Clean & Simple ~ FTL 125

Hi Everyone!
A really quick post today to show you my card made for the sketch challenge over at Clean & Simple........................ FTL 125

Instead of colouring the whole image, I used the thin end of my marker pens and gently 'stroked' lots of lines to colour all the different flowers and leaves.......I quite like the effect it gives!


supplies
stamps - Bella Toile, SAB So Happy For You
markers - Old Olive, Baja Breeze, Rich Razzleberry, Pumpkin Pie, Pink Pirouette & Crumb Cake.
card - Baja Breeze, Pumpkin Pie, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, Sahara Sand & Whisper White
ink - Basic Black

see you soon,
Carol xxx

Pucker Up!!

Yes Lovelies, it's nearly that time of year again!! As Valentine's Day is fast approaching I thought it was about time I made a card for my Husband.............although we will be celebrating our 30th Wedding Anniversary later this year, I still enjoy making him something nice for the day and here is what I have concocted for this year........ ;-D

A little heart treat cup containing some sweeties which, ..........................he won't be eating because I daresay they contain gelatine! They were the only ones I had in the house and I really wanted to see how it looked, so I made it up anyway! I have sourced some sweeties online that are gelatine free so when they arrive I will make a replacement.

And the card........................

I am also entering these into the SUO Challenge 11 which is Valentine's Day Creations!

We are just about to have our dinner so I will be back later with the supplies list!

supplies
card - Rose Red, Real Red, Pretty in Pink, Basic Black & Whisper White
DSP - Rose Red from the 12 x 12 Subtles stack
inks - Basic Black
stamps - I Heart Hearts, Basic Phrases, Tiny Tags
punches - Full Heart Ex-Large, Word Window, Heart Small, Jewellery Tag Medium, Heart to Heart
ribbon - Real Red 1/8" taffeta, Pretty in Pink 3/8" taffeta, Basic Black 1.1/4" striped grosgrain
Basic Rhinestones

Dinner was lovely by the way! Stew & Dumplings......yummy :-)

See you soon,
Carol xxx

The best laid plans...............

I'm sure you can all relate to my post today! Just sometimes the 'best laid plans' can all go pear shaped, and........................for the most unusual reasons!!

On Wednesday evening my hubby made us both a lovely salad which was delicious! After we had finished I cleared away the plates and went to pop them in the dishwasher. I bent down to pull out the basket at the bottom..................................and then I couldn't get up again!!! The pain was excruciating and I really don't know how I made it back to the lounge. I took some strong pain killers and hoped they would do the trick. I could not have made it to the car let alone have sat in it for the journey to the A&E and my hubby was so worried he called the ambulance!! It turns out that I have damaged(twisted) my sciatic nerve and am now on 600mg Co-Codamol with 400mg Ibuprofen.............................not only does that take away the pain it also makes me feel a bit tipsy too ;-D

To cut a long story short the events of Wednesday meant that I had to cancel my mini class on Thursday evening................sorry again ladies but you will have chance to do the M&T's at some point! and here they are.................................
This little 4 x 4 was inspired by the lovely Joanne.........I love her style, make sure you have a good browse through her blog while you are there!

And the following card was inspired by lovely Monica...................mad as a box of frogs but I love her to pieces!!!
I adjusted the sizes for my Twisted Easel card so that it would fit into some old 5 x 7 envelopes that I had left in my stash, and I've used the lovely 'Bliss' set to decorate it.

Last Saturday I went to the home of a lovely lady to introduce her to the fabulous hobby that we all love. She found me via the demo website and has never tried papercrafting before so wanted 1 to 1 tuition. These are the projects that I took for her to have a try at.....................


Unfortunately we ran out of time for the little scrapbook page but we will concentrate on that next session! we will start with the page and see if we have time left for any cards. If you would like to start papercrafting but are daunted by being part of a group then why not get in touch and arrange your own 1 to 1 lesson! It's good fun ;-D

I hope to feel up to crafting tomorrow............................I have 50 swaps to make for training next Sunday!!!

See you soon..........
Carol xxx

Fuzzy.......but all there!!

Sounds like I might be describing myself in the title!! but I am actually referring to the photo's ;-)
I have a good camera but it has been very dismal again today, couple that with the fact that I didn't get home until about 3.20 and by that time the lighting was awful!!

These are two more cards to go with the one I made the other day and will be housed in a matching box.
Choc Chip, Old Olive & Rose Red along with the fabby 'Sweet Summer' stamp set from the Sale-a-Bration promotion, which you could have FREE with a spend of £45 from the main catalogue!............let me know if you would like to place an order and achieve your free set.

I still have not finished the box!! I must do it this evening as I will want to show the ladies at Stamp Class tomorrow evening....................there WILL be a pdf tutorial to purchase for this set.......just a few more days.........hopefully! I will let you know when it's ready and pop it in the side bar ;-)

See you soon, take care.....
Carol xxx

One card, three challenges!

Hello Lovelies,
I took a few minutes this morning to create this little card for some challenges I found over the last few days......... Just Add Ink, Clean & Simple and Stampin' Up! Only!

I always loved doing the challenges around the web and loved visiting you all when I was part of several design teams before joining SU as a Demo. Just Add Ink is 'Monochromatic'..... Clean & Simple is a 'Sketch'........... and SUO is 'Welcome Baby'...........



supplies
Stamps - SAB Punch Bunch
card - Melon Mambo, Pretty in Pink
DSP - Pretty in Pink (from the Subtles stack)
Ink - Melon Mambo, ( ink pad & marker)
Pretty in Pink taffeta ribbon
Punches - Small Tag, Fancy Flower, Corner Small

I'm off now to finish designing the stuff for my Tuesday Stamp Class want to come?? and also to start getting together the bits & bobs needed for my first 'One to One' tuition next Saturday! very exciting ;-D.

In the meantime if you are hoping to see the 'rosebuds' and 'spiky leaves' that I promised............I haven't forgotten! just not had time yet..............you know how it goes!!!!
I have since found that the lovely Linda has a tutorial for the roses on her blog.......she is much more particular and tidy! than I was with mine, but they were made in a very similar fashion so it might be an idea to pop over and have a look at those!
I haven't forgotten about the tutorial for the box either.........again, just a time issue!!

Have a lovely weekend and I hope to see you very soon ;-D
Carol xxx

Card 1 - Box Bundle

Hi Everyone, I really should be getting ready for work but I thought I would pop on and quickly show you the first card for my Box Bundle................


Using the gorgeous Sweet Summer set from the Sale-a-Bration leaflet and colours of Rose Red, Chocolate Chip and Old Olive.

Enjoy your day and I'll see you soon ;-D

Carol xxx

The prototype.....A Bounce and then lunch!

Hello Everybody ;-D
Been a bit out of sorts again the past couple of days! IBS this time!!! so I have not been very crafty!

But I'm back today with a prototype of a box that will be part of my new tutorial.............

Rather un-pretty at the moment, but this is just my 'mock up' the real one will be much prettier I can assure you! I've designed this box to house some A6 cards and envelopes and they will be part of the tutorial too! At the moment I'm not sure how long it will take to make the whole ensemble, but I hope to be back with it by the end of the week!! So watch this space :)

While I'm here I couldn't resist showing you a couple of pictures of my gorgeous Granddaughter Louise............. It doesn't seem five minutes since Danielle was bouncing with Tigger! and now Lou is enjoying it.......................

and of course after all that excercise it's time for some lunch..........................


She absolutely loves her food! A whole pot of Hipp Organic Cottage Pie and two Little Stars Fromage Frais, equals................... one very happy baby! She ate almost as much for her tea too.....I do love to see children eating well ;-)

Well, that's about it for now! I hope you will pop back to see the tutorial when it's done and in the meantime you may want to have a go at my Sketch Challenge....................see you soon......

Take Care,
Carol xxx

The Snooze worked.......!!

Hi Folks,
I'm not feeling so good at the moment. I have a rotten cold and find it very hard to sleep at night because I can't breathe properly, so earlier on I had a little snooze on the sofa and.................it worked wonders! So..............I made a card ;-D

This is the same layout as I used on these two cards and the reason for this is that this will be my new sketch for my latest challenge which goes live at 5 o'clock tomorrow.

Did you know I have my own sketch challenge blog called Carol's Sketch Fun? Why not pop over and have a look..........Tomorrow at 5 is when the new sketch goes up and each fortnight I randomly pick a winner for a little prize! You can use whatever materials you wish, it doesn't have to be Stampin'Up! images but of course if you have some of our lovely stamps then you are more than welcome to use them for the challenge ;-D Hope to see you there!

supplies
card - Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Whisper White
DSP - Rich Razzleberry
stamps - Bliss SAB set, Tiny Tags
inks & markers - Rich Razz, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie
punches - 1" Circle, 1.1/4" Circle, Jewellery Tag
extras - 5/8" Organza ribbon, Basic Rhinestones

Thanks for your visit today, I hope you will pop over to my sketch blog tomorrow at 5 and join in this fortnight.....
Take Care & see you tomorrow....

Carol xxx

White is White.........

Morning all ;-D

I didn't get chance to pop back with my challenge card yesterday, I thought I should get some housework done instead!! Over at Cupcake Craft Challenges they have a 'White is White' challenge running at the moment which involves your project being predominantly white..........

I've stuck to a very clean & simple design for this little 4 x 4...........but what about the gorgeous yellow in the form of Daffodil Delight!! I have managed to keep predominantly white, but just thought I would add a splash of colour and the yellow is right out of my comfort zone..............although.....................I have seen some beautiful uses of this colour around the websites when I've been hopping!

supplies
card - Whisper White
ink & ribbon - Daffodil Delight
stamps - Punch Bunch SAB
punches - Scallop Circle, 1.3/4" Circle, Scallop Trim Border
Basic Pearls

Whilst I am here I would also like to show you a card made with another stamp from the aforementioned set - 'Punch Bunch' which also includes a set from the main catalogue 'On a Pedestal' that hasn't seen ink for a while! I used the fabby Colour Coach again for the colour combo..........I'm loving the fact that choosing is so simple...........I would sometimes spend ages deciding on which colours to use and now I don't have to!

supplies
card - Melon Mambo, Basic Grey
DSP - Old Olive
stamps - Punch Bunch SAB, On a Pedestal
punches - Scallop Square, Scallop Trim Corner & Border
extras - 5/8" Organza Ribbon, Basic Pearls

I'm back at work today so no card making (or housework!!) thanks for popping in and I hope I am helping you with your decisions of which sets you would like to get FREE when placing your orders.If you are anything like me you will just want all four!! ;-D Please get in touch if you would like to place an order, book a workshop or join my team!

See you tomorrow,
Carol xxx

Happy Monday.......

to you all :)

I'm not usually this cheerful on a Monday but of course today is a Bank Holiday so that means not having to go into the office!!! Back to work tomorrow after being off since Christmas Eve is going to be so harsh - aarrh! I LOVE being at home making pretty things with my Stampin' Up! stash ;-D

Onto today's card which is a colour choice of my own.............I love Pink, Black & White together.........................
I've used Punch Bunch & Bliss today.....either of these stamp sets are FREE to you via myself and the fabulous Sale-a-Bration promotion which is running at the moment - with an order from the main catalogue of £45.........are you tempted yet??

I used the Stamp-a-ma-Jig, Basic Black ink and the beautiful flourish from the Bliss set to create my background on Whisper White card. I then added some Melon Mambo ink with the Spritzing Tool and marker. The sentiment topper was stamped with Melon Mambo and the Happy Birthday from Punch Bunch, punched out with the Scallop Square and mounted onto a black mat made with the Scallop Trim Corner Punch.........and the flowers......................

yep!...........these were made with punches too! Scallop Circle for the rose buds and 2step Bird for the spiky leaves.....let me know if you would like instuctions for these and I'll pop them on here another day....they're really simple but sometimes it's good to see step by step. I will be showing my ladies these at my next Stamp Class on the 18th.

I used to join in with lots of challenges prior to joining Stampin'Up! and I found one this morning that I think I will have a try at! and if all goes well I will pop back later and show you. In the meantime enjoy the rest of the Bank Holiday.......

Carol xxx

A quirky little box and a tutorial too!

Hello :)
If you visited yesterday you may have noticed that I mentioned my quirky little box made from the scraps of the previous days creations..... I'm back today to show it to you and to share how I made it................

At 1" square and only 4" tall you may need to find something rather dinky to fit inside!! A rolled up Gift voucher tied with a small piece of ribbon? or maybe a couple of folded lengths of ribbon and a few buttons or brads for a crafting friend? You could of course adjust the height and then it could contain some Emery boards and maybe a Hoof stick.........I'm sure your imagination exceeds mine! if you do make one I would love to know what you are going to put in yours!!

I've just had another thought! .........................yes, my brain does work sometimes ;-) You could make it with Christmas colours/ papers, stick the lid down and just have them as tree decorations............long time till Christmas this year!!! but maybe keep it on the ' to do' list for October! Oh! and what about Wedding favours?? Anyway enough of my incessant babbling..........onto the instructions...............

Box Body
1 pc. card 4.1/4" x 4"
score the 4.1/4" edge at 1" 2" 3" and 4" - add strong glue(Tombow is perfect) to the 1/4" section and glue together.

Lid & Base
Punch two pieces using the Petal Card Punch & make a 1/8" hole in the centre of one piece. Thread narrow ribbon through the hole and attach a Filigree brad as shown. Glue base to box body.

Decorate
1 pc of DSP 4.1/4" x 2" - score as above and glue to centre of box with join at the back. Stamp True Friend and punch out with 1" Circle - layer with dimensionals onto a punched 1.1/4" Circle.
Tie a length of narrow ribbon around lid to keep closed.

I hope you have enjoyed my little tutorial today :) I would be grateful for a link back if you decide to have a go!

Thanks for popping in, see you soon............
Carol xxx

A New 4 x 4................

.........................card!! :)

Did you think I had won the lottery and was referring to a vehicle? If i had won the lottery that would certainly NOT be my first purchase! However, I do have a 4 x 4 card to show you made with the fantastic Punch Bunch set from the current SAB promotion(see banner at top of blog)

A much brighter card to say Hello to 2011.......I hope you had a thoroughly lavish evening if you were partying, we spent ours rather quietly with a couple of cans of lager!!! and some hot 'nibbles'! hey! we KNOW how to live it up!! Anyway........enough rambling.....onto the card...............


I went to my trusty Colour Coach again for this colour combo, it really is a must have tool......so useful in providing colour combos that maybe I would not choose on my own! So, we have Pear Pizzazz, Rich Razzleberry and Tempting Turquoise with a touch of Whisper White for good measure. A few embellishments and 'jobs a good un' ;-D

In fact I liked these colours so much, I made another.................same but different! If you know what I mean!!!
I also made a quirky little box with the leftover scraps which I am saving to show you tomorrow........and that gives me time to write up a FREE tutorial for it as well, so make sure you pop back tomorrow for a 'nosey'!

supplies
card - Rich Razz, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White
DSP - Pear Pizzazz, Rich Razz, Tempting Turquoise (from the colour stacks)
inks - Tempting Turquoise, Rich Razz
markers - Pear Pizzazz, Rich Razz
punches - Scalloped Circle, 1" Circle, 1.1/4" Circle, 1.3/4" Circle
extras - Pear Pizzazz 1/2" stitched poly ribbon, Rich Razz 5/8" Satin, Brights buttons, Brights Flower Brads, Basic Pearls, White Signo Gel Pen, Blender Pen

Thanks so much for your visit today, I hope you enjoy the rest of this New Year's Day and that you are not sporting a sore head!!! See you tomorrow ;-D

Carol xxx