No cards

Hope you've had a good day,mine has been busy tying up all the loose ends before I start back to work tomorrow and the children return to school. I have made 3 thank you cards today and have given them tonight so It's too late for me to take decent photos of them. Note to self,always check that photos are good enough to post before the cards are given.


So as I haven't a card to show you I thought I'd show you my interpretation of last weeks scrapbooking class.The papers are "Life is good" by Echo Park.
Just a quick post from me tonight,please call by tomorrow as I've a card I'm desperate to show you. Thanks for calling by,
Julie.x

Not Mushroom On A Sunday.

I made one of these mushroom/toadstools a while ago and used it on a deco swap page and liked it so much I knew I wanted to do another some day.So when I saw a challenge for a different shaped card I thought it'd be a good excuse to make another.I think I can count this as different even though it's only an add on to a card.

The toadstool started off as 3 cream circles cut using my Cuttlebug and revolution nesting circles and 1 brown,by placing the die back over the die cuts I was able to remove sections of the circles giving nice clean lines. I used a brown sakura gel pen to roughly draw lines from the stalk area of the underside of the cap and used distress inks to give the appearance of dimension to the cream shapes. I shaped and added the stalk using a foam pad,I also shaped the "cap" and added a foam pad to the front middle edge and glue around the outside edge. My lovely Gorjuss girl is a little bird told me,which I stamped and coloured using copics,I then cut her out and sat her on top using another foam pad.
I'm going to use this for the following challenges:-
Wee Memories challenge 20,In the forest,
Allsort's week 67,From the garden or park,
Crafty Emma Challenge 1,Anything goes,
OCC colour challenge,
Mami Doodles Challenge 8,Be creative with card shape,
Stamp with Fun Challenge 73,Card for a girl,
Well,that's me for today,I hope you've had a good weekend,
thanks for stopping by,
Julie.x

If You've come here from Ikki's Cuttlebug Cupboard,you might also be interested in this Tutorial,also featured in the "Cupboard" hope you like it!.x

Walk The Dinosaur

I bought this paper a few months back with my nephew in mind,he was so into dinosaurs that I thought it'd be perfect to make his birthday card with later in the year. He's been mad on dinosaurs for ages, can name them all,tell you what they eat in fact he is so very clever I think he could win Mastermind if they were his chosen subject! Anyway,he's recently ditched dinosaurs in favour of tortoises so this freed up the My Mind's Eye paper,Stomp "Best Buddies" so I thought I'd use it to make a card for another little man I know instead.


I used the reverse of the double to cut out the 3 which I mounted onto the card using foam pads. I cut out one of the dinosaurs and placed it also using a foam pad.It doesn't show in the photo but I used 3d glaze on his eye.I always feel like I've cheated when I haven't stamped,coloured or used die cuts on my card though I don't think this card is too bad.
I'm going to use this card for:-
Challenge Up Your Life 26,Celebrations,
Anyone seen any paper with Tortoise on?
Thanks for stopping by,have a great weekend,
Julie.x

Thankyou Di.

I'd like to post a thank you to Di from "On The Cards" for giving me this blog award,isn't having a blog just the best,it allows you to spend time with people who have similar interests,checking out what they've made and picking up lots of handy tips. It doesn't matter if you're in your PJ's,your hair wants washing or the carpet needs hoovering,because the people visiting your blog have no idea.You don't even have to make them a coffee lol. I've followed Di's blog for quite a while now,she always knows where to pick up the best bargains and has numerous gift ideas to check out,so thanks Di.




I have to pass this award on to 7 blogging buddies,now this is so difficult,I don't want to offend anyone.
Scrapbook Sisters
Annika
Sue
Jeannie
Gayle
Linda
Nancy
All for different reasons but they are all places that I like to visit whilst wearing my dressing gown and drinking coffee and they never mind what time it is lol.
So now that you've read my mad drivel,remember,I'm always pleased when you visit me,I love it when you leave a comment and I really don't care what you look like but please call by again tomorrow.
Thanks for stopping by,
Julie.x
P.S. even if your not on my list,you're still all fab!

Outstanding

I thought I'd share with you a card I made yesterday for my friend's son to congratulate him on his amazing exam results. He achieved 14 A* GCSE's absolutely outstanding!


The card is made from a piece of card measuring 9"x3" and is scored twice to give 3x3"squares.The paper is June Bug by Basic Grey. The 14 small stars are punched from yellow basil and the letters were cut using Quickutz Moxi alphabet.

The star was a die cut from my stash and the A was cut using a sizzix alphabet. I used a freebie stamp for the greeting.

The boy truly is A star!!!

I'm using this card for the following challenges:-

City Crafter Challenge,Stars,

Allsorts Challenge 66, Miniature,
SS21o810 Simply Squared,

Fairy Fun Friday week 33,Punch it,

Charisma Cardz Challenge week 33,Die Cuts,

I hope you have a great day today,I've got an evening of scrapbooking tonight,I can't wait.

Thanks for stopping by today,

Julie.x

My Personal Challenge

If you're a regular visitor to my blog,you'll know how I've got a bit of an obsession going on at the mo with the Marij Rahder stamps. Well,last week I jokingly said I should set myself a challenge to use all of the images as you know what it's like,you tend to use some time and time again but never ink others. Anyway,I'm still working my way through Suzy 6 set,there's still 2 large and 5 small to use though what I'm going to use one of them on I have no idea.

The papers that I've used are still the freebie My Minds Eye ones,the teal has been in my stash for at least 6 years,I remember buying loads of it at the Papermill as it was textured and so lovely and sparkly. What do you think of the image? I stamped it and coloured it using copics,I've placed it on the card with a foam pad under the blooms and glue under the stems.The text was from a set by All Night Media a present probably more than 7 years ago,gosh now you can see how I hoard things,still I bet I'm not the only one.
I'm going to use the card for a couple of challenges before I pass it on to Sue,(check out her Blog Candy fund raiser)
JUGS47,A colour challenge,
Fab"n"Funky challenge 36,flower power.
Well, that's me for now,the sun is shining and I've piles of washing that needs doing.
Thanks for stopping by,
Julie.x

On The Bottle.

I thought I'd share with you today the card that I've made for a friend's birthday, his favourite tipple is Rioja, this is the closest I could find to it. I have no idea who the stamp is by,I swapped some images with a friend at Scrapbooksister's last crop,there's another taking place on the 18th September,it's such a great way to spend a Saturday,I'm really looking forward to it.

The image was stamped onto white card which I distressed using Tim Holtz Antique linen. I used Copics to colour the image but I really feel I could do with more practice as I'm not entirely happy with it. I used 3d glaze on the wine glass,I love the look it's given,sets it apart from the bottle.The greeting is stamped using Woodware's Jane's script.
I found a sketch to follow, the image was rather large and it was tempting to just matt it but I wanted something a bit more interesting,

Create 4 Fun Challenge 34,Birthday,
Creative Inspirations Challenge 74,Wednesday Sketch,was perfect for it.
I'm also entering the following challenge,
Character Cafe,Friday Feature 29,Dimensional Glaze.
I hope you have a nice week planned,for me it's the last full week before I return to work and the children go back to school and college,I intend to make the most of it.
Thanks for stopping by,
Julie.x

Almost A Sunday Quickie

Morning,hope you are having a leisurely start to your day. This card was almost a Sunday Quickie,maybe took a little longer than my usual quickie cards but it was definitely a quick easy design. I have fulfilled my personal challenge to use another in my Suzy 6 set by Marij Rahder,isn't she fab! The lovely Sue over at "I Can't Draw But I Can Do This" has got an appeal going in exchange for blog candy,she is asking for cards with a teal colour scheme to sell to help raise money for Ovarian Cancer Research.I have made this card for her worthy cause,you have till the 22nd of September to help with this appeal,Sue would be stoked if you would join in.

I have had a quick look on Feline Playful and found a few challenges to use it for,this is a great blog where Karen makes finding challenges easy.

Papertake Weekly week 46,Sketch,
Stamping For The Weekend 45,Anything goes,
Crafty Calendar August, Sketch,
That's all for today folks,thanks for stopping by,have a great day,
Julie.x

Yippee!!!

Just a quick post to share my news,check out my side bar,I've actually won a competition over at The Crafty Pad,I can't work out how to shrink the badge to fit though,if anyone can help me I'd love to know.
Hope you call back tomorrow as I've cards to show.
Thanks for stopping by,
Julie.x

Colour Yourself Happy

Strange title today but that is exactly what I did last night. I got out a favourite male stamp and my Copics and remembered why I got into making cards in the first place. I think I'd lost that somewhere trying to do too many challenges as I wanted to improve my blog rating. Anyway,I'm going to give myself a break and do what I like to do,just make cards and if there are any challenges that happen to fit in,all well and good.

I love this stamp,yes it's another by Marij Rahder,set Suzy 6,maybe I should set myself a challenge and make more cards showing you the remaining stamps in the same set,they really were value for money and there are still several that I haven't inked up yet.I did end up sort of following Mercy's sketch but used the motorbike to represent one of the sections and instead of adding a circle layer I cut an aperture instead. I put mirri card on the inside of the card just cos I liked it.The tag I found in my stash.

Stamps R Us Challenge 2,All Male.
MTSC 87,sketch.
Sweet Stamping Challenge 39,use your favourite stamp.
That's me for today,my daughter has a kite that wants flying,a trip to the park has been promised.Sorry I can't help myself,need to share a funny thing from yesterday first. Yesterday afternoon my daughter and I had a few minutes to spare before picking up my son so we stopped by the park where we saw the funniest thing,there in the middle of the field was a mature man,smartly dressed in collar and tie as if he'd stopped off on route from the office. He proceded to spend half an hour laying out a huge canopy kite from time to time on his mobile,it was so amusing to watch as he kept attempting to fly it.Every so often he sucedded to get the kite to take off but then had to spend ages laying it out again with one hand,mobile phone in the other.If only he'd had a child with him or was dressed casually it wouldn't have looked so funny,but then a younger man arrived (not with him) who also had a kite,his took off at first attempt. It doesn't seem funny now I've written it down a case of "you had to be there" but we were in stitches.
Looks like good kite flying weather today so maybe we'll see them today,
Thanks for stopping by my happier than yesterday blog,Have a great day
Julie.x

HELP!!!!!

I don't think I can do this anymore, with going on holiday I didn't craft for nearly 3 weeks and I think I've lost the ability. What does everyone else do I wonder, when their creativity is stunted? I think that the real problem is that I'm not getting the time to just play,you know,the just cos I want to time,when accidents happen that really work! (Have I lost you here?)
Anyway,I've still got a few cards to make that I need to make for birthday over the next week or so and then I think I'm going to have some real playing time.



I'm really not sure about this card,I followed the Sweet Sunday sketch 81,I thought I could do it but I don't know if it's the paper or what but I feel it's off balance. I tried laying other papers etc. around it,asked my daughter who's got a good creative eye,what she thought but she dissagreed and said it was fine as it was.(I'm still not convinced)
The Image is another from my trusty Marij Rahder sets,Suzy 6 again today,I stamped it and coloured it with copics I had to cut it out as I managed to use a corner punch wrong,missing part of it,there was no other way to rescue it but to mount it and in fact I think it's better raised on a foam pad,not that it shows in the photo lol!

I used clippunches to cut the flowers,I've had these for nearly 5 years and think I've only used them once.You have to punch the slots then cut the flower out around it. The rather colourful paper (which I think caused most of my problem) is salsa Celebration paperz by Junkitz,it's remnant from a class kit from ages ago. I'm using this card for the following challenges:-

SSSC81,Sketch,

Alphabet Challenge,P is for punches,

YNS challenge 23,Bold,Bright,Summery,

Lets hope I do better with my next card!

Thanks for stopping by and reading my non stop ramblings today,hope it hasn't put you off dropping by tomorrow,

Julie.x

Another Busy Day

What a beautiful morning,the sun's shining and it's definitely warmer than it was yesterday.The day that the children return to school is looming and I still have a few bits of uniform shopping to do so that is my challenge of the day. Thought I'd do a quick post whilst the family get themselves sorted out.


My lovely niece has recently got engaged so I thought I'd share the card that I made for them. The stamp is from the set by Marij Rahder, Suzy 6 I stamped the birds using Tuxedo black Momento ink then used the little hearts in the set above them.I glittered and used 3d glaze on the hearts and used distress inks and glitter around the edges. The papers were My mind's Eye freebies. I love the way the sun has hit the gems that I added in the photo.
The challenges I am using it for are:-
CPS 180 sketch challenge,
Crafty Catz challenge 45,animals,
I can hear the children are not getting ready so I best finish off here and gee them up.
Thanks for stopping by,
Julie x

Daughters,You've Got To Love Em!

"Mum,can you make me a card? " came the plea at 1 o'clock this afternoon,"I'm not going out till 3!" So not needing an excuse to craft I set about making this card,I even liberated some of the Basic Grey chip board numbers that I usually only use as templates,didn't have time to let glaze dry so instead spread them with a thin layer of stickles once I had covered them.


I've taken a couple of photo's so hopefully it shows how lovely and sparkly they turned out. I also added some of the lovely papermania self adhesive flat back gems,there wasn't enough of one colour or size to make each scallop the same but they do say variety is the spice of life.They are so lovely that I just can't resist them.I decided to make the centre in a tag style,raising it on foam tape and adding some ribbon.

I was even able to fulfill the requirements of a couple of challenges with it.

Challenge up Your Life challenge 26,Celebration,

A Pocket Full Of Posies Challenge 4,All that glitters,

The Crafty Pad challenge 84,Glitz and Glitter,

Die Cut Dreams Challenge 61,Use a tag,No stamping,

I even managed to make another card for her to give her friend from us in time.

My daughter ended up not going out till 4pm. and guess what,she left the cards on the worktop

even though I reminded her as she put her boots on,I should have known better and placed them in her hand lol!

Thanks for stopping by,

Julie.x

Sunday Quickie

HAPPY SUNDAY!!!!
Sorry that I've been neglecting everybody,I've been relying on some scheduled posts as I've been away for a few days. Now that I'm back I'll try to get around to visiting all of my lovely blogging buddies and pick up on a few challenges,thanks to everyone whose still be dropping by. I can't believe how two weeks without any challenges has affected my Crafty Blog rating,I was rather disappointed to see that it's now 460 when I was just over 200 before I went away :( Still now that I'm back I'm going to be get cracking entering as many as I can.



This challenge was perfect for a Sunday Quickie,a technique that I've never heard of before called Spotlighting,Challenge 12 at Tuesday Throwdown, you just highlight an area of the card that you want to emphasise. in the case of this card it was the Forget-me-knots that the bear is watering. I then just added some flat backed self adhesive gems and a peel off greeting,in fact it was several words that I doctored with a craft knife to make it say Forget-me-knot. I couldn't make up my mind whether to make a play on words and spell it not instead.
Thanks for dropping by,I'm off to catch up with some birthday cards I need for this week and hopefully do a few challenges at the same time.
Catch you later,
Julie.x

Happy Birthday!!!

Our lovely Daughter turns 18 today,how time flies,I thought I'd share with you the card that I've made for her.




Everywhere you look in shops at the moment there is owl jewelery and my daughter is obsessed with it! I'm sure she's keeping the trend going! I searched for the right image and couldn't find the right one till I saw this. It's a RAK from a from my friend one of her origional designs, the extremely talented Gayle Bond. I coloured him using Copics,used 3D glaze on the beak and the eyes and brown stickles on the wings.





I covered the numbers with paper then 3D glaze. The image was so impressive that nothing other than a ribbon was needed,I hope she likes it!
I'm off to help her celebrate!Happy Birthday Honey Bunnie.xxx
Thanks for stopping by,
Julie.x

Another layout

Yes,as I predicted,no time to craft so I'm showing you a class layout.


I'm afraid I have no idea who the papers are by but they were great for a male layout.
I distressed the edges of the twill printed ribbon,and photo using a brown chalk eye.
Hopefully I'll soon get some time to craft.
Thanks for stopping by,
Julie.x

Quick Post

Just a quick post as I've lots to do today. I just love these Prima flowers for a quick card,here I've layered 3 to compliment the papers. I love this button,it looks just like a Werthers Origional lol! I've used some of the peel off corners from my long forgotten stash and also used some scrummie self adhesive flat backed gems.



Thanks for stopping by,I said I'd be quick,
Julie.x

Blast From The Past.

Here is a class layout that I completed some time ago. I so loved the scalloped circle bazzil, the arrows were sizzix die cuts which were embossed to make them glossy.




I added a pull out tag to journal on between the layers of bazzil addind ribbon to pull it out with.



The edges were inked and mock stitched.
Thanks for stopping by,have a lovely day,
Julie.x

Sunday Quickie

This is a layout I made in my Scrapbooking class a couple of weeks ago. The class layouts were stunning but I hadn't any suitable photos with me so instead chose to use this photo with the papers and make the class ones at a later date.











My husband printed out this A4 photo testing out his new printer and these papers cried out to me to use them with it.I just added a strip of the paper,added the flourishes, stamped and cut out the flowers and arranged them down the edge of my photo.










The gems were coloured to compliment the papers using Copics.

That was quick,leaving me plenty of time to play with my Copics and chat with my lovely scrapbooking friends.

Thanks for stopping by,

Julie.x