CPS Design Contest...Spooky...

Made this little number for the CPS Design Contest...



I used... Scenic Route Laurel papers, Bazzill and Queen & Co Brads, Queen & Co Sequins, Gingham Ribbon from Little Silver Hat, Scalloped Scissors, Dymo tape and labeller and 'homemade' skull and bones chipboard embellishments. Inking and hand stitching.

TFL!

Cards, Cards, Cards...

Phew! finished this month's magazine stuff and have caught up (just about!) on everything else!!

Last week's dare was mine.... and I have finally finished my card! Thank you so much to everyone who has joined in and also thank you to Bety for being a most wonderful guest designer :)


Working 9-5 was the title of the dare and challenged you to use something that you would normally find in the office. I used paperclips and some rather fab scenic route paper that has the look of graph paper. I also used a cuttlebug arrow die, some Bazzill cardstock and a Queen & Co brad.

Inspired by the use of paperclips, I also made this for J's brother as he and his wife have just had a baby...

I used a Cuttlebug aeroplane and flower dies, Basic Grey papers, Bazzill brad, American Craft rub ons, and a scalloped square punch...

TFL :)

jo x

Love School?

I do - especially when Joshie comes home with a letter giving 3 days notice that he needs a costume for the Ugly Bug Ball.... Much stressing later, Josh was proudly kitted out in a recycled Halloween costume - bought on the the cheap in Sainsburys... Tis supposed to fit Jared but did quite well as a top :) Black T-shirt which he was more impressed about as it has a cool skull on it - £1 in Matalan and some spider legs *cough* tights :) There would be no way that Josh would wear tights but spider legs seemed to be ok lol. Spiked hair and cool spidy shades. Done. Yippee. There were lots of little boy spiders and slugs (all in black lol) and lots of little girl butterflies (party dresses and wings :)) oh and a bumble bee - whose mother (apparently slaved for 36 hours making the costume) made the most noise in a look at my child kind of way....

I think that Josh looked fantastic :) I did the organised Mum thing too and packed him some shorts for this arbo as it is way to hot to wear spidy legs all day :)

jo xx

Almost...

makes you wanna get a Skoda...
Saw this watching (I think) CSI last night, fab stuff and sooooo yummy :)

Where do you belong....

... 'Apparently' I am a child of the 70's :)

You Belong in 1970

Bold and brash, you take life by the horns. Whether you're partying or protesting, you give it your all!

What Year Do You Belong In?

Wow!

... I am completely thrilled that Kirsty Wiseman has asked me to design cards for her using the most wonderful digital papers that she makes they are uber cool designs - Kirsty is just so talented and it is gonna be so much fun using her papers to make cards with! Thank you Kirsty for choosing me!!

All the papers that Kirsty designs can be downloaded from links on her blog...
and I made this little number using the most recent papers that Kirsty designed...

All the papers are Kirsty's, MM Clips, Brads from stash and Cuttlebug flowers...

I also made this card for the challenge on Bex's Forum...

Tis a bit random but fits the bill! Pink card blank and only black, white and pink embellies :)

We had a fab weekend - went to Leamington to watch the borefest of football - I do like football but having no interest in Chelsea and even less in Man U meant that it was a pretty pointless game :)

Managed to sneak off to Hilltop Farm though - it was only a few miles away, don't think I would find it again though - need one of those sat nav thingies me thinks... Thank you Rachel for giving me the info - will have to check out another crafty spot next time I am in the area :)

jo xx

Starting From Scratch!

This week it is Tracie's (Bondgirl) turn to dare us...

'For this weeks dare, I dare you to "start from scratch" I want to you design a card with NO purchased/pre-assembled embellishments - that means no blooms unless you cut them yourself, no buttons, brads etc etc. I guess how easy this is depends on your usual style'

**insert evil laugh here**

Arrrrrrrrgh was my first thought - a card with no pre bought embellishments!!! Then I decided that is was not so bad... there are loads of digi bits around that look like real embellishments and I came up with this;

All the papers - were not made from scratch by me, they were made by the wonderful Kirsty Wiseman. the flowery one started out with a blue background but I managed to hit a button on photoshop and it came out like this lol.

The flowers are hand cut from a template that Kirsty made for card makers, I resized it to make the different flowers...

Printed sentiment, using the colour taken from the paper to match, using SP Kimaro font.

Inking, Doodling and Hand Stitching to finish.

The papers and templates can be found on Kirsty's blog

For the next couple of weeks, we have the privilege of the oh so talented Bety joining us as a guest designer which is pretty fantastic.

Have a go making a card from scratch and don't forget to leave a post on the DCM blog when you have finished!! All the cards from the DCM team are awesome so pop over and have a look :)

TFL!

Buttons, Bricks and Wheelman....

Yesterday I had the most bargainarific find in my local charity shop - yup, you guess correctly, more buttons; (and braid type wool -it prolly has a correct name, and a fantastic 80's belt which is now destined to be chopped...) This is the pink and red pile - I am also the proud owner of green buttons and purple buttons...

My excitement over an old belt and some buttons was superseded when I saw a ginormous box hidden in the corner full of the most marvellous coloured Lego. For a quid!!! - It did contain normal coloured Lego too, and cool little people like Harry Potter, and cars and elephants and dinosaurs...and it is real Lego, not mega blocks....(my sister laughed at my excitement when I told her but it does contain pink Lego bricks!!!) The boys shared my excitement as they tipped it over the living room floor, understandably they were not as enthused about the pink bricks....

Then Jared found a headless Lego man lol. Cue huge stress until he realised that he could make alien men. I will show you 'Wheelman' but we also had 'Treeman' 'Flagman' and 'Flowerman' - I am sure that you are getting the general idea...

Off to pick up Lego bricks...

TFL :)

Anniversary....

....is the little extra this week :)

Here is my effort...



All the paper is Scenic Route, MM Clip, Poundland Flower, Queen & Co Felt Ribbon, Fonts are TXT Annesia and SP Sweetie Pie, Hand Cut Arrows, Hand Stitching, Inking and Brads/Eyelet from Stash. The scallop I made using the rather wonderful template that Kirsty Wiseman created, you can find the link to download it on her blog :)

Huge, huge congratulations to Jayne who was picked from the proverbial hat to win the little draw that we had on our Wings dare last week, Fantastic! Well Done Jayne!



I also launched a challenge over on Bex's forum today entitled 'Think Pink'... and made this card, I would love for you all to join in, so wander over and check it out!!

I used Inspire Me papers - apparently the first 1000 peeps to sign up with their website get free papers - I guess that I must have done as they plopped happily through my letter box last week! Scenic Route Scallop cut with scissors, Flowers from Wilkinsons, Bazzill Brads, Rub On Sentiment, Hand Cut and Doodled stems and leaf and American Craft White Rub On. Stiching and Inking to finish.

TFL :)

jo xx

Bones - CPS 12

A rather hectic weekend :) Everyone seems to be on the road to recovery - thank you so much for all your lovely comments and hugs, they are most appreciated.

Made this little number whilst the boys were dozing yesterday, I call her 'Bones' lol



I used last week's CPS template and made it with; Basic Grey paper, Dotty Paper by Rhonna Farrar and was downloaded from 2peas, Handmade Skull, Bones and Heart, Ribbon from Little Silver Hat, Bazzill and Queen & Co Brads, Printed Sentiment, Sizzix Hardware and Lace and Flower from Stash.

TFL :)

Oh What a Night!

Both boys are poorly :( Jared woke up at around midnight, swiftly followed by Joshie at around 3... I was at the hospital at the time. Strange, my leg swelled so much that I thought an elephant had swapped with me. I actually went cos I was convinced that it is a DVT but apparently just a compressed vein... I did call NHS direct first so it was on their advice that we bundled up there, called Jim *thanks Jim* to baby sit the poorly ones so Jase could take me to the Hospital...

Calm this afternoon for a while so caught up on some sleep :)

Was cheered up lots by Sue letting me know that I won the card template comp on Bex's forum...woohoo! :) Thank you so much for choosing my card.... and they asked me to set the next card challenge over there in a few days time. Fantastic!

and... made this yesterday for the fantastic Wednesday Stamper challenge 'Turquoise' could not take a decent piccie at all for some reason so this one will have to suffice;



Turquoise Bazzill card, DCWV spotty paper, Little Silver Hat ribbon, printed spotty card, cut with scalloped scissors, pink brad from Carolyn's shop, inking and stitching, printed sentiment, flowers from possibly Wilkinsons and the stamp is of course my trusty homemade one *winks*

TFL - hope everyone is having a good weekend!!

jo xx

Do You Get Banana Milkshake From Milking Monkeys?

This weeks Dare is all about FOOD!

This week it's me (Kathy) setting the dare and I'd like you to make a card with a theme of FOOD!
So let's mull this one over.......
You could make an invitation to a barbecue, dinner party, picnic, kids party etc
It could feature a recipe, ingredients, utensils, cookery quotations, poems or rhymes....
It could have food depicted on it eg cupcake, CHOCOLATE, bowl of fruit , CHOCOLATE, sausages, CHOCOLATE,.....birthday cake....
Hey, it could even have real food stuck on it.....OK, maybe not....
as long as it's clearly got a foodie theme it's allowed.

Toyed with a few ideas for this card, my first thought was to make a BBQ invite but after looking for some suitable sausage on a stick type piccies and only finding things like this;


changed my mind :) Actually I would like to know a) if these are for real and b)If you have eaten one...Why? lol

Next thought was involving those pudding type things that you eat in December but really could not bring myself to make a Christmas Card in May....

So I made this;

The phrase, I have to attribute to Mitchell and Webb - not people that I normally find amusing but this phrase does make me chuckle....

Bazzill Card, Doodled frame, Printed Phrase using SP Wonderful Wendy, Printed Milkshake and Banana Piccies and Homemade Paper Pieced Monkey. Inking and the Addition of Staples to Finish :)

Check out the yummy cards over on the rather tasty Daring Cardmakers Blog, and have a go and concocting your own little piece of culinary art!!

TFL!!

3 Little Things...

This week's Little Extra is another of our popular "recipe" cards. All you need to do is include at least one of each ingredient on your card...

Here are your 3 ingredients: 1 stamp, 1 piece of chipboard (bought or "faux"), 1 piece of metal
Nice and easy, eh?

I don't have many stamps so improvised and used a homemade stamp... it comprised of a sponge :), Basic Grey chipboard and Metal Tape to cover it :)


MM Papers, Bazzill Card and Brad, Little Silver Hat Ribbon, Printed Sentiment. Home made 'grid' Backing Paper, Stitching and Inking.

TFL and don't forget to check out the other fabby Darer's cards.

Hello.

Made this for a friend of Mum's of whom, I needed to ask a favour :) Hope she likes pink lol.

Basic Grey papers, Poundland flowers, Queen & Co Brad, Printed sentiment, doodling, stitching and inking..

TFL :)

A Card Or Two

The first;
Using Sue's wonderful template, it is for the challenge on Bex's forum and for my Mum and Dad to give to my Nan for her B'day...

Basic Grey Paper, American Craft Rub-ons, Heidi Swapp and Basic Grey Chipboard, Printed and Hand Written Sentiment - copied to mirror the printing, Stitching (by hand) and Inking.

The second;
Using a Di Hickman template...

DCVW Papers from Rachie's Shop, Papermania Ribbon, Bazzill Brad, Printed Stripes, Dots and Sentiment, Stitching (by hand) and Inking.


A few lovely people have asked where I got the Skull from on this week's Dare card, it is just the Dollar sign from 'Decapitated' font, enlarged in Word and printed... You can get the font here :)

Nut{ella} Boy...

So this is what Jared gets up to when backs are turned and the mischief maker comes to town...

Simply take...
One jar of Nutella
One 2 year old
Leave for 5 minutes
Relax and enjoy.....!!!


jo xx

Awesome!

The 'phone man' came yesterday - to fix our line and moved the sofa to get to the wiring. Jared being Jared snuck behind the sofa and got stuck - much to his dismay...Sooooo tempting to leave him there but.... conscience took over and he was duly removed to create mayhem in the rest of the house....

Made this for an 'Awesome!' friend :) It's based upon this week's Sketch This : Cards Template....
Basic Grey papers and chipboard, hand cut flowers, Queen & Co brads, Inking, Stitching and Doodling...

and Happy Scrapbooking Day!!!! Much as I would love to spend the day crafting, having two little ones and one big one home from work will pretty much put paid to that! Have a good time crafting today :)

jo xx

Fight or Flight ?

I was not really sure what to make when Jane set her fantabulous dare;WINGS!

You can pick any subject, any colour but the card has to incorporate WINGS of some sort-so you can do - butterflies, angels, fairies, insects,birds........anything basically if it has wings!

But then when Josh watching CBBC I caught a bit of Avril Lavigne's video (see piccie) and found some inspiration! I have not added the full vid as it may make your ears bleed -(It may not if you like Avril Lavigne!!)

And so I made this;...Josh said that it was fantastic until I added the bow lol! The background is a mix of doodles and SP Three Ring Circus and SP Sweetie Pie fonts. I also used KI Memories and MM papers, Bazzill card, MM and Bazzill brads, Basic Grey chipboard, printed acetate wings, printed skull, ribbons from stash, hand cut heart, hand stitching and inking.

This week, it is fabulous to have a Guest Designer - Tracy designing for us and... this week is a special week because there is a SPOT PRIZE up for grabs !! You can check out all the details and the other amazing works of art on the DCM blog!

2 more cards!

The first made for my Grandad to give to my Nan on her Birthday...
I actually started out by using the template from Bex's card challenge but looking at it now realise that I have strayed quite a lot....
MM paper, Basic Grey Chipboard, Bety's flowers, printed cupcake and 2peas swirly bit, Papermania and Bazzill Brads, Stitching and Inking...

The second for my Uncle Ken...

SEI papers, ribbon, tag, Basic Grey Chipboard including obligitory star cos its a man card lol. Printed sentiment and name, little bit of inking...
TFL :)

Birthday Star!

You may need sunglasses for this one lol...'tis a little bit bright...

It's based on this week's Di Hickman Sketch;

Which I turned on its side and made this...

All papers I found on Kirsty's blog - they are a digital download and one day when I get around to it, I may actually try this digital lark but being a little (lot!) set in my ways, I printed them and made a card manually :) The little motifs are also from a digital kit - a 2 peas one by Tia Bennett - also free... yay! and a printed sentiment. Usual inking and stitching and my current faves, scalloped scissor use and felt flower centres :) Eyelet and ribbon from stash...
TFL!

You're Beautiful!

Little extra for this week is entitled 'Beautiful' - I used more of the scrumdiddlyumptious Self Addressed papers, Ikea string, Bety's flowers, Basic Grey rub on, Lace is from my Mum- no idea what it was for in a previous life! Stitching and Inking :)

TFL!