New look...

Woohoo!! I have tried on HUNDREDS of blog backgrounds in the past 18 mths since I first stepped into Blogland, and never found one I was 100% happy with, but this one is just perfect!! I love it! Don't you?

It is courtesy of Karen, the Background Fairy... So talented and generous. Thank you, Karen!

Roses Roses..

More of the same, really! Sorry to be boring.. I did warn you, you would get fed up with this style before I do! ;o)

For a colleague's 50th birthday coming up soon...

Bazzill cardstock, white panel in the centre Cuttlebugged with the Swiss Dots embossing folder
Roses stamp.. PSX, I think
Butterfly and frame: K&Co Die-Cuts, 'Madeline'
Plus pearls, roses, twine and a pink dew drop

Oh! And here's the baby... an ATC on the same theme... ahhhh...

Aren't crafters lovely people?

My thanks to Brenda, Allison and Chris in Oz who all responded to my appeal for the luscious stamp in the previous post, and I now have an offer of some stamped images, AND a stamp swap!! How cool is that? I couldn't be happier.. except that I have now discovered a myriad more arty collage stamps on Chris' blog gallery that I now HAVE TO HAVE!!!

What's that commandment.. Thou shalt not covet thy fellow crafter's stamps? Phshaw!! I'm coveting! I'm coveting!

(sigh) It's never ending, isn't it? lol ;o)

Cash for Images...

This one to be precise. If you read my earlier post, you'll know I am desperately seeking stamping heaven with this gorgeous creature, but the wretched woman is discontinued. I mean, for goodness' sake, if it ain't broke, why fix it? I'm sure this lovely stamp would just keep selling and selling and selling... don't you agree? Yes, I can see you nodding from here.

Still, the powers that be having their heads in cloud cuckoo land made this daft decision, so I am stuck with having to beg and grovel... and pay cash if I have to. (Well, Paypal anyway.)

Is there anyone out there experiencing a temporary loss of sanity who has a copy of this stamp in good condition and is willing to part with it for some morsels of moolah? Or ~ failing that ~ anyone who would flog me some stamped images? Eh? Pretty please? Eh? Eh?

Does anyone recognise this stamp?

Hi, all.. This gorgeous image was one that I had received in an image swap, ages ago, and I don't recall who it came from. It was cropped for use on this ATC, but I have decided that I NEEEEEED it and would love to track it down.

If you recognise it and you know what it's called or who it's by, please would leave me a comment? I'll send the first person who replies with enough info for me to find it some stamped images from it. (Or if you have it already, I'll send some of my other stamp images.)

Thank you! :o)

UPDATE

Thank you, Brenda, for the info. I have spent hours this afternoon trawling through websites where I thought she might be found... Stamp Francisco, Stampland Chicago, Lost Coast, Third Coast, coast to coast, Split Coast and all points in between, lol!! And then Brenda's message arrived, and with the maker and serial number, I was able to find the name of the stamp through Google... but nowhere that has it available. In desperation, I tried Addicted to Rubber Stamps, and sure enough.. there she was.... discontinued!!! Waaaaahhhhh!! :o(

My last resort is to post a 'Want It Now' post on Ebay, offering cash for the stamp or, failing that, some stamped images.

Fingers crossed.

For all my American visitors..

Flying High..

I am a HEEUUGGEE UB40 fan, particularly Ali Campbell, of course, and treasure my memory of when our eyes locked for a brief moment when we passed on the stairs at the Fighting Cocks in Birmingham one New Year's Eve back in the 80s, at a Solid Vibes gig... when we were both young and pretty!

The new Ali Campbell CD, Flying High, is due out on Monday, but my daughter pre-ordered it for my birthday and it arrived this morning.. Yayyy!! Love the album. There are some fantastic tracks on there.

I have been trying to figure out how to embed You Tube videos on here, so you could get a flavour of the CD, but it's beyond me! I'm afraid you'll have to click on THIS link if you want some big Ali love..

Enjoy!

Birthday Thanks

Hi, all..

Just wanted to thank Allison, Lythan and Ruth for my lovely handcrafted birthday cards! They were totally unexpected, as I've been such an awful blogger in recent months, I don't feel I deserve it!

Thank you so much, ladies. I was really touched. :o)

(Will post some pics next time I get the camera out.)

Auntie's card...

On Sunday, Karen and I drove with my mum and the dawg over to Burton-On-Trent (Branston, to be precise), to take my Aunt out for lunch, and we went to a pub in the village.. The Gate... and had a fab Sunday lunch. Really good, but far too MUCH!! Phew! Talk about stuffed!

Any road up, this is the quick and simple card I made for her in a bit of a rush while Karen was out for her run on Saturday. (Checkout the post below for info about that.)

Pretty straight forward, so I won't insult your intelligence by listing the items, except to mention that I treated myself to a new font for making my own greetings (like this one). The font is called 'Cezanne'. I have always loved this style, so it was worth it. £13 from ITC Fonts. You can try it HERE.

Girl On The Run...

My daughter, Karen, visited me at the weekend, but I was forewarned that she would need to go for a run. And run she did! She is in training for running a 10k race on 12th July. Her charity is the Cambodia Trust. She was inspired to do something when she saw for herself recently the horrors of life out there. For more information, you can visit the Cambodia Trust website HERE.

If you feel moved to sponsor her, follow THIS link, but please don't feel any obligation. I'm just blogging about it because I am proud of her, for both her compassion and her achievement. :o)

Karen in my living room, about to go for her run

... a mere 5k today.

Nice website design guru

A colleague at work has started a business offering smart, simple and inexpensive websites for individuals and start-up businesses. At £125, they're excellent value, and George is a really nice man.. an old-fashioned gentleman, with the greatest Geordie accent! Wa-ay, man!

If you are considering getting a website, you should check him out.. HERE.

Prue's Card

Card for my non-blogging friend, Prue (I know.. she spells it with an 'E' on the end)... Birthday tomorrow. Hope it arrives in time!

Some of it is a bit dejà vu from the previous card, but you will probably get fed up with that look before I do! lol ;o) I luuuurrrvvvveee it!

You wouldn't recognise it under the flourish stamping and Craft Planet glitter glue coating, but the letters are made with K & Co paper, printed using Wordart in MS Word and enlarged. Inked around the edges with dark brown Chalkeyes, then mounted on green Bazzill cs.. also with inky edges. The flourish stamp makes another appearance (or two) on the background.

The sentiment is a Lisa Bearnson font from a CD-Rom that came with a book purchased through QVC some time ago. It looks just like a Dymo label, but I'm not sure you'd get one in that colour!

The butterfly is a Cuttlebugged embossing die that I have chalked, inked and cut out. It looks flat in the photo, but it is shaped and raised off the card.

Thanks to everyone who has visited my blog and left a message. It's lovely to get your feedback. :o) You're a lovely bunch, and it's been wonderful coming over to visit you all as well!

Grunge Butterfly

I am not usually satisfied with my cards, and they have to 'grow on me', but at the risk of seeming immodest, I am really pleased with this one, and keep looking at it! lol ;o) I have always admired the style of our Scandinavian crafting cousins. There's something about that ultra-feminine-but-grungy look that I love, and that's what I was aiming for.

It is for a lady at work who is leaving this week. I know she makes cards, so it had to be something special! I hope she likes it, as this is one I will have trouble parting with!


Products used:

Cezanne font & brown pen
Tim Holtz's distress inks: Antique Linen and Brushed Corduroy
Chalk Eyes ink: Creamy Brown
Border stamp from Stempelglede's Grunge Collection
Hero Arts script stamp
Fontwerks harlequin stamp
Inkadinkado flourish stamp
Cream lace
Cuttlebug embossed butterfly
Brown twine
Pearl spray
Paper roses & leaves

The tide recedes..

Sadly, I have had occasion to make a sympathy card for someone I work with who lost their mum last week. I would be in bits, I know, so my heart breaks for her.

I love this poem, and it lends itself so beautifully to this purpose. The first two lines are printed on the front, and the rest of the poem on the inside front of the insert. It's a very quick and simple design, with the shells stamped on a piece of the same crisp, white card (from http://www.madaboutcards.com/), using graduated blues from a Kaleidocolor inkpad and then painted with iridescent Craft Planet glitter glue. The panel is then simply mounted on foam pads.

The tide recedes, but leaves behind

bright seashells on the sand.

The sun goes down, but gentle warmth

still lingers on the land.

The music stops, and yet it echoes on

in sweet refrains...

For every joy that passes,

something beautiful remains.

~ Author unknown ~

Hugs,

Man's Birthday Card

This is my brother-in-law's birthday card. Getting better, I think, although I can see more that could have been done to it. However, it is winging its way across the fens to Ramsey as I write, so my brilliant observations are a case of twenty-twenty hindsight, I'm afraid. I can see that I would have added a gold mini brad or two, and some glimpses of vintage images stamped across the striped paper... which is all BG, by the way, decorated with some old buttons from my old button box, one of which didn't look old enough.. until I distressed it a bit. Well, you'd be distressed if someone wanted to soften your edges with a nasty raspy file! The green paper was also Cuttlebugged a bit.




Hugs,

WOW!

Well, I have to admit there was a teary sparkle in my eye... I honestly did not expect more than a couple of hellos when I re-opened my comments. I am truly blessed by the warm welcome back you've given me! Thank you so much for all your lovely comments. I have (re)started as I mean to go on, and have been to visit all your blogs to thank you personally.. where that has been possible, as there are a couple of you who don't appear to have blogs or email addresses to write to.

I made a couple more cards last night, so will be blogging them this evening, but have to shoot out to run a couple of errands, and will attend to them when I get back.

Back soon!

Hugs,

Comments Re-opened!

At least, I think they are... I hope they are... and I promise, I will try to be a better blogger.

Twice in One Day.. MUST be a holiday!!

For my niece's birthday. She is 22 today, and has just returned to her Mencap college in Northumbria. (She has Down's syndrome.) Hope you're having a great day, sweetie!

This card also shows I am out of practice, I think. Needs something by the heart. Maybe some gems or another rosehead, perhaps. I generally avoid stamped images that have to be coloured in, as I am rubbish at it, but it's not too bad. 'Cept the hair. Haven't invested in Copics yet, and didn't think Prismas would be easy to manage, so I watercoloured it.

Inside the card, there is a holder for a money note, as buying for Laura is a bit like buying for a man... I never know what would be the right thing, and her parents always make sure she lacks nothing, so it's a toughie.

Anyway, I hope she likes it. The papers are Basic Grey Cupcake, by the way.

TTFN,

I don't believe it!!!

Yes! I made a card!! Woohoo! Actually, I'm not very happy with it, but my mum seems happy, and she commissioned it, so who am I to argue? It's for her next door neighbour's 60th, and apparently it's a perfect match with the party invitation, so 'twas obviously meant to be!

The brief was black & silver, so I ran the Cuttlebug Divine Swirls embossing folder through my Big Shot with a piece of black card, distressed the edges a bit, and roughly rubbed an Encore metallic silver inkpad over the surface to pick out the swirls and add to the distressed appearance. I used a flourish stamp underneath the panel (which I raised on black foam), and I think it's that part that I don't like... the flourishes, I mean. Was done in a hurry, and it shows. Not much thought or design gone into it. Ah well.
Used an embossed silver punched heart in the middle of the black flower, a couple of pearl sprays and some pinched ribbon bows tucked in behind. Also suspended a crackled-glass heart bead from the flower, as well. The double spiral clip and the silver foiled sentiment (Craftwork Cards, I think) were from some blog candy.

Well, thank you for popping by! I will be back with a couple more cards very, very soon.. I hope! :o)

Enjoy your bank holiday!

Desperate and sooo jealous!

Oh, do you know how much I ACHE to be doing what most of you seem to be doing most of the time... making cards and blogging? This longing has been growing and growing and has reached a point now where it can no longer be ignored. I HAVE to find away to make this work and find a balance with work so I can make some cards again, and open my blog comments up again and start commenting on others. There has to be a way. Envy is a sin, but I have to confess that I am so very jealous of those of you who have all day to indulge your crafty cravings, whether just for fun or for a business. (sigh) (groan) Aaaaaaaaaaaargggghhhhhhhhh!!

So.. now I've had a good whinge, it's time to take action... what's to be done about it? Well, I have bought some additional storage for my craft room, swept away the cobwebs, blown the dust off my rubberstamps/brads/ribbons/primas/papers and started clearing the debris from my craft desk. I am committed to making a couple of cards for my mum tonight for a friend of hers, and I have my niece's birthday coming up on Monday, so there is NO CHOICE! I WILL be making cards tonight!! Woohoo!! :o)

Can't wait to get back in the swing! See you all again SOON! Yayyyy!

Love n'hugs,