Sunday 12 August 2012

Cardigans!

Yippee!! This is the last one and I'm up to date!!


Once again thanks go to Ruth Hamilton on apassionforcards.blogspot.com. I love her CARDigans!! Once more we used some off cuts form last weeks envelope and tag mini. I guess we might be using them up for a wee while but that's how it goes. I used a Martha Stewart punch for my frills and a paper crimped. The buttons are card candi and the main body of the card is embossed with the Swiss dots cuttlebug folder. Some white faux stitching around the collar completes this fun card(igan). :)

Ps.. PLeeease can I get off the naughty step now. I will be good from now on, honest!

Stamping with bubble wrap.

That's right bubble wrap!


This is what happens when you are struggling for inspiration. Sometimes it comes from the strangest places. Cue catching sight of a bundle of bubble wrap. Ok I know your first instinct is to start popping, but this time I went 'I wonder?' and the background for this card was born, lol!
Out came the trusty distress inks and a very satisfying while experimenting with how to get the stamped bubbles just right. Putting the ink straight on there and pressing the card straight on gave a very mixed colour background, not suitable for this project. Try again stamping each colour individually with loose wrap, better but still the colours are too strong. How to control it? Well I ended up cutting pieces of bubble wrap and securing them with elastic bands around the reels left when ribbon runs out. No I don't throw anything out!! Lol. I WILL find a use for it..., some day!!! I could now control exactly where the colour went and if some were too strong then I could stamp them off onto a scrap piece and use the 2nd generation colour. Sorted! The stamp is another Papermania urban stamp! The edges of the card were distressed with a blade, carefully, then inked with a couple of the main colours and finally black soot. The bottom edge of the red mat layer is punched with one of the new crafty edger cartridges, also called butterflies, and embellished with some self adhesive pearls.

Envelope and tag mini album.

August advanced class.

Would you believe me if I told you that this was made with only 3 dl envelopes. There were lots of pockets for tags, 8 in fact, and some pages which flipped over as well. The papers are "Beautiful Moments" by Carta Bella, and I love, love, love them!! Everyone had fun finding all the pockets for their tags once it was completed.

Flip mini book/card.


YouTube is such a fantastic place to go for inspiration. The only problem is that there is so much on there that its easy to loose whole days and forget where you got ideas. For that reason apologies to whomever I got this one from!
Also I haven't taken photos of the inside but the pages flip open in all different directions so it is really interactive but hard to photograph, sorry!
We made this to match the advanced project, using up lots of the off cuts of paper. Waste not want not!! We also kept the bird theme.

A rose by any other name?


The idea for this card came from a magazine. Don't ask me which one cos I've so many I can't remember! The stamp is from Woodware and since I'm not much good at colouring in I had to think of a different way of using it. The papers are from the Papermania capsule collection by Jesse Edwards and we simply stamped the image onto the polka dot page,and the stem onto green bazzil then paper pieced it onto a piece of card cut with one of the Marianne Creatables dies. The gingham card was punched with the Woodware ribbon border and the burgundy bazzil with the tonic Victorian border punch. With ribbon threaded and all layered up I like how it came out.

Corner bookmarks.

Thanks again to Ruth ov on apassionforcards.blogspot.com for her idea.

This was a perfect opportunity to pull out all the free stamps from Craft Stamper magazine. They are just the right size for this kind of thing.e even tried some zentangle on the black and white one.

Cards for a commission.

I have a lovely friend who frequently gets me to make cards for her. She certainly makes me think!!!

The first card she wanted was to have a karate theme. I know this is not strictly karate related but seriously! I couldn't find a thing so this was the best I could come up with and if you'd seem the faces I pulled tying the ribbon into a correct knot. It's a good job the wind didn't change, lol


This one was easier. It had to include music and flowers. I was pleased with how it turned out and my friend loved them both, phewee!!

Butterflies again!


The Craft Stamper magazine came with a free butterfly stamp this time. Needless to say they flew off the shelves and I just had to get the distress inks out,....AGAIN! Lol.
In this card I used a tim Holtz technique where you stamp with archival ink into the debossed side of an embossing folder before passing it through an embossing machine. (It is important to remember to clean the folder immediately with a stamp cleaning solution otherwise it will stain!!!!) This then gives the impression of the script, in this case, running behind the raised areas. This was a French script so I didn't worry that it came out back to front, although you can get "reflections" stamps which leave the stamped image the right way round. I haven't invested in those...., yet.
The background was coloured with distress inks, butterflies stamped then made to pop out by using the same colours of ink with a water brush to tint the wings and make them pop. The edges have a light tinting of black soot distress ink before being mounted onto black then the white card base.

...and again


Not much to say. I kept the same colours but used circles to highlight the beautiful stamped image and used a water brush to tint the main butterfly which was cut out and raised on foam pads.

Mini book.

Ok, talk about shooting yourself in the foot! I brought this project along with another idea to see which the class wanted to make for their next advanced project. Bad idea. Someone (who shall remain nameless) cough "Margaret" asked 'but could we not do that next week instead of two cards?' .... Well,.... ok then!lol.

The papers we used are from the Papermania "Beautiful" 12x12 stack although the smaller size would work just as well if you only want to make one. I have to attribute thanks to Laura on followthepapertrail.blogspot.com and her YouTube video where I got the idea. It's called a 'Stack the Deck' mini album and she has a comprehensive video of instructions so head over there if you want to make one of your own.

The colours and patterns in this stack are beautifully subtle and soft with some brighter highlights. I just love it!


The pages slide out for photos or journalling.

Slider box.

This was our advanced class project for July. The idea and a tutorial can be found on the splitcoaststampers resource page.
This is quite a technical piece and I had a few attempts before I got it right. This did mean that I knew the pitfalls and was able to ensure the class ran fairly smoothly with only a few mistakes being made and those easily rectified. Btw, if you ever need to unstick something a quick blast with a heat gun softens the glue and allows you to remove the stuck piece. ... Go on, ask how I know?..... Lol

Butterfly box.

5th July class.


Out with the distress inks for this gorgeous urban stamp from Papermania. We created a distressed background the stamped with vintage sepia versafine ink. The card was made from a 12x12 sheet cut 5.5" x 12 and scored at 4",7.5",8" & 11.5".


The aperture w cut using an x-cut die and another small piece of distressed card stamped with the sentiment slipped in behind. A couple of prima butterflies had their wings tinted too before being attached. The box opens up as the card is opened but folds flat for postage.

Anyone for ice-cream?



Bring on the summer. Well we can live in hope..lol. This confection is courtesy of Woodware. Simply coloured with pro markers then we used silver sticklers to give the impression of silver ball decoration and irridescent sticklers for the sugar strands. It's almost good enough to eat, lol. Ooh, and not a hint of distress inks!!!

Wedding hearts.


This card was super easy but I think it looks so stylish and simple. We punched and die cut the hearts, trimmed a white one down for the gents shirt and added a knot of grosgrain ribbon for the bowtie. The white scalloped heart was embossed and 3 pearls added. Some shocking pink card and a little bit of ribbon for contrast and texture coupled with the "love" saying make for a quick wedding congratulations card.

A card for dad.


Cards for men can be tough but not when you have a perfect stamp like this. The background "boards" of the shed are from a technique I found on stamp tv and suited this card so well. A little bit of raffia and some gauzey ribbon (I don't know what it's real name is, lol) create that more masculine feel. The image was coloured with pro markers. (what else?)

A tissue?

28th June class


I saw this cute idea for a get well card and just had to try it. It went down a treat with my class! Such fun. The papers are from the kanban factory shop which I visited on my hols in May. Well worth the searing heat that day since I got a huge box of card for only £30. The white base card was tinted with spun sugar distress ink and the edges of the flowery card was distressed with pine needles.

Let your light shine.


A beautiful image from Michael Powell, but I struggled with all the detail so decided to spotlight the lighthouse. It's funny because this bible verse had been in my head for a while just waiting for the opportunity to be used. I class we used the harbourside bazzil cardstock and the peacock feathers distress ink. This was one of Thomas cards which actually came together quit easily once I decided how to approach it. I love how all the colours work together. The verse I found by doing an online search so thanks to whoever designed such a perfectly matching insert!

Naomi's graduation

Now I have to go back in time to before I began my blog.

16th November 2011
Level 4 Higher Professional Diploma in Early Years.



Strange to realise that my younger daughter graduated first but there you go. I believe both girls are perfectly suited to their chosen career paths and Naomi currently works in a school for children with special needs. She knew exactly what she wanted to do and in fact since she was a little girl I always thought she would work with children. If she ever disappeared on a shopping trip I only had to look for the nearest pram or buggy and she would be peering in. I am so proud of you too titch. I am blessed to have such wonderful children.

Ruth's Graduation.

20 th June 1012
BA Hons Community learning and Development.


This was a busy time for us as we had a trip to Dundee, so we took a week off and a wee break. Time to catch up with daughter no 1.
I want to take this opportunity to say Ruth, I am sooo proud of you. I know it was never really in your plan to go off to university but you knew it was a necessary evil in order to be able to pursue your chosen career. Well done toots!

25 years ago....

Ok here we go. I am gonna try and update things in the correct order. This could take some time...!



16th June 1987 Gary and I were married. It seems like yesterday so I can't really believe we've suffered each other for 25 years!!! Roll on another 25...