Retiring

A lovely family friend of ours is retiring tomorrow,it's always difficult working out what to do for a man's card and I just couldn't find a stamp that I felt suited him (might have if I'd thought about it a bit sooner)

This is what I came up with. I used the lovely My Minds Eye, Quite Contrary papers again. The dog die cut was cut in white cardstock using a quickutz die, I coloured and shaded him using my Copic Ciao pens. The stamped image is again "Autumn Max" by Pink gem designs but I have played around with it cutting a hat for him out of felt and adding detail with Copics and replacing his conker with a hiking stick (a cocktail stick coloured brown) The ball was a flat backed
pearl which I coloured again using a red copic. The garland was made using a quickutz diamond die, cutting enough out in different shades of paper to stamp with the greeting. I folded the diamonds in half and glued them over a length of craft wire. I shaped this to fit the card and attached it around the paper before securing it to the card blank.
I think this card should suit my chicken keeping,dog walking friend! lol Thought I'd enter it for the Papertake weekly challenge which has an open theme this week and Crafty Creations open challenge this week and the Allsorts Challenge where you have to recycle something as I have "altered" my cocktail stick.
Thanks for stopping by today,
Happy crafting,
Julie x

Happy Birthday Karen !

Hi there! It's the lovely Karen at Scrapbook Sisters' birthday today,thought I'd show you the card that I sent her,nearly did a boo boo the other week when I made it as I almost posted it on here then. Glad I didn't!

Looking at the Basic Grey Challenge I realised it would qualify as an entry for Week 16. The theme for this was Tutti Frutti and as my lovely image by Pink Gem designs is called Apple Mimi and the papers are Basic Grey it couldn't have worked better! The papers are really scrummie,and are called Green at Heart I just couldn't resist buying them and have used three of the papers from the range on this card matting them onto bright pink cardstock.the lovely spotty buttons are by Papermania and the flowers are by Prima.I stamped my image using Memento Tuxedo Black ink pad and coloured Mimi with Copic Ciaos.
Hope That you've had a really lovely birthday Karen and haven't had to work too hard today.
Thanks all for stopping by,
Julie x

Double Challenge.

Hope you've had a good weekend so far and that you remembered to alter your clocks last night.
It is going to be nice not to have to close the curtains so early tonight!

Thought I'd combine a couple of challenges with this card today,firstly the Copic colour challenge where this weeks colours were;Olive,Blue Violet and Walnut. I used my Gorguss girl again for this sketch,I love the fact that her tights look best with colours you wouldn't normally think of putting together,in fact they are my favourite thing to colour! I'm sure that they still had some of this lovely stamp for sale when I popped into Scrapbook Sisters yesterday if you want to get your hands on it.
I carried on the line of the stamp with a black fine liner pen and stamped my greeting on it.
The other challenge that I'm entering this card for is the CPS 160 sketch. the sketch had a circular greeting and I chose to sit my Gorjuss girl in this position instead. The paper I've used was an off cut from my last weeks Scrapbooking class,have no idea who the papers were by but they were so lovely that I even managed to do 2 layouts in class. Most unheard of!
See you tomorrow when I can show you the card I made for the lovely Karen at Scrapbook Sisters who's birthday it is then. Hope you have a lovely day tomorrow Karen!
Thanks for stopping by,
Julie x

Mojo Monday

And she's back in the room lol ! Not wanting to let the grass grow I thought I'd get straight back in the saddle and do the Mojo Monday card sketch. What a lovely simple sketch it is too.

The tulip stamps were bought for me so many years ago that I really have no idea who it's by, it was part of a set that included lots of other flower stamps,really must dig them out and use them. Easter Wishes was my freebie stamp received when I bought another Easter Image from Pink Gem Designs.
Hope you like it,
Thanks for dropping by,
Julie x

Try,try again!

Well,here's the latest update,my laptop's still out of use but I have been given a little lesson on my daughter's so can now post my photos again,
YIPPEE!!!!!!!!!
So here is my most recent of missed card challenges,this one should have been for the Sweet Stop Sketch challenge that finished last night.

My lovely Gorguss girl was a mothers day present, which I coloured with my copics (what else?)

Apart from having to follow the sketch,the challenge was to include something fuzzy.

For this part of the challenge I used a Sizzix die through my cuttlebug to cut out two flowers from felt which I mounted onto my card using a fuzzy brad! I put a dot of glossy accents onto each flower to highlight them.

I hope to actually be able to post some challenges in advance of their closing date some time soon lol!

Thanks for stopping by,

catch you later,

Julie x

I'm not a happy bunnie,looks like I'm going to miss out on some more challenges! On the plus side though I've a few cards to share with you once the laptop's up to speed! Not sure how to download my photos onto this computer so will keep them till I'm back on mine. Please call back to check on me,
I MISS MY BLOG!
Bye for now,
Julie x

I'm Back!

Do you want the good news or the bad news? Well the good news is that my laptop is almost sorted, the bad news is I've lost the photo of the card that I'd made for a challenge for today. Can't take another either as it's already posted lol!

So just because I can't wait to get back into the swing of posting,here's the other patchwork card I made at the weekend, think I should call it "Pretty Maids all in a row". Couldn't make my mind up whether the pansies should all be the same or not so decided on almost but not quite! Can't wait to get back into entering the sketch challenges but unfortunately have some work commitments I need to do first.
Hope to catch you later today,
till then,take care,
Julie x

A bit of trouble !

I'm so not happy! am having a bit of trouble with my lap top at the moment so I'm unable to post the resent cards I've made :( I've made one for a challenge too so hoping it's fixed before the Thursday entry deadline!Fingers crossed I'll be posting photos soon,
thanks for stopping by anyway,Julie x

Patchwork

I thought I'd lost the knack today, I cut lots of squares in 2 different sizes using a Cuttlebug die,kept laying them out but for some reason I just couldn't make a card from them. Then after a little more re-arranging I remembered a technique I'd seen where you give the squares dimension so out came a foam mat and I ran the rounded lid of my pen firmly around the wrong side of the scalloped edges and the squares popped up. I placed a square foam pad in the middle of each,mock stitched around the squares and placed them around the edges of my card.

I stamped the Papermania pansies on a square of card and coloured them with toning Copics,inked around the edges and placed it in the centre of my card. I've made another card using the smaller squares that I cut,might share it with you later in the week. The lovely papers are again Jack and Jill, Quite Contrary by My minds Eye.
Hope you like it,
Thanks for stopping by,
Julie x

SSS47

Just a quick post,have made a quick entry for the Sweet Stop challenge

Was a nice sketch to follow just used up a few off cuts of paper, stamped and the lovely pansy image from a set by Papermania and coloured it using Copic Ciao marker pens. Thanks for stopping by,
enjoy your weekend,

Julie x

Scrapbooking Class

As you might know,once a fortnight I attend a scrapbooking class at Scrapbook Sisters,last weeks layout was made using Magenta's Gypsy collection papers,the Layouts prepared as examples were stunning! odd papers,certainly not my cup of tea but recovered by the expert use of them,Julie had excelled herself.I however struggled a bit with this one,wasn't paying proper attention and cut my papers a bit wrong.

Here is my layout,not as good as the examples but passable me thinks!

I did however find the papers much easier to use in my card making. See you with some cards soon hopefully.

Thanks for stopping by,

catch up soon,Julie

Challenge 31 Judy's Sketch

I know I said I'd be too busy to craft this week but the Sugar Bowl challenge just has to be done,

Who can resist a little colouring of a Gorguss Girl! I certainly can't anyway. The challenge had to include some stars,I struggled a bit with this as I just had to use the beautiful new range of papers that came in at Scrapbook Sisters by Basic Grey called Green at Heart.I'm sure you know what it's like when you just HAVE to use that scrummie piece of paper that keeps calling from the drawer! Anyway,I managed the task eventually,took a bit of searching but it was worth it in the end.
Hope you've all had a good Monday,
thanks for stopping by,
Julie x

Happy Mothers Day

I hope that all you Mum's out there have had a lovely day,I've been really spoilt!
My youngest daughter attends the regular Kid's Classes at Scrapbook Sisters and this was the project that they made at her most recent class.

Another crafter in the family, aren't I a lucky girlie! Love you lots too Amy!

I was also lucky enough to receive some crafting goodies and be treated out to coffee by my eldest.
Catch up later in the week when hopefully I've had chance to play with some of my new goodies.

Thanks for stopping by,

Julie x

Double Challenge

After my unsuccessful day yesterday I thought I'd start early with my posting today. I'm entering this card for this weeks Copic colour challenge and also this months Pink Gem sketch challenge.

The lovely papers are double sided and you'll definitely see some more cards from me using them,they are from a new range of papers in at Scrapbook Sisters by My Minds Eye and are called Jack and Jill,Quite Contrary. I love the quality of My minds Eye and I especially love the way the edge strip has the very usable strip showing the reverse of the paper.
The lovely little chap holding his flag is actually Autumn Max by Pink Gem Designs but I took away his conker and made him hold the flag instead. He doesn't seem to mind,lol. It doesn't show too well in the photo but I've taken a tip from Karen at S.S. and popped the circular greeting by rubbing around the centre using an embossing tool over a foam pad.(in my case I used the rounded edge of my glue runner) Will invest in a large headed embossing tool when they come in next!
Hope you have a lovely weekend,
thanks for stopping by,
Julie x

What a day!

I've had what I can only describe as a challenging day today,one of those days where everything seems to be against you. Still,I thought,I'll do a little challenge and found this sketch to follow but guess what, today is in fact Friday,not Thursday like I thought it was lol!

So here is the entry for the challenge that closed on Thursday evening,obviously not entered with it being Friday! As I said WHAT A DAY! I so love this cute image, it's called
Milly with chickens,and is by Pink Gems designs,as is the Easter greeting. She was so lovely to colour with my lovely Copic pens!
Tomorrow's a new day and hopefully a much better one than today so will stop my ramblings and hope that you'll call back and catch me then.
Till then,take care,
thanks for stopping by,
Julie x

Sketch Saturday

Twice in one evening,making up for the lack of posts in the week! Not really,it was just that I happened to take a quick look at this weeks Sketch Saturday challenge and noticed it was nearly identical to the card I'd made for Mum.

So before I tidied away my stash for the day I thought I'd make another quick card using some other off cuts from Wednesday's class. Luckily I'd already coloured in another pot of pansies that also happened to tone with the papers.
Hope you like it,
Julie x

What a busy week it's been so far,not much time for crafting till my fortnightly scrapbooking class last night
This week we used a range of papers by Magenta called the Gypsy collection.

Have used some of the leftovers to make a card ready for my Mum's Birthday later in the month.She loves flowers so when I saw a range of stamps by Papermania called Traditional Pansies I couldn't resist them,there are several different images and script too in the collection. I coloured them using Copic pens and cut them out using Revolution circle dies and Nestability scalloped circles. MUM was cut using the Quickutz moxi alphabet.I think she'll will love it.
Thanks for stopping by,
Julie x

I've posted a couple of cards recently that have were made using leftovers of the rather scrummie Crate Paper from a class project a while ago. Scrapbooking doesn't always come easily to me but there was just something about these papers that for once the page just flowed.

I loved the shaped paper,It was so lovely to work with. I ran my blade around the sides and inserted the centre panel then cut out some flowers from one of the other papers and arranged them around the photo.

I know that journaling is needed on layouts but I always feel that my scrawl should be hidden so I made a little slit along the lines of colours and made a tag first of acetate then another slightly shorter which I wrote my journaling on. I then cut out one of the birds from the paper and stuck him to the acetate and added my journaling tag so that it looked like it was held in the bird's feet. I then slid this between the layers of paper and added 3d glaze to the birds tail which helped to "pop" the colours. Karen and Julie of Scrapbook Sisters always come up with some beautiful layouts and sketches for us to follow, scrapbooking might not always come easy to me but the classes are always fun. I wonder what this Wednesday's class will hold, will share with you later. Thanks for stopping by this evening,

catch up later in the week,

Julie x

Lovely Clouds

Out for a little Blog Hop today I picked up this little Digi Image by Pink Gem, I liked the effect I got colouring the clouds in using my lovely Copics, just a few brushes with the cool grey and a wipe across with the blender and they look all puffy! I believe Scrapbook Sisters have just had another delivery of the Copic Ciao pens this week, must see if I can add to my collection before they sell out again, I'm sure there must be some colours that I haven't got.

The Lovely little buttons are by papermania, The papers are the Pink Parfait,forever friends collection and my most favourite flowery paper is Crate paper I believe. Hope you like it,
Thanks for stopping by,
Julie x

Whilst tidying away my stash after making the Sugar Bowl Challenge card the other evening, I found myself with die cut left overs which just happened to tone with a lovely little girl I'd been playing around colouring a while ago. Quick card I thought and here is what I came up with.

My cute little card blank was cut using my scalloped Nestability die,the ribbon and buttons from the bottom of my craft tote,a quick tap round the edges with a chalk eye,job done! All I need now is some little envelopes to put these cutie cards into. Must try my hand at envelope making!
Hope you all have a great weekend,
thanks for stopping by,
Julie x

How lovely it's been to see the sunshine today,looks like Spring is round the corner. It can't come too soon for me! Thought I'd share another of my easy cards for men tonight,same style as the black and white cards I made last month but this time I didn't put a frame around the aperture.

I cut the letters out using a sizzix alphabet through my Cuttlebug cutting two shades of each letter and gluing them together, offsetting them to form a shadow effect. I then glued these to a thin strip of acetate and attached this across the aperture.

I found some clear holographic peel offs amongst my stash and shaped the greeting around the centre. I think that the spotty paper is probably "Crate Paper" and the paper I used for the inside of the card was Bo bunny.I know I've done this style before but it's so easy to do and perfect for a boy.

Hope to see you tomorrow,

thanks for stopping by,

Julie x

The Sugar Bowl

Doing a bit of blog hopping this evening I came across another sketch challenge and being a bit of a Sugar Nellie fan I just had to enter this one! The theme is "Shabby Chic though I must admit that I hadn't realised this until I read it back through after making the card. I'm really hoping that this can class as Shabby Chic but if it doesn't that's another lesson I've learnt,"Always read instructions thoroughly!"


I'm not sure who all the papers are by but some Crate Paper and the rest are off cuts from my overflowing drawer.
Thanks for dropping by to take a look,
hope you call by again soon,
Julie x

White Rabbits

Thought I'd share my layout from my scrapbooking class last Wednesday.I'm hopeless at photographing pages though,any advice on the best way of doing it would be gratefully recieved as I think I might have to give up on posting pages and stick to cards.


The papers are lovely,I've some great leftovers that will be great for card making.They are by Making memories and the range of papers is called Flutter.


Can't believe we're in May already,where does the time go!I'll post some cards using the rest of the range some other day.
Thanks for stopping by,
Julie x