Another little kiss

I've used the same stamp as the previous card (Crafty companions s.w.a.l.k.), coloured with copics, for the sketch for Totally Gorjuss 117:

Background paper is 7 gypsies baja journey and the pink flowery paper is Pink petticoat wild blossoms.

This is also for:

Crafting when we can 11: Valentine/love
Make my Monday 35: romance - love letters - script paper
Creative inspirations 149: lots of love
Fab n funky 107: love is in the air

A little kiss

I've based this card on this week's Willow sketchie:

I used mainly pink and red for Daring cardmakers February colour combo challenge. Pink and red is also the theme for Cupcake craft 178, red, pink and white for Paper pretties Monday challenge, also for Dutch dare card 151 and 2 sisters 77 colour challenge.

The stamped image is Crafters companion from the s.w.a.l.k. range, coloured with copics. The patterned paper square is BG Indian summer and this and the image are backed with a piece of pink BG urban prairie - this is for Basic Grey 61: love/Valentine, also for Going grey with scrap-creations: Valentines.

The crystal hearts are from Hobbycraft.

Suzie's 365 day 40

Day 40: compact

My powder compact. I remember when I first started wearing make up (help, that was 50 years ago!!) everyone used loose powder - I remember having a lovely compact that was gold (not real) with flowers on it. Nowadays, powder compacts are very ordinary:

Bubbly Funk forum January swaps received

Here are the inchies I received from the January 'fauna and flora' swap on BF forum:

And these are the twinchies for the 'A' swap for January:

I'm afraid the photos don't really do these justice - the light is so poor today. It amazes me how much detail can be included on such a small area, particularly inchies.

Thanks to all the bubbly girls.

WOYWW 140

Wednesday has come round once again as quickly as ever! So it's that time in the week when lots of crafters show off their workspace courtesy of Julia on WOYWW. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then hop on over there and have a nosey at everyone's workspace and, hopefully, join in the fun.

I admit that my workspace was in a right muddle earlier on (I know, I should have taken a picture to convince everyone who thinks I'm tidy all the time!). Anyway, I've cleared all the immediate stuff and got out what I need to re-ink some of my copics. I actually bought  the re-inkers a while ago and haven't yet got round to refilling those that need it - silly really because I could do with using some of those colours. And you'll see a few pens on the left of the picture that need to have refills ordered before I can use them - good job I've got other copics as well as promarkers and marvy alcohol pens.

I started the day yesterday determined to carry on with my tidying/sorting of my craft stuff ... I got as far as finding some pieces I'd saved to recycle on Christmas cards and ended up making 12 more Christmas cards instead of tidying/sorting (which is boring anyway).

So today's next task must be re-inking these copics ... and then perhaps I'll get on with the tidying/sorting ... perhaps!!

Update: Job done, here is the evidence (didn't actually take as long as I expected):

Not sure that it should have been such a messy job - bit of a learning curve (will do better next time) - I think some pens have ended up with almost too much in them and some not enough - time will tell, but at least I have plenty left in the refills to repeat the process when necessary (cheaper than buying new pens). Thankfully, stazon cleaner got the worst off my hands (why didn't I think of putting gloves on? - I never do till afterwards!).

Suzie's 39: fence

The word for today on Suzie's 365 photos is 'fence'.

This follows on nicely from my photo yesterday for 'damaged' in which I showed our back gate, so this today's photo is just looking beyond the gate to the piece of fencing that could also do with being renewed. Further up the garden is fine, as it was replaced some while ago with a wire fencing.

You'll notice that there is still snow lingering on the grass - brrrrr!!

Season's greetings

This is for Crafts 4 eternity 57 sketch:

The spotted paper is an offcut and the red glittered card is a scrap from a Christmas cracker a couple of years ago - another card for Pixie's crafty snippets 6. The image is recycled from an old card. The scalloped edges are from Poundland.

Colours are for Phindy's Friday 91 photo inspiration:

This is also for:


Papertake weekly: anything goes
52 card pick up 5
Make it Monday 75
Inspire me Fridays 44

Fabric robin

This card is for Don't waste your Thursdays 123 sketch:

The script scalloped edge card is the front of a card blank , the robin etc is a fabric square rescued from an old card, other bits and pieces from stash.

Colours are for Phindy's Friday 91 photo inspiration:

Why is it that the green strip across the bottom looks a different colour on the photo than it is irl? And they say that the camera never lies!

This is also for:

Order of the opus gluei 123: tweet, chirrup and trill - all things birdie
Flourish timeless 155: fly away with me
CES 71: give me wings
Ruby's rainbow 21: flowers with a bit of sparkle - the berries around the robin are glittered
Hotshot craft 3: flowers
Papertake weekly: anything goes
52 card pick up 5
Make it Monday 75
Inspire me Fridays 44

Green Christmas

This is for Willow sketchie:

This card is green in more ways than one because the lovely die cut tree is recycled and mounted on to offcuts - another for Pixie's crafty snippets 6. I've not used any patterned paper, so this is for Craft your passion 96: anything goes with no pattern paper.

This is also for:

Card caravan (the hybrid chick) 12: use ribbon
Paper pretties 191: use ribbon or twine
Frosted designs fabulous Friday: ribbon and/or twine
Shelly's terrifically thrilling Thursday: ribbon
Crimbo crackers 8: no people or animals
the pixie cottage 106: clean and simple
Challenge up your life 64: monochroome
Crafty cardmakers 6: monochrome magic
http://crimbo-crackers.blogspot.com/2012/02/challenge-8-no-people-or-animals.html
Papertake weekly: anything goes
52 card pick up 5
Make it Monday 75
Inspire me Fridays 44

Still using up the scraps

More snippets have been used, so another one for Pixie's crafty snippets 6.

This card is for Repeat impressions what if J2512 sketch:

The red and white paper is an offcut from a magazine freebie, the glittered red card with swirls was recycled from a Christmas cracker from a couple of years ago and the Santa image was rescued from a card received.

Rainbow lady 190 challenge is 'wear red day' - show someone wearing red, so what better than the famous Christmas man in red! Also for Pals paper arts 128: colour - any red, and Cards for men 3: seeing red (think this would be suitable for a male, particularly a young one).

It's also for:

the pixie cottage 106: clean and simple
Challenge up your life 64: monochroome
Crafty cardmakers 6: monochrome magic
Papertake weekly: anything goes
52 card pick up 5
Make it Monday 75
Inspire me Fridays 44

Christmas blessings

Yet another Christmas cards - actually, I said I would do some more crafty sorting today ... and all I've done so far is make some Christmas cards - that's because I've come across some recycled bits that I'd saved, so I'm making cards as I go (but not much sorting happening really - lol!).

So here is the card with another recycled image, this time using sketch 2 for 52 Christmas card throwdown:

 Papers are offcuts of MME Lost and found Christmas and some free paper from a magazine, mounted on a dark brown card blank. So this is another one for Pixie's crafty snippets 6.

Colours are for Colour create 89 - lights or creams, light browns and dark browns:

It's also for:

365 cards 343: mismatched - two different patterned papers you would not normally use together
So artful 2: Georgia O'Keeffe inspiration - the sepia look
the pixie cottage 106: clean and simple
Paper sundaes 106: clean and simple
Papertake weekly: anything goes
52 card pick up 5
Make it Monday 75
Inspire me Fridays 44

Suzie 38: damaged

Suzie 38: damaged:

I braved the cold of the back garden to take this picture of our damaged gate - it's been like this for ages and ages (can't remember when it wasn't like this) - perhaps we ought to have the slat replaced sometime!

Thinking of you at Christmas

This is for the colour challenge on 4 crafty chicks 75:

The background paper is Design House mounted on a dark brown card blank and the image was recycled from a card received.

This is also for:

Crimbo crackers 8: no people or animals
Unstampabelles 8: recycling
the pixie cottage 106: clean and simple
Paper sundaes 106: clean and simple
Papertake weekly: anything goes
52 card pick up 5
Make it Monday 75
Inspire me Fridays 44

Christmas dove

This is for the pixie cottage 106: clean and simple, using the sketch provided:

The background paper is an offcut that's been in my Christmas box for ages - think it was from English Paper Company, but so long ago so I'm not sure. The lovely sparkly dove image (much more glittery than it looks here) is recycled from a card received and mounted on to an offcut of holographic card (haven't used anything holographic like this for ages and ages - thought it was about time to use some of the offcuts left from years ago). So this is another card for Pixie's crafty snippets 6 and Unstampabelles 8: recycling.

This is also for:

Order of the opus gluei 123: tweet, chirrup and trill - all things birdie
Flourish timeless 155: fly away with me
CES 71: give me wings
Challenge up your life 64: monochroome
Crafty cardmakers 6: monochrome magic
For your inspiration 23: used the colours
Crafting for all seasons 19:  blue and white
Winter wonderland: blue and white
Papertake weekly: anything goes
52 card pick up 5
Make it Monday 75
Inspire me Fridays 44

Christmas music

This is for the sketch on Try stampin' on Tuesday 51:

I've used offcuts of some free Nancy Watts paper that I got with a Making Cards magazine some time ago and a red and silver band. The image is recycled from a card received and the bow was rescued from somewhere else. So most of the card was either free (well, technically I suppose it's not free when you consider the cost of the magazine!) and recycled - so this is for Timbro scrap mania 41: recycling.

This is also for:

Pixie's crafty snippets 6
Card caravan (the hybrid chick) 12: use ribbon
Paper pretties 191: use ribbon or twine
Frosted designs fabulous Friday: ribbon and/or twine
Sparkles forum Christmas: anything goes
Crimbo crackers 8: no people or animals
Make all with love 21: anything goes
Outlawz: greeting card - anything goes
Ribbon carousel 39: anything goes
Craft us crazy 20: anything goes
Do you stack up 57: anything goes
Shelly's terrifically thrilling Thursday: ribbon
The poodles parlour: anything goes
Allsorts 140: free and easy pt 1
The pretty little ribbon shop 7: anything goes
Papertake weekly: anything goes
52 card pick up 5
Make it Monday 75
Inspire me Fridays 44

Packaging

This is for Suzie's 365 day 37: packaging:

I keep bubble wrap in one box and envelopes in another - the big jiffy at the top left is stuffed full with other jiffy bags that I've rescued from things I've received.

I wish this had been a day when I've had online groceries received because I could then have shown quite a bit of unnecessary packaging.

Recycled robin

The little robin panel used for this card was rescued from a card received, so this is for Unstampabelles 8: recycling (no stamping was used for this card). And the robin is for Order of the opus gluei 123: tweet, chirrup and trill - all things birdie, also for CES 71: give me wings

 I've used the sketch given for Flourishes timeless 154:

This is my card for this week on Facebook Sunday's with Santa challenge: bird.

I've used lots of snippets from my Christmas offcuts box so this is my first card of the week for Pixie's crafty snippets 6.

This is also for:

Christmas inspirations 40: anything goes
Christmas crafting 8: blue, silver and white
Winter wonderland: blue and white
Crafting for all seasons: blue and white
Allsorts 140: free and easy pt 1
Sparkles forum Christmas challenge: anything goes
Die cuttin' divas 50: anything goes
Victorine: anything goes
Divas by design 20: anything goes
Craft us crazy 20: anything goes
Do you stack up 57: anything goes
The poodles parlour: anything goes
52 card pick up week 5
Inspire me Fridays 44

A winter scene

This card is for Rogue redhead 7: frosty - use vellum. I used three Kanban stamps to make a winter scene, stamped with versamark and embossed with silver detail direct to the white card blank. I repeated some of the stamping on the left hand side because it wasn't wide enough for the card.

I then found a piece of vellum that I've had for ages that has very tiny white spots on it and ran this through my xyron to stick over the stamped scene, with an additional piece at the bottom to represent some snowy hills in the background. The organaza ribbon wrapped round twice and knotted and the sentiment just bring a bit of relief to the picture.

This was a very difficult one to get a photo that gave anywhere near the right look to the card - you just can't see the silver shining through the vellum, but this is the best I could do:

This is also for:

Craft a scene 2: winter scene
Quirky crafts 3 2012: make a scene
Crazy 4 challenges 122: make a scene
Card crafters circle 8: WOW - white on white
Card caravan (the hybrid chick) 12: use ribbon
Paper pretties 191: use ribbon
Shelly's terrifically thrilling Thursday: all tied up - ribbon
Frosted designs fabulous Friday challenge: ribbon
Paper sundaes 106: clean and simple

The big catch up

It's quite a few days since I've taken part in Suzie's 365 photo challenges - I looked at the prompts every day, but because of other things, I didn't get round to actually taking the photos and blogging. So here is a big catch up:

Day 25: motionless - delay television is very handy when the phone goes or if you want to get up and make a cuppa!:

Day 26: free choice - a simple photo I took last year when we were strolling along the cliff top in Eastbourne:

Day 27: amazing - I'm afraid I couldn't think of anything more amazing than the entry in the dictionary (OK, I know that's pretty un-amazing really!):

Day 28: fluffy - no explanation needed!:

Day 29: kitchen utensil:

Day 30: collection - just part of my collection of stamps:

Day 31: wheels - because of the problems with my back I can't carry anything much at all, so my shopping trolley usually goes out with me - very important wheels for me:

Day 32: accessory - I'm sure you won't think this is an exciting accessory, but it's just the right size to take my iPad out - which is very handy to take with us, for instance, when we go up to Guy's for appointments for John, it keeps me occupied!:

Day 33: button - this is part of a favourite top that is lovely and cosy and just right for this cold weather. If you look closely you can see that there is a button one end of the pocket flap, but just a piece of thread at the other end

Day 34: interaction - the image says it all really - a good place to interact with friends:

Day 35: liquid - I use this liquid as little a possible because we have a dishwasher, thank goodness:

Day 36: rubbish - yes, the snow has come, which is rubbish in itself! Yesterday afternoon we moved the food bin and a black sack round to the front so it would be there ready for tomorrow morning's collection - just got to add the paper recycling bin now:

Yay! I'm up to date now - will try not to get so behind again (we'll see!).

CHNC challenge 58: use a die cut

It's very unusual for me, but until I prepared the Christmas card for today's CHNC challenge last night I hadn't done any crafting since last Sunday and have only blogged once during the week with my WOYWW post. If you saw that you will know that I've been spending time sorting out my computer, which had been neglected for far too long, resulting in documents, photos etc saved in all different places. I thought I was going to get this sorted in less than a day .... ha ha, not likely! I'm still trying to get on top of it. However, we have had a few hospital appointments for John this week, so life has been fairly busy apart from sorting out my computer.

So I was glad to make a card last night for my CHNC challenge 58 - this week the challenge is to use a die cut - either a shop-bought one or one that you have cut - so why not pop over there and join in - you'll be pleased that you started your Christmas cards early when it gets nearer to December - it amazes me that we are already into February.

For my card I've used some die cut glittered stars mounted on to a piece of English Paper company paper that was in my offcuts box. The organza ribbon with glittered trees was bought some time ago at a local market. I've kept the card clean and simple, so as not to overcrowd it.

I based this card on the sketch given for Fetch a sketch 16:

Colours are for:

For your inspiration 23, where this photo was given:

also for:
Christmas crafting 8: blue, silver and white
Winter wonderland: blue and white
Take time for you: blue/white
Crafting for all seasons: blue and white

I'm also entering this into the following challenges:

Crimbo crackers 8: no people or animals
Christmas inspirations 40: anything goes
Stamp, scrap & doodle: die cut or punches
Paper and such: card with non-traditional colours
Gingersnap GC134 spicy supply challenge: ribbon
Paper pretties 191: use ribbon or twine
Frosted designs fabulous Friday challenge: ribbon and/or twine
All kinds of cards 46: stars
PanPastel UK 3: glitter and glitz
Robyn's fetish 92: sparkle and shine
The pixie cottage 106: clean and simple
Challenge up your life 64: monochrome
Allsorts 140: free and easy pt 1
Bizzy Becs January: anything goes
Sparkles forum Christmas challenge: anything goes
Die cuttin' divas 50: anything goes
Lollipop crafts 65: anything goes
My craft spot 43: anything goes
Victorine: anything goes
Party time Tuesday 53: anything goes
Divas by design 20: anything goes
Craft us crazy 20: anything goes
Do you stack up 57: anything goes
The poodles parlour: anything goes
52 card pick up week 5
Inspire me Fridays 44
Make it Monday 74