The Big Challenge on Carolyn's

Firstly, although I know this is a blog to share my crafty outlook, I just wish to say that I was so glad to be well enough to go out to church this morning. Since coming back home, my back is really playing up and I'm waiting for the second lot of painkillers for the day to kick in, but, hey, I managed to get to worship with my church family.

Thanks (mainly) to Sue, yesterday the Big Challenge started - a week of crafting challenges. Whilst the FA cup, followed by rugby, was on, I ploughed my way through some of the challenges.

Challenge 1: Make a card incorporating a buckle:


Challenge 3: Make 3 men's cards:



Challenge 4: Make something to hang, incorporating a word or phrase (my photography is not good!):

Challenge 5: Make a card using the same stamp or embellishment at least three times:

Challenges 2 and 6 are yet to come - involving a mini album. I tried to start one using a kit I bought with some others a while ago and the rub ons wouldn't rub on (!) so I ruined the front of the book. One made by me is on its way ...

Earlier this afternoon I did:

Challenge 7: Make a card for no reason (i.e. not for birthday etc):

Challenge 8: Make a LO according to the given template:

And a scrapbook challenge

Bex has challenged us to do a LO on an advert with the optional twist of a link with music.

My advert is the shake n vac which was an advert with Jenny Logan dancing along to the lyrics of the jingle (which is printed at the bottom). I did this as a digi-scrap.

A quick hello ...

... to show a card I've just finished for the latest template challenge on Just Bex

This is the template:




And my interpretation of it:

Some crafting at last

It doesn't seem three days since I blogged - how time flies, even if you don't seem to be doing or achieving very much.

I managed last night (finished off this morning) to do the DLO on Nicky's CJ in Carolyn's group - I really enjoyed doing it - there is some secret journalling on it, but I'm not revealing it because the CJ isn't being returned yet.



I did the next card for a card package swap on Bubbly Funk Forum, from the lovely bits that Karen sent me - I enjoyed doing this card. I also made my card and sent the bits off to Ann, but I can't show my card until Ann has done hers. The idea is to use the same bits and see how the cards differ (or not).


The next three cards are being submitted to the 'Think Pink' challenge on Just Bex (I hope they qualify).



The scan on the next one makes it look like a blue surround, but it is actually a silvery white.

I've also finished off my four cards for the monthly swap that Melissa is hosting on Carolyn's - and the theme is 'pink' (and they are four different cards from the above - but I don't think I can show them yet).

Not too good a day today

I'm not feeling brilliant today. The pain in the back isn't too bad today, but I just don't feel too good in myself.

Nevermind - I managed this afternoon (once I'd surfaced into the day!) to make an altered notebook for a 'something different' swap on Carolyn's being organised by the lovely Melissa called 'secret sender'. And because it's a secret who it's going to, I can't show it here!

Apart from that I've managed to bag up and label a few cards that needed just bits put on them, but nothing worth showing on here.

Nothing new today

Nothing crafty achieved today (not much achieved today fullstop!). I did manage to go over to see mum this afternoon for a brief visit (because she wasn't well enough to come to us yesterday). I didn't stay long and was really tired and achy when I got back home.

This evening I've sat with my lap tray and tried to bag up and label a few cards that had been done quite a while ago (don't like doing these bits, so it tends to get left) - I haven't got very far, partly because it's quite boring and partly because I just don't feel like doing much.

The LOs below are a couple I did for challenges on Just Bex forum. The first one is 'Where I'm at' and the second one is 'Who inspires you?' I used one of my new swirl stamps from Tanda in a light pink, but it doesn't really show up on the scan.

And this is another one done earlier for the Halfmap challenge - something quite different.

Maybe I'm beginning to be a scrapbooker (at last!)

Scraplift

And this is for the Scraplift challenge - armchair crafting today has been fun, despite the pain in the back that just won't go away.

Ad Inspiration

This is for another challenge on Just Bex - a LO inspired by an advert. This is based on that one that's often on before Corrie, with the policewoman - ad for Cadbury's melts. The expression on our grandson's face just seemed to be saying this!

Dipping my toes ...

into scrapbooking - only dabbled in this from time to time (mainly just circle journal LOs). Most of my paper crafting till recently has been cardmaking, but I must say that I quite like the idea of scrapbooking - it means that I can keep the results!

So, I'm still very much at the 'dipping my toes' in the water stage, but this is what I've made for one of the challenges Jen set on Just Bex. It was to spin the colour wheel and create a LO with the three given colours. The colours I got were turquoise, blue and green - which, I must say, I was pleased with, particularly as I had some K-ology papers that fitted that colour scheme perfectly. The picture is a favourite one of two of our granddaughters.

I got up this morning and tried to get ready to go to church, but in the end had to admit that I felt too poorly and so I stayed at home. So I really wasn't up to doing anything until after lunch. I'm now off to take some more tablets and sit in my armchair, hopefully to do a bit more crafting later.

Jen's challenge on Just Bex

These are my three cards for Jen's challenge on Just Bex. The final card is using the 'spin the colour wheel' - pale lilac, deep purple and deep rose pink (hope it qualifies!)

A man's card

This is a card I did a couple of years ago. The only reason I'm showing it here is because someone on Carolyn's was asking for ideas for men's cards and I told her about this one and hosting here is a way of being able to show her the picture. (I think I added a hammer after the scan.)

My new lap desk

Because of the problems with my back, I'm having to sit in my armchair a lot. My mum gave me the money to buy a nice posh lap desk from Lakeland so that I can do some crafting in relative comfort. It's just been delivered!

In case you wonder, 'tis not me in the picture - it's from the Lakeland site.

I managed last night to do my card for the Chinese whisper group, but I can't show it here because we have to wait for everyone in the group to finish.

Just Bex Sue's competition

I don't feel up to much today, but decided I'd have a go at Sue's card template competition on Bex's forum.

As often is the case, the card didn't turn out exactly as planned in my head (although tbh I rarely have a fixed plan!), but I think I'm quite pleased with it. I used some of my precious Far East stack (added a bit more colour here and there with Color Box chalk inks). The flourish in the corner is a 'fancy pants' rub on which I received in a RAK from a kind member of the group on Carolyn's.


I'd like to take part in some of the challenges set on Bex's - I had no chance of getting anything done by the original deadline over the weekend, but perhaps I might be able to achieve something by the revised deadline of this coming Sunday.

Thanks for the comments and good wishes I've received. I wish I could say that I feel much better, but nevermind, I'll keep taking the tablets!

Circle Journal dlo

This fractured vertebra is a pain in the ... The last few days haven't been too good and last night was one of the worst. I managed to go out to church this morning, but feeling ... now!

I've finished the dlo on Jake's CJ on Carolyn's, which came to me from Paperlily. I'm not sure whether I should be showing this here or not (whether we're waiting for a big 'reveal', but I thought I'd sneak it in.) What had been done on the journal so far was quite elaborate, so I think my offering is quite understated, but nevermind. You can't tell from the picture, but I went over the mask with Glossy Accent, which looks quite good.

It took me ages to decide what music to focus on, but in the end I chose Phantom because both the story and the music itself is so moving. And it brings back very happy memories. At the end of December 1996 John celebrated his 60th birthday and I secretly booked a London hotel and tickets for Phantom.

The words on this page are some of the lyrics from the song 'All I ask of you'.

I'm now off to take more painkillers and hope that perhaps a bit later I can do a bit of armchair crafting to try and take my mind off how I feel.

Just one card

Just one card to show - over the past couple of days haven't felt like crafting or blogging, but this card is one that I needed to make for a friend's birthday. She loves blooms and loves pink, so I hope it fits the bill. It also fulfilled the criteria for the CAC003 BOB on Carolyn's (a challenge set by Sue), so I submitted it there.

I notice the Rachel (turtletres) has put her latest bloom card on Bumbleberries, so I think I'll also show this on there.

I'm hoping later today to be able to do the dlo on the CJ for the group on Carolyn's - the theme is 'music that moves you' and I'm still undecided as to exactly what to do for it.

And here is one of the ATCs I did last week for the swap on Carolyn's:

Just realised how well the flowery card goes with the colours of my blog!

Get well cards

A quick blog to show two cards I made recently (the cards are white textured, not showing well on scan). Carolyn has asked if anyone knows of any embellishments suitable for a doctor's graduation card. I think the embellies on the top card would be suitable. I wish I could remember the manufacturers of these - I've had them for ages and only used them the other day, otherwise I could have sent the pack to Carolyn.

I remember where I bought them and will be going to the shop in a day or two to pick up my Making Cards magazine, so I'll look to see if they still stock them.

Zebra and 4" x 4" swap (no, I'm not joining the Chelsea set!)

I made this card last night for the 'make a cut' rubber stamp challenge on Carolyn's, using a Rubbadubbado zebra stamp that I've had for a while and not used. The card is cut away on the right (the stripy band is inside).

Today I've been finishing off five 4" x 4" for a swap on UKStampers. We were asked to use at least one of the following on each one: something sheer (I used acetate), metallic, embossing (I used dry) and alcohol inks (which I love playing with).

These are the results (with big apologies for the awful photos - thought I'd get my digi camera out so that results would be better than scans, because of bits sticking up, but, ummmm, maybe I should stick with scanning! Some of them don't even look square on here, but IRL they are!):



This one was using red pepper and pearl alcohol inks and the embossed square has been done with one of the cuttlebug embossing dies.


This one uses a blend of red pepper, mushroom and a hint of butterscotch alcohol inks and the corner pieces are metallic.

This one is an acetate that was already embossed with the silver leaves, to which I then added the various flowers (some are metallic) with brads.

This piece of acetate already had silver flowers embossed on it. I lightly daubed the acetate with wild plum alcohol ink and then mounted on an embossed silver square, adding the brads and various flowers.

And the last one is a piece of silver metal, embossed with a cuttlebug folder, coloured with wild plum alcohol ink and studded here and there with purple jewels.

Cards to send today

Thanks, everyone, who's visited and left encouraging comments.

I've been back to the GP about the osteoporosis and am waiting now for a date for a bone density scan to see how bad things are. I've agreed to try the weekly tablet instead of daily (GP thinks the effects on digestion will be no worse). And the GP has given me stronger pain relief (reluctantly I've agreed - was already on fairly strong ones).

Anyway, enough of me! I've managed over the last few days to finish off my ATCs for the swap on CBC, with the theme of 'gentle giant'. I can't show them here because I forgot to scan them and anyway, we usually wait for them to be revealed after Wendy's got them all in and ready to send out.

Over at Tanda Stamps forum there has been an April ATC paisley swap. I hadn't signed up because at the moment it's hard to know whether I'd be able to meet deadlines, but I've been playing around with various paisley patterns and finished off two ATCs this morning and have got them in the post. I think I can show these here because I know that someone else on Tanda has put hers on her blog.

The scans don't look as good as irl, but I'm quite pleased with them. I used a mixture of alcohol inks: butterscotch, stream and wild plum, with just a hint of pearl dabbed on afterwards. I then ran the card through the big shot, using the paisley embossing plate and then swiped Stazon black over so it picked up on the raised embossed surface. Then I just added the organza ribbon, label and brads.

Sadly today I needed to send two sympathy cards, so these are two very simple ones:

I just used some papermania embossed stickers - it looks as if they're mounted on black, but it's in fact a matt silver with a bit of a sheen.

On a happier note, we heard yesterday of the birth of a baby boy, so I sent this card today (it was already made, so no big effort):



I also sent a silver wedding anniversary card (already made):




The tag background is actually silver, not blue as it looks on the scan.

And finally, I sent one of my square shirt cards for a friend's birthday tomorrow.

Today has been a really new experience for me. Because of my back trouble I haven't been able to give the kitchen and bathroom a really good clean, so we had two lovely ladies in today to do everything, including cleaning two ovens! I've been increasingly finding housework very difficult, so it looks as if we might have some cleaning done on a regular basis.

It seems that I need to get adjusted to a bit of a new phase of life.

By the way, I've been asked about my picture in Hello magazine - when I've got the time and energy (and John's help with boxes) I'll dig out pictures and scan. John and I were in most of the national dailies, the Sunday papers, Hello, OK, Country Life and a few other publications - and we were on TV at the time. That's got you guessing!

Variation on a theme

I made this new home card last night (finished off with the prima today). It's just a variation on the theme of the template of CAC002 on CBC, using one of the lovely Vanessa Arbuthnott papers from The English Paper Company.

I haven't felt too good today, so nothing much else to say, except boring stuff which shouldn't spoil this space!

I've been tagged ...

... by Jukie (http://montysmumscraftretreat.blogspot.com/)

(My first time of being tagged!)

Apparently you have to do seven fact/habits about yourself then tag another seven ( I am sorry but I am only doing what I am told to do!)

So here we go:

1. When I was younger I had driving lessons, but didn't take my test because I was afraid of passing!

2. I had my photo in Hello magazine.

3. I never iron until it's absolutely necessary (I used to love ironing when I was young, but the novelty wore off!)

4. I've lived in eleven different homes.

5. I hate hospitals and doctors, but I love watching Casualty and Holby City.

6. I've been to twenty different countries, but nowhere in the last two years (I think my travelling days might well be over).

7. I've sung a solo in the Royal Albert Hall.

So now I need to tag seven other people - Carol, Carolyn, Bex, Adele, Saffa, Debbie and Rosie - consider yourself tagged!!

A feeble effort ...

... is better than nothing.

On CBC there is a challenge to create a card from a template (or should I say 'SWOT' - Sue W Original Template).

As you know, life is pretty difficult at the mo, but I sat in my armchair last night and started these simple cards and have finished them off today.

Sorry that the scans are terrible - must get my digital camera out some time soon and practise taking photos of my cards (couldn't be worse results than the scans). The scanner doesn't like anything that's raises, like buttons.

Thank you for all the kind, encouraging comments left over the past week or two.