Sketch Saturday 100

Hope you're all enjoying the nicer weather that we've been having this week,I've been lucky enough to have spent at least half of each working day this week out in the fresh air,beautiful!
I've had such a busy week so far,not much time for crafting,tonight however I decided to shut my eyes to what needed doing and have a little me time doing something I wanted to do!

So here it is,the card I made for the Sketch Saturday Challenge 100. The image is another from set 5 Suzy Marij Rahder stamps,such a fun image,I really had my niece in mind when I bought this set as she does synchronised swimming and there's several images in the set that will be great to use to make cards for her.However I couldn't possibly wait till November to use it for her birthday card so I've christened it tonight on a card for a friends birthday in a couple of weeks.Forgive me for not waiting till the Stickles had dried,wanted to post before bedtime.
Thanks for stopping by,
happy crafting,
Julie x

Home at last!

Well,a couple of day's away turned into 10 days stranded in Spain,might sound good to some but unfortunately the weather was rather wet. How I wish I'd known in advance,I'd have taken my Copics and a few stamps with me! Still home at last and our adventures weren't half as bad as some I've heard of.
Now this is a card I'd made for the birthday of a work colleague,unfortunately it was earlier in the week but I'm sure he'll forgive me for giving it late.


Don't you just love this stamp! it's from set 5,Suzy by Marij Rahder,I treated myself to 3 sets from the range at Scrapbook Sisters before I went away when they had the full range of 6 sets available. Do check them out as the images are amazing and suitable for men,women and children.The images are a good size this boat alone measures around 11.5cm x 9cm and there are 13 images in this set, at £9.73 it's certainly good value for money. I added the boat's name using Peel off letters and used stickles on the waves.
Thanks to everyone that visits my little blog, I've so missed keeping up with it over the last 10 days and hope that I get the time to catch up with all the blogs that I usually visit regularly.
Thanks for stopping by,
it's good to be home!
Julie x

Scrapbooking

Haven't any time to make cards this week so instead I'm going to share a couple of my recent layouts from my fortnightly scrapbooking classes. I'm not sure who the papers are by but they are so lovely. I have used 4 of the papers here it doesn't show on these photos but they all have some glittering on them.

They are just gorgeous papers don't you think?

I love the dimension you can get by off setting two shades of flowers nearly on top of one another. I also "popped" the centres of the flowers by punching a circle of paper then with the colour side down I held it in the curled palm of my hand and moved the rounded lid of a pen round and round the centre which gradually shapes the centre. I then mounted it using a tiny foam square.

The frame was made using one of the lovely templates that are available at Scrapbook Sisters .

If you haven't checked out their blog for a while,their "shoe challenge"closing date has been extended to the 30th of April. I for one am pleased about this as I haven't had chance to finish mine. Why not take a look and have a go!

Thanks for stopping by,

happy crafting,

Julie x

A Pint of Milk

Doing a bit of blog hopping is such a great thing to do. I love seeing what people from all over the world are up to and leaving comments on their work,lets face it,we all like to hear what fellow crafters think of our creations. You can find some great ideas and adapt them to suit your needs. I like to let people know if I've followed any tips,sending them links to things I've made.

Before Easter I found this neat little idea on a blog called "On The Cards"where someone had made these brilliant little cartons to put sweets into. I held it in my memory bank and decided to use it as a gift box for the make up items my daughter is giving for a friend's Birthday

I wrapped a strip of paper around the box first and then embossed a strip of white card using an embossing folder I scored this 1mm bigger than the edges of the box.I brushed the embossed area with a chalk eye and added stickles and punched flowers on to this before placing it around the box.

The large flower was cut using a sizzix die the large gem that I used in the centre comes from Paperchase,as does the peg that I used to hold the box shut.
If you follow the link you can find details of how to make these boxes.I adjusted the measurements to make a slightly larger box than was shown, using an A4 piece of card. If anyone would like to know the measurements that I used I will post a photograph of the template I made.

They are so easy to make,let me know if you have a go so I can visit your blog, I love a bit of blog hopping.

Thanks for stopping by,

have a great weekend,

Julie.x

Hello Sunshine!

The Sun is out,
the sky is blue,
My Laptops back,
as Good as new!
It is mended,
It's got a brand new part!
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Who'd have thought Leo Sayer would inspire me this morning lol!
I am soooo happy,
Happy Saturday everyone!
Julie x

New Baby

I'm really pleased how this card turned out,I know it's simple in design but I just love it.

The cute Giraffe is a stamp from Pink Gem Designs,I stamped him onto white card stock using Memento Tuxedo Ink (now in stock at Scrapbook Sisters) I coloured him using Copics and then used my Revolution Nesting circles,I used the clever little trick that I found on "The Animal Factory" blog where you leave part of the image uncut so that it stays outside of the circle.Can't explain it very well but hopefully you can follow the link where the technique is explained beautifully. I then used Nestabilities to cut a scalloped circle in blue.The name was cut using the sizzix Alpha bubble dies.The card stock,blue ribbon and Woodware greetings stamps were also from Scrapbook Sisters.
Congratulations to Lisa and Justin on the latest addition to your family!
Hope you like the card,
thanks for stopping by,
Julie

Double Challenge

Second and final visit of the day,this time with the other male card I made yesterday. Same stamp I know but I can get away with that,can't I?

I followed The Shabby Tea Room Week 4 challenge,Embrace the white, making a card with a mainly white theme,you were able to use one other colour along with the white,obviously I chose to add green using My Minds Eye Quite Contrary paper. The Sketch Challenge that I followed is Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge M.T.S.C.68. I will definitely use this sketch again on a girlie card as it was so nice to do.
That's all for today folks!
Thanks for stopping by,
catch you later in the week,
Julie x

Missed again?

Seems to be the story with me and challenges lol.I made this card for the CPS161 challenge,hadn't noticed that it had finished:( Never mind,it helped me to get another of those male cards made!

Sorry for the very odd angles on these photos,if anyone can give me any tips on how to photograph mirricard I'd be most appreciative I didn't want to scare you all with my reflection!

It's so hard to get the silver to show up too.Anyway,I followed the sketch,used a cuttlebug embossing folder to create the silver section and used the sizzix "Alpha Bubbles" through the cuttlebug to create the name. Tried altering the colour of my peel off with my black Copic,it worked but took a lot longer to dry than a permanent marker does,must have a root through my stash to locate one!

Will be back later to post the other card for a challenge I made yesterday,don't want to miss another deadline!

Have a great day,

Julie x

P.S.Great news,just checked again and I think I've made the deadline!!!

The waiting game!

Had to spend the day at home today waiting for "The" Laptop to be collected for repair so thought I'd use my time wisely doing non noisy things so that I wouldn't miss the door bell. Of course,I could have chosen to do ironing but that might pose as a danger,leaving an unmanned iron to answer it! (that's my excuse anyway) lol ! Much safer to spend the day crafting. The only trouble is that all my girlie projects are up to date leaving a long list of men's cards still to do :(

Thought I'd find a few challenges to do whilst I tackled them. The card I'm showing this evening is following the Sweet Sunday Sketch challenge 63, haven't managed to submit one for this before as I usually forget that this one closes on a Thursday evening so I miss the deadline. The Just for Ewe I bought years ago ,forgot I'd got it,I thought I could use this for a man's card. I used my C1 Copic to get some shape into the image and used the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder to emboss the white strip of card. The Papers are My Minds Eye Quite Contrary which I've used along with some bright green card stock. That's one off my list,will show you the others through the week,will be hitting a few more challenges along the way too!
Forgot to say,4pm came and I received a phone call to say that "The" Laptop collection had not been booked,have now got to spend another day tomorrow waiting to hear the door bell. Card making or course work????? I really cant decide!!!
Thanks for stopping by,
Julie x

Happy Birthday!

It's my son's 14th Birthday today and as he's on a ski trip with his school I wanted to make him a card appropriate for the occasion.

I'm not sure who the papers were by as they are leftovers from a class scrapbook kit,was very pleased when I spied them in my drawer. Have used my very useful Autumn Max from Pink Gem designs again but hand cut some skis for him to hold to replace the conker (one of these days I'll make a card using the full image as it is so lovely) The sign post was on one of the papers so I added his name to it and stamped Have a Happy Day on the swing board below. I mounted it onto the card using foam pads. I hope he likes it,it's his first day of skiing today,hope he is so looking forward to it.
Thanks for stopping by today,
enjoy your day,
Julie x

Mojo Monday 132

Back again, bringing my entry for the Mojo Monday challenge that finishes tonight. Bit late but think I'll make it by the skin of my teeth lol!

Now that I've discovered how to make envelopes for my little nestie cards,(see my post from earlier today) there'll be no stopping me from making them! The lovely little image was a present from my sis-in-law and is by imaginisce,Snag'em Stamps,Scooter because of my Husbands love of them. Hope you like it!
That's all for today folks,(Thanks for your photo tips Julie of Scrapbook Sisters)
Bye,
Julie x

Nestability Envelope

If you had any idea how long this has taken me to make this post you would wonder why I hadn't given up! The reason that I haven't given up is that I am so excited to share this that I couldn't possibly wait another day to get advice from my blogging friend! I CAN'T WAIT TO GET MY OWN LAPTOP BACK! I hate having to rely on family members to show me,technophobe ,where my uploaded photos are hiding on this flipping computer!!!!!!!

I found a brilliant little blog the other day called "On The Cards"
I do hope that my attempts to link to it work out as she collects all number of crafty ideas together,adapts them and links you to them.Anyway,today she posted these cute little packets which she filled with choccie bunnies,I couldn't wait to have a try. When I folded my square of paper into the diaper fold that was demonstrated,I realised that at last I had found a fantastically simple solution to my problem of finding an envelope for the Nestability cards that I'm so fond of making.

To make an envelope to fit the largest size of the Nestability scalloped circle you have to start with a 11" square of paper,when the diaper fold is completed (please refer to the link) I folded over the two triangles of paper like the flap on an envelope and scored them I then re opened the triangles and trimmed off the front triangle leaving a small front edge which I then used my Martha Stewart punch along.I will use my glue runner or strips of double sided tape to seal my envelope.

The triangle that I removed I glued inside the back triangular flap to make the liner to my envelope flap. I then used the next size down scalloped circle to cut a circle for the front of my envelope to write the address on.

Thankyou so much Diane of On The Cards I am very pleased to be able to share this Idea with everyone that visits my blog.
Happy Easter everyone,I do hope that you are able to follow my addaptation to make this handy envelope,

Thanks for stopping by,

Julie x

Happy Easter

Am feeling a little sad tonight, my baby boy has gone on a ski trip with his school. The worst thing is that he will be away for his 14th birthday on Monday.

That meant that the Easter Bunny came to visit our house early this year so that his little sister would have company collecting all the mini eggs hidden around the house.He's such a lovely brother and was happy to keep her company!
Have taken a photo of the card I made for him so hopefully I'll be able to share it with you either tomorrow or Monday.
I don't always get round to making Easter cards but got a bit carried away with colouring Tulips for my Mojo Monday card last week so ended up making 6 of these easy cards to save them going to waste,simple but effective,was quite happy with the result too.
Happy Easter,
Eat lots of chocolate tomorrow,
Thanks for stopping by,
Julie x