine feathered friends are, they may be wee but they've gone through one ball every other day & I'm now down to the last one - something else for the weekly shopping list!

I thought I had my card for this week's Freshly Made Sketches Challenge sorted out - oh how wrong could I be when I realised, after I'd made it, that I had used the exact same stamps I'd used a few weeks ago! Ah well, it was back to the drawing board to come up with a new card to fit in with this week's sketch:

The original card I came up with used stamps from the Penny Black "You're Retro" set. I used some Spray Distress Inks to create the multi-coloured back layer:

I Used

Cardstock

White 300gsm - Fabiano

Blue - Crelando

Stamps

You're Retro Stamp set - Penny Black

Inks
Distress Inks - Tim Holtz

Promarkers - Letraset / Winsor & Newton

Once I'd realised what I'd done I started looking through my crafty stash to see what I had and found a Darice embossing folder "Feathers on Side" and decided to try something with that.

I thought instead of using different layers I would try using different colours on the same piece of card and used a highlighted part of the design to form the area where the dark strip is in the sketch. Once the Distress Inks (Salty Ocean, Peacock Feathers & Seedless Preserves) were on I used some Starlight Gelly Roll pen over metallic Promarker to create the highlighted area. The sentiment was stamped using clear Versamark and set using silver embossing powder.

I had problems trying to get photos which showed the embossed stamp in the correct colour- some made them look black instead of silver, whilst not the best, these hopefully these show the detail.

I Used

Cardstock

White 300gsm - Fabiano

Stamps

True Friendship Stamp set - Kaisercraft

Inks
Distress Inks - Tim Holtz

Promarkers - Letraset/Winsor & Newton

Gelly Roll - Sakura

Urban Cool

Been busy working on a Birthday card and present for our Great Niece's 4th Birthday on Tuesday (aka tomorrow!).  I kind of got carried away working on things for Annie's "Fairy Door" and ended up really cutting it a bit fine with this week's entry to the Freshly Made Sketches Challenge - managed to post with 10 minutes to spare!

As soon as I saw the bird I knew I what I had to do! Yep, bring out my Tim Holtz stamp folder!

I teamed the Tim Holtz bird up with some Woodware Clear Magic Graffiti stamps and Crafter's Companion Walls and Corners Texture stamps.

Phew - now back to hopefully getting Annie's things assembled & finished tonight!

With Love

There was a bit of nail biting going on this afternoon watching some Six Nations Rugby. The "Auld Alliance" was put to one side with Scotland taking on France at Murrayfield. France had won the last 9 matches they've played against Scotland & it didn't get off to a great start when they scored a try within the first few minutes and it was 0-5. My heart sank a little but the Scots lads came through in the end winning 29-18 - I was exhausted just watching them by the time the final whistle blew! Next week it's Ireland at Dublin, always torn with that match, whilst I like Scotland to win, the Irish blood in me is always happy when Ireland win too!

My Maid of Honour's nephew is getting married in May next year & boy does that makes me feel old! He was at a Wedding Fayre with his Fiancée yesterday and they saw some invitations they liked. Taking ideas from the photos of the ones they like, I've offered to do something for them - new dies on order (just so happens one was already on my wish list!).  It's only going to be a small family ceremony at the local castle Balgonie, (the castle appears in episodes 13 & 15 of "Outlander") followed by a larger function at a hotel for friends in the evening. So fancy cards for daytime and simple ones for night time - plenty of time to get them done too, hopefully I'm not being too ambition in the design of the family ones!  I think my MoH is also planning to sub-contract some of her contributions to the cause - there are hints being dropped!

I'm still slowly but surely working on the cards for the Cat Rescue charity but this sinus infection I've had for the last 3 weeks has been making me rather lethargic and my get up and go definitely seems to have got up and went. Having said that the Freshly Made Sketches Challenges have been great help for design inspiration and I did manage to do some colouring in of a couple of stamps although I'm not entirely happy with the results! Originally I thought about trying a technique I saw Sheena Douglass from Crafter's Companion do using Tim Holtz Distress Inks to paint with but I don't have any watercolour paper at the moment and the cardstock I do have doesn't really like getting wet.

The stamps I've used are from the Penny Black's "Hugs" set

Can't make up my mind to submit the Hedgehogs or these Mice so I may end up trying to sneak them both in!

I Used

Cardstock

SS Pearlised - Create & Craft

White - Image Supersmooth

Stamps

Penny Black - "Hugs"

Personal Impressions - Paula Pascal Mixed Sentiments

Inks

Tim Holtz Distress Ink

Winsor & Newton Promarkers

Dinner is Poured!

The Six Nations Rugby started back this weekend and Scotland's game was against Italy. There was a lot of shouting at the TV but I am pleased to say that, at last, Scotland managed a win and hopefully this means they won't end up with the "Wooden Spoon" this year! There was even more shouting at the telly later with the England v Ireland game but unfortunately my encouragement of the Irish team was to no avail!

This week's Freshly Made Sketches Challenge gave me a few ideas and I ended up making three cards before deciding which one to go with.

Ok I admit it, I'm still playing with my Crazy Cats - well the matching Framelits arrived so a girl has just got to try them out. I did do one that's not cat related but it will be this Crazy Cat which will be this week's entry:

Dinner is Poured

This naughty cat has been trying to get the cream and has knocked over a bottle of milk to get some.

I used:

Cardstock

Ivory Linen Effect - PayPer Box

DS Striped - Trimcraft Paper Pad

Stamps & Dies

Tim Holtz Crazy Cats - Stampers Anon

Tim Holtz Crazy Cats - Sizzix Framelits

Tim Holtz Splat - Sizzix Framelits

Dyan Reavely Laugh Til You Leak - Stampers Anon

Inks

Memento - Tuxedo Black

Versafine - Onyx Black & Majestic Blue

Promarkers - Windsor & Newton

Another version I made using a Crazy Cat I felt sort of but not quite hit the brief for the Challenge but I liked it any way!

Got Catnip?

I used

CardStock

Linen Effect - PayPer Box

White 300gsm - Image Supersmooth

Stamps, Dies, Embossing Folders

Tim Holtz Crazy Cats - Stampers Anon

Tim Holtz Crazy Cats - Sizzix Framelits

Cat Sayings - Stampendous
Lillies - Darice

Inks

Memento - Tuxedo Black

Versafine - Onyx Black

Promarkers - Windsor & Newton

This last one has no cats used in it's production. Instead it's a little fishy, or rather it's a little  mermaid . . .

I used
Cardstock

Linen Effect - PayPer Box

White 300gsm - Image Supersmooth

Stamps & Embossing Folder

Little Mermaid - Woodware
Bubbles - Darice

Inks

Memento - Tuxedo Black

Versafine - Onyx Black
Tim Holtz Distress Inks

Promarkers - Letraset/Windsor & Newton

After applying the Distress Inks I splashed a little bleach on to the card to give an air bubble effect.

Krafty Poinsettia

For anyone who didn't see the Scotland v Australia Quarter Final at the Rugby World Cup - we wuz robbed! A penalty kick awarded to the Wallabies in the final minute of the match, for something they did (if Ref went to the TMO he would have seen it!) and the Aussies won by a single point. I think the whole of Scotland was gutted for those lads who gave it their all!  The way the Ref sprinted off the pitch as he was blowing the final whistle was probably the biggest clue that he knew he'd made a huge mistake - the rude so and so never even shook hands with the Team Captains!

Ah well, there's always the Six Nations to look forward to in the New year!

Still not got a lot done regarding Christmas cards but I have been experimenting using Kraft paper with clear embossing powder and came up with a poinsettia that looks like it's made from spun caramelised sugar! I decided to use it for this week's entry into the Freshly Made Sketches Challenge #208

 

 

The Christmas bauble in the background of the photos is a work in progress. I used the Darice Ivy Corner embossing folder to create a strip detail instead of a ribbon.

 

These filigree dies are lovely but all the chads that come off are a pest. I have found that putting in a poly bag (zip-lock best) and giving a sharp tap on the edge of the table frees them from the die without going everywhere. If they are still stuck within the die cut, again put it in a bag and try using one of the rotating brushes on the market seem to free them without them making a mess!

 

 

 

 

 

Cardstock

 PayPer Box - Kraft

PayPer Box - White Linen

 

Embossing Folder

Darice - Ivy Corner

 
 Dies 

Sue Wilson Creative Expressions - Filligree Poinsettia












Stamps

Magazine Freebie
 

Inks

 Versafine - Antique Sepia

Distress Ink - Evergreen Bough

HB 2 Ewe

Ah well. that'll be that then, today is the last day of Summer (what Summer?) and that's the rain on once again! It's been a rather strange season warm and wet I think sums it up best!


This week's Freshly Made Sketches Challenge certainly got me thinking about what that "Any Shape" could be and after a search through my dies I decided that I would use a fussy cut stamp instead.

 

 

 

I originally got this cute Rachelle Anne Miller "Love Ewe" stamp to go with the Lawn Fawn Hippo Birdie stamp & die set to make a Birthday card for my friend and thought it would be a nice shape to use for this design.

 

 

 

 

 

I created two backgrounds, a sky for the rectangle and a hillside meadow on the strip, using Tim Holtz Distress Inks and some torn paper masks.

 

 


Cardstock:
Image Supersmooth - White
Crelando - Blue

Stamp:
Crafter's Companion - Rachelle Anne Miller "Love Ewe"

Inks:
Memento - Tuxedo
Tim Holtz Distress Inks - Evergreen Bough, Faded Jeans

Marbles

It's hubby's Birthday today and even although I'd been planning on what cards to make, as usual I left it to the last minute to actually sit down and make them! I talked it over with our teenage son and it was decided that for his card it was to be Crazy Birds with one of Dyan Reaveley's amusing sentiments from her "Laugh Til You Leak" set. This is what I came up with:
 
 

   
 

I used the Tim Holtz "Splatters" layering stencil and Distress Inks to create the background and used my Brother Labeller to make the "Happy Birthday Dad". I used the matching Sizzix dies to cut out the birds and layered it onto the front of the card. The first half of the sentiment was added along with some coloured pearls to represent the . . .  as marbles!







 
 

 
Cardstock:
Image Super Smooth White
 
Stamps & Dies:
Dyan Reaveley - Laugh Til You Leak,
Tim Holtz Bird Crazy, Sizzix Thinlits Bird Crazy,
 
Inks:
Tim Holtz Distress Inks,
Memento - Tuxedo Black
Promarkers