Must Try Harder!

I so wanted to make an amazing card today,I should have started crafting first thing but you know what it's like,there's always something that needs doing ,the boring mundane necessary things. Crafting got put on the back burner,till late afternoon when I got out my stash. Why did I bother......thought I'd show you anyway,but this is definitely not what I had in mind.

I cut out all of the squares and the little flowers using the Cricut,inked the edges and mounted them onto a square of white card,now this was going to go onto the front of a rectangular card with a neat scalloped edge at the bottom,but no mater what I did it just wasn't going to look like the picture I had in my head. The square aperture was a final result,it's ok but I didn't want ok today,I wanted FABULOUS!!!! I added some prima flowers to the front along with some sizzix cut leaves and used some of the tiny papermania buttons on each of the little flowers.Even the photo didn't come out right,there's stickles between each of the squares and the Prima flower is nearer to the shade of the paper than it looks here,it's just not my day lol!
I'm hoping I can find some challenges for it,

Paper Pretties,Square card,
Simon Says,Punch em,
A Spoon Full Of Sugar 127,Let's get punchy,
Lexi's Creations 25,Birthday,
Found 4,that's not so bad,something else I feel I must share with you,whilst rummaging through my paper drawer,I fond the piece of paper that I'd "put safe" for this weeks challenge at Scrapbook Sisters,as this weeks challenge is "Tic Tock" it would have been perfect as it's got clock faces all over it. Any body fancy entering the challenge,I might be able to get it through the post in time for you to use it in a card,lol!
Thanks for stopping by,I'll try harder tomorrow,
Julie.x

Challenge 8 at Scrapbook Sisters

The theme for this week's card challenge at Scrapbook Sisters is "Tic Tock"

So I thought,tic tock,clock,time... follow my train of thought?
What a good excuse to ink up MFT's Time for the Bubbly. This is the first time I've felt brave enough to colour this image,I've played at colouring it in the past but that was before I had copics I have paper pieced the image before but to be honest,it took me so long I vowed I'd never do it again. I did resort to using mirri card for the mirror but surely that's the best way to go.


I shaped the bottles and glass and mounted them using foam pads as well as the main image then added 3 flat backed gems to the corner of the card.

I used some 3d glaze on the bubbles and a touch of stickles.I've not tired of using the cricut yet so used it to cut the large scalloped border in both pink and white, adding a strip of white ribbon to the top.

Now it's your turn,there's lots of ways to interpret the theme,just let your imagination go wild!

Thanks for stopping by,

Julie.x

Just A Quick Post

I so wanted to share this card and envelope with you tonight but my laptop had a different idea and wouldn't let me transfer my photos from the memory card.......
Finally managed it but it's so late now ,I'm almost too tired to type. The image is another of Gayle's Digi Stamps.

A really easy card,just a bit of matting and layering,took a while to decide as I was going to use some patterned papers but to be honest,the image is just so stunning,nothing else was needed,in fact I'm sure that the image would look just as stunning nude without the addition of the copics.

I coloured the dew drops with copics to match the colour of the image. and run an ink pad around the edge to distress the card.

If you've never tried adding texture to your coloured design,give it a go. I put a few drips of blender onto a piece of lace and touched it onto the bricks,it gives them a great mottled effect.

Then I thought I'd get a bit clever and make a matching envelope. I printed the image directly onto some pearly white paper,took a few attempts to get the positioning right but then after a few mishaps was able to cut out the envelope on the Cricut. To be honest though,if you've one of those enveloper jobbies,I'm sure it would be a bit easier. Anyway,I've saved it on the computer now so from now on it will be much easier I hope.

I added only a touch of colour to the image,the computer ink takes on a silvery look printed onto the pearly paper.

I added a matching liner to the envelope.

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

Crafty Pad,Challenge 94,Christmas,
Mami Doodles 12,Christmas/thanksgiving,

Stamp Something challenge,October,Digi Day,

Bah Humbug 41,Elegance.

Copic Creations,Colourless blender trick.

Digi Doodles 30,Keep it simple.

I'm using the envelope for the following challenge:-
Crafty Cardmakers,Digital plus
That's me for tonight,don't forget to call by tomorrow to find out about the new challenge this week at Scrapbook Sisters,

Thanks for calling by,

Julie.x

Cricut On A Sunday!

Haven't had a lot of time to play with my birthday present much this week so when I found myself with a little time to spare today I plugged it in and thought I'd see what I could do. I love using frames on my cards and was over the moon to discover that I can now make them whatever size I want instead of having to rely on my Sizzix dies,BRILLIANT!!!!
I even managed to "fake" the out of the box nestie cut by marking where the frame met the legs and then cutting up to the mark and slipping them through the frame leaving the rest of the image within the frame. How great is this Digi stamp,another by Gayle Bond,there's several of these girls in her collection and they make a change from my usual style of image.

I used distress ink to stamp the filigree swirly leaves onto the card blank before using inks to distress the edges. The leaves are part of the Flowers and Fauna clear stamps also by Gayle who designs exclusively for Scrapbook Sisters. The greeting is by Studio G.and the papers are remnants of Basic Grey I believe.

I coloured the image using Copics,

and added a few if these lovely flat backed gems from my stash.

I'm going to use this card for a few challenge:-

ASC28,Distressed,

I Did It Creations 26,Surprise me,
Crafty Hos',Photo inspiration,

Sentimental Sunday 26,Distressing,

2Sisters 10,Anything goes,

Basic Grey 31,Autumn,

Fairy Knowll.Autumn,

Stamp Something,Use a digi.

Shabby Tea Room 32,Autumn.

Tuesday Throwdown 22,Anything goes.

I thought I'd show you something else that I made using the Cricut,I can't believe how easy it all is. My plea to you if you have one that's gathering dust is get it out and have a play with it. I for one am delighted to finally be able to make the right size envelope to fit a Nestie card without

any hassle at all. Don't they look fab!

Thanks for stopping by and remember,there's still plenty of time to make a pet themed card for this week's challenge at Scrapbook Sister.

Hope you've had a great weekend,

Julie.x

p.s. Thankyou for all the birthday wishes that I recieved over the last week,I had a lovely day on Friday and was given some amazing hand made cards which I will share with you soon.Jx

Fairy Fun Friday Challenge 38.

When I got Top spot over at Fairy Fun Friday for my card the other week I was asked to be Guest Designer for challenge 38. This challenge is To use a candy wrapper on a card or to make a candy wrapper.
I used the fabulous Prairie Fairie's Witchy Gillian (Chosen from my win) and coloured her using Copics. I used Revolution Nesting circles in a similar way to when you leave part of a design outside the die but obviously this time I left most of the image outside and I double cut the circle to leave only a crescent moon and added a little stickles.The glasses have a spot of liquid glaze on them and the City and the scalloped edge was cut using the Cricut.The text was a digital freebie by Meljens designs

The sleeve cover of the chocolate bar had a strip of card stuck to the inside front and the bar was slid on top so that when the strip is pulled the bar pops up

I'm using this for the following challenges:-

Mad For Markers,Anything but a card,

Creative Cottage 25,Halloween,

Creative Inspiration 83,Spooky,

Fab n Funky 45,Things that go bump,

Penny's Challenge 40,So long as it flies,

Karber Monthly 2,Fantasy,

OLLCB65,Scary,

Crafty Cardmakers 32,Use a freebie,

CCH37,Halloween,

DDC54,Boo To You,

Pear Tree Designs Challenge 22,Free For All,

ASC27,Halloween,

Scrappy Frogs,Time for treats,

My final challenge is to try to coincide this posting with the time of the posting at Fairy Fun Friday,lol,time zones really take some working out,hope I manage it:)

Thanks for stopping by,

Julie.x

P.S Check out my Halloween card!

Gayle's Digi's

Gayle Bond has designed a gorgeous collection of Digi stamps which are available exclusively at Scrapbook Sister's,You can follow the link to see the Stunning range of 22 images. How lucky am I, I have been given a few to play with. :)


I coloured the image using Copics,used a chalk eye to distress the edges and added "stitches" around the image using a brown fine liner. The DP is part of the Mod Posy range by Dream Street,not sure of the name of this design though I'm afraid I'd already removed the vital part of the edge strip.

I used my new toy to cut the scalloped edge strip,which I ran a dressmakers pattern tool along to pierce holes at regular intervals.(I have no idea what the tool is actually called but I've had it for over 30 years.) I stitched through the holes with embroidery silks.

I'm using this for the following challenges:-
Bee Crafty 40,Halloween,
ASC27,Halloween,
Pear Tree Designs 22,Free For All,
Belli Challenge 102,Pumpkins and fall,
Creative Cottage 25,Halloween,
Sisterhood Of Crafters,Halloween,
In Style Stamps,Spooky Inspiration,
A Spoon Full Of Sugar 126,Boo.
I found out last night that I have got a 2 challenge Guest Designer spot over at Southern Girls,how brilliant is that!
Thanks for stopping by,
Julie.x

Scrapbook Sister's Challenge 7,Pets Galore

It's Wednesday and another challenge at Scrapbook Sisters.This week the challenge is Pets Galore so I used my lovely "Mary and friends" by Woodware, I coloured her with Copics,ahhh doesn't she look cute with her kitty.


I'm sorry but I've been at it again,playing with the cricut,using it to cut the scalloped mat and to cut the leaves and flowers.

The scalloped mat started it's life cream but I did a bit of inking using various chalks till I got the look I was after.

The cats foot print ribbon has been in my stash since the beginning of Scrapbook Sister's creation 5 years ago,though I may have bought more along the way,I just love it for pet cards.

The sentiment was part of the same stamp set.

Hope you join us for this week's challenge,
thanks for stopping by,

Julie.x

The Bride And Groom.

A few weeks ago,the lovely Karen gave me Woodware Wedding Tots stamps to have a play with, and this is a card I made using them. The images are separate so I stamped them close together using Momento Tuxedo Black and coloured the images using Copics. I've got to say,this is my best "Boy Hair" ever,the couple were just so lovely to colour.

I think the paper is Laura Ashley though I'm not 100% sure. I was so please to be able to cut the oval around the image by using the "centre point" on the Cricut,I'm so enjoying learning how to play with it.

I even cut out all of the pieces that made up the flowers on it,shaped them between my fingers,touching the edges with a chalk eye before gluing the pieces together and adding a flat backed self adhesive pearl to the centre. The pearl hearts have been in my stash for ages,the leaves were cream and joined together like ribbon I cut them apart and coloured them with Copics, the lace is available at Scrapbook Sisters. I haven't added a sentiment at the moment as it's not got a home to go to yet,I think it looks a bit like a photo frame so could be used for either a wedding or anniversary card.

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

Challenge Me Monday 32,at least 1 leaf,

Craftalicious 10,Anything goes,
OSAAT 35,Embellish it,

OCC, Embellishments,
Wee Memories 27,Celebrations,

Digi Doodles 29,My Peeps,

ABC Challenge,F is for flowers,

Little Red Wagon 50,Something Old,Something New,

There's still time to enter this weeks challenge over at Scrapbook Sisters,and whilst you're there,take a look at the fantastic Digi stamps by Gayle Bond that have just been released.

Thanks for stopping by,

Julie.x

I'm A Lucky Girlie!

I want to tell you a story!
It's my birthday next week and yesterday,whilst I was out,my son took in a delivery and left it in the hallway. When I returned I was horrified and gobsmacked. Now anyone who knows me knows that I dislike with a vengeance all things technical,Im scared I'm going to break it,I don't like instruction manuals,if something isn't simple I just won't contemplate it. On the other hand,my husband loves technical things,doesn't read instructions but plays around till he's learnt exactly how things work.
(Next Chapter)
My Husband doesn't lay in,not even at weekends,when he wakes early he goes down stairs and station hops. The other day I came down to find him mesmerised by a craft channel,I'm sure it was a mistake as he doesn't "get" crafting " Have you seen these,they look so good"
My answer"I wouldn't be able to use it,it looks far too technical,would be a waste of money!"

Glad he didn't listen,how wrong was I! Now I know it's still a week till the day but I was told I might as well have it seeing as how I know what I've got! I didn't think I'd get time to post today,all I want to do now that I've put the washing on is play again. Here is the quickest of creations using my lovely,lovely new toy. I cut the large tag,distressed it and stamped the greeting all over before adding the other items. I stamped the words on rough paper first each time so that the words look slightly faded.

I placed the tag onto my folded card blank and trimmed off the edges to match the cut tag,I love the shadow of the letters. I can't believe how easy it was,I only watched a few minutes of the instruction DVD and just experimented from then on. I do think I'm going to have to curb my experimenting a bit as I'm in fear of being lost under a pile of off-cuts lol!

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

Crafty Emma Challenge 8,Male birthday card,

Wee Memories Challenge 27,Celebrate,

FFF,Challenge 37,Tickets or tags,

DDCC88,Tagalicious,

Hodge Podge Shop Challenge 1,Distressing,

SISC31,Live free and die cut,(can I count cricut as a die cut do you think????),

FTTC88,Ink the edges,

Cards for Men 21,Happy Birthday,

Cricut Cards 46,Anything goes,

Thanks for Stopping by,I'm off to play again,

Julie.x

Scrapbook Sister's Card Challenge!

Yes,it's Wednesday again and time for a new challenge at Scrapbook Sisters. I can't believe how quickly the weeks fly by. There were some great entries for last weeks challenge,well done to everyone that entered,I for one certainly found it a challenging theme, lol! This weeks theme is a nice easy one,"Flower Power" everyone can do this one,right?

Here is my DT card,hopefully to inspire you,I think That maybe I took the theme a little further than was needed but hey,with these scrummy papers,Petal Pushers-Doodles by Bo Bunny it just had to be done. If you read my previous post you'll know the card caused me a few problems but the main one was that I wanted to get a number on it too.My lovely image is Coffee time by Sugar Nellie,this girl is a bit wacky but she dressed to match the papers lol!

I used some lovely black flat backed gems both on the frame flower and along the edge to help stop the easel slipping I added a Sizzix Die cut flower and used my cuttlebug to emboss the pink frame,also cut using a Sizzix Die.

I hope my lovely friend Emma who the card was for,wasn't too shocked by this colourful creation and that she had a great birthday yesterday.

I do hope that you feel inspired to enter this week's challenge,

Thanks for stopping by,

Julie.x

Nothing Amazing!

You may have stopped by expecting to see an amazing card,sorry,I'm going to have to let you down :( Sometimes a card takes far too long to make,you keep playing with it,knowing somethings not right but can't put your finger on what. You go to bed leaving it on the table and spend half the night tossing and turning hoping that the morning will bring the revelation. Well it didn't happen Friday night so I bought a new piece of paper hoping that it would bring the answer................it didn't,another night passed by with little sleep but good news,looking at the card again this morning I think I've solved the problem. So the card is completed ready to go in the post tomorrow!

I hear you say "3 days,only to come up with this simple creation!!!!! " No,this isn't it,you've got to wait till Wednesday morning to witness the reason for my lack of sleep,this is what came about when I was tidying away all the bits and pieces I'd discarded trying to create the afore mentioned.

The rather large pearlescent pink flower is a sizzix die cut with the addition of one of my lovely Paperchase gems. I thought I'd give you an areal view of how I attached the sentiment,I always do this with this particular Happy Birthday as I think the arrangement of the letters lends it to shaping. I glue some places flat and add foam pads to other areas.

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

CSSC,Girly girl,

Craftalicious Challenge 10,Anything goes,

Gingerloft Challenge 3,All that glitters or bling,

C4C58,Birthday,

Elephantastic cards,challenge 15,Anything goes,

Creative Inspirations Challenge 81,Birthday theme,

That's it for today,by the way,had you noticed anything new in my side bar? I had a good week on the challenge front last week,I won Southern Girls Challenge,Won Fairy Friday's challenge meaning that I'm guest designer on the next challenge and was in the top 3 in Charisma card's challenge. How lucky am I, I've won 6 new digi images to play with. If you fancy the chance of winning some Digi images why not give Scrapbook Sister's card challenge a go.

Thanks for stopping by,

Julie.x

Easel Does It!

Yes,I've done another easel card,I should have made 3 cards today but my husband decided to work from home some of the day so I lost my place at the dining room table resulting in just the one card.
The papers are magazine giveaway ones from a while back. I've used 4 patterns of papers in all,the raised section is made up of strips that had been cut previously which I layered up then added a length of gingham ribbon to. I stitched a button to the centre of my bow and stitched through the card as well just to make sure it was extra secure.

Check out how I've matched the pattern where the sections meet!

I covered a chipboard oval brushed the edges with a chalk eye and added stickles My lovely Gorjuss girl was coloured using Copics and mounted onto a Sizzix die cut frame,I I covered the back of the frame so that the centre hole isn't visible. I know this might sound odd but I liked the idea of the shaped stand up back,does this make sense to you?,I fear I'm making it all sound a bit complicated lol! I added more Stickles around the edge.

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

Southern Girl Challenge 3,4 layers of patterned paper,

Paper Playtime Challenge 19,Ribbons Buttons or Rhinestones,

ABC Challenge,E is for Easel,

Freshly Brewed Challenge,Girly,

Partytime Tuesday Challenge,Birthdays,

Tuesday Throwdown 20,Chipboard,

That's me for tonight,I hope to get the other cards made tomorrow,till then,

thanks for stopping by,

Julie.x

P.S Don't forget to check out this weeks card challenge at Scrapbook Sisters!

Challenge 5, Full Moon

This week's card challenge at Scrapbook Sisters is Full Moon.Now,I did consider a different type of moon and use my cheeky little Marij Rahder stamp but thought that this would rather push the boundaries lol! I thought I'd made a card using it but I can't find one,it's an image of a girls bottom wearing a swimming cozzie, just,she's slightly "mooning so to speak. I must make a card soon to show you as I really can't explain it well.

I follow a blog where the lovely Brenda makes the most lovely backgrounds using a Brayer,when I learnt of this challenge I just knew I had to have one,this is my very first attempt,it was going to be a practice but I was happy with the results so decided to go with it. I can't tell you the inks I used as I kind of experimented with several till I got the result I was after,Brenda has a tutorial if you fancy taking a look at how it should be done.

The lamp post is Marij Rahder Suzy 6 and the church is by Woodware. I added lots of stickles to help with the effect and some liquid pearls to the images to represent the snow.

There you go,something a bit different from me today,I haven't added a sentiment,maybe you could suggest one,something for Christmas though I think. I really hope you have a go at this weeks challenge,it's great to do something out of your comfort zone sometimes and I'm definitely going to play with my brayer some more.

Thanks for stopping by,

Julie.x

Just A Quickie

Just a quick post showing an ultra quick card,I've had this "Whispers" butterfly stamp for absolutely ages and have never used it to make a card before. I stamped the images using Momento Grape Jelly ink and coloured it using 2 shades of pink copics. I chalked around the edges of the stamped card and layered it onto white before mounting it onto the pearlecent pink card stock. The sentiment is from a Papermania Stamp set.

I'm using this for the following challenges:-
FBW 124,Use a butterfly or fairy,
Alphabet Challenge,W for wings,
OLLCB64,Nothing floral,
Cowgirl Stamp'en Sunday Challenge,Anything goes,
Paper Sundaes Challenge 38,Something from your stash.
Thanks for stopping by this evening,remember there's a new challenge tomorrow over at Scrapbook Sisters so please call back to check out the new theme and if you fancy making a very quick card you've still just under 3 hours to get an entry into this weeks challenge.
See you tomorrow,
Julie.x

You've Been Framed!

I've often admired frame cards on other blogs but have never had a go at making one. Inspired by a Tutorial and some stunning cards on This Blog I thought I'd give it a go.I went freestyle with the measurements though

I've used my Marij Rahder Suzy 5 stamps,I've never used the Seagull before and was pleased to at last find a card suitable for it,isn't he great! I coloured the image using Copics,added some paper string around the frame and found some peel off anchors in my stash and I used some Sizzix dies to cut the numbers.

I had so much fun making this card,I'm definitely going to make more of them.

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

Paper Sundaes 38,Something from your stash,

Cowgirls Stamp'en Sunday Challenge,Anything goes,

Two Sisters,Challenge 8,Animal fun,

CESChallenge 6,Hats,

Alphabet Challenge,W for Wings,

Fairy Fun Friday,Rik Rak,

TPC Challenge 36,Great outdoors,

Paper Pretties Wednesday Challenge,Animals,

Stampavie And More Challenge 110,More that one fold (takes several folds to make a frame card)

Karber Challenge 7,Hobbies and Leisure,

Paper Playtime Challenge 18,Water,

SP Colour Combo 67,Night of Navy,Marina Mist,River Rock,

I hope where ever you are that you are having better weather than the rain where I am,

thanks for stopping by,

Julie.x

There's still time to make a card for this week's Scrapbook Sisters Card Challenge