Wednesday 30 July 2014

Shabby Chic Anniversary

Hi Crafters,
I was asked if I could make a Shabby Chic card for a couple celebrating their first Anniversary. Their wedding was the same theme so I hope I got it right. This is the first time that I have attempted this style and I'm not sure that it truly meets all the criteria but this is my version...

 
I found this lovely verse on the internet and just had to make it my focal point. I printed it on to pearlescent cardstock along with the couples names and used my dies to cut them out. I raided my stash of Wild Orchid Craft flowers and lace, swirly bling, doilies, wooden heart and charms. The backing paper was digital but I embossed it with an Embossalicious 'seasonal music' folder and inked all the layers with Vintage Photo DI. The other papers came from two My Minds Eye pads - Heirloom and Madison Avenue. The wooden heart was inked with Victorian Velvet DI and the two metal charms have white acrylic paint added to take away the silver shine. I had to make a box for this one too because it ended up being too fat for the envelope. Here's a side on view...


Challenges I'd like to enter:
TTCRD - Anything Goes
Crafty Catz - #241 Anything Goes
Creative Fingers - #44 Anything Goes
 
Now that it's finished I can say that I quite enjoyed this style but it did take me a while - I spent ages placing layers, moving bits about and trying all sorts of embellishments before I attempted to stick it all down.
 
Well it was quite warm again yesterday and I'm afraid to say that I will be glad when it is cooler, I know some of you like the heat but I'm more of a Gas Mark 5 kind a person rather than a Gas mark 8, lol. :)
See you soon,
 
Lorraine
 

Sunday 27 July 2014

Christmas Card Club #16 - Trees

Hi Crafters,
The weeks soon roll by and it's time for our friendly Christmas Card Club challenge. This time it is Sylvie's turn to choose a theme and she chose ' Trees ' somewhere on your card. Now I thought about making a CAS card this time as I like a challenge :) however it started off as CAS and ended up as slightly more involved. Each time I looked at it I felt I needed to add a bit more of something, anyhow this is how it turned out...


The stamped trees are from an old Papermania stamp set together with the sentiment. I used DI for the land and sky and added some shabby white Frantage to give the impression of snow. The organza ribbon, button and charm are from my stash.
Challenges:
TTCRD - Anything Goes
Papertake Weekly - It's A Jolly Holiday
Crafty Catz - #241 Anything Goes
Completely Christmas - #22 Anything Goes
Sister Act - #67 Anything Goes
Creative Fingers - #44 Anything Goes
CHNC Extra - July Anything Goes
 
Well that's another little Christmas card to pop in my box, it's got quite a few in it now. Pop over to the rest of the CCC ladies (page tab at the top of my blog) and check out what they have come up with this week and get some ideas and inspiration for your own Christmas cards - it's only 150 days away !!!
Thanks for dropping in and saying Hi,....enjoy your Sunday whatever you are up to.
 
Bye for now,
 
Lorraine

Friday 25 July 2014

Land Ahoy ! ..... and some FABULOUS News !!!!!!

Hi Crafters,

This card was made for my great Nephew who was the grand age of SIX yesterday and I do hope that he had a fabulous time.


This Lili of the Valley image, 'Land Ahoy !' was so much fun to colour with my Promarkers and to keep with the nautical theme I thought I'd make a porthole using silver eyelets to surround the image. The background papers are both  freebie digi's that I have had for a long time, the wave die is from La La Land Crafts and I have glittered the top edges. A couple of Doohickey Swirl dies to frame the focal image and some banners cut with a Verve banner die to display his age. I did emboss this with clear embossing powder to make it glossy but it's not showing here. To finish it off I stamped and embossed an LOTV circle sentiment and added large, red brads.
As there are two LOTV products used I would like to enter my card in to their challenge this month.

Sister Act - #67 Anything Goes
Penny Black and More - July challenge - Dies and Punches
Scribble & Scrap - #23 Anything Goes
TTCRD - Anything Goes
Deep Ocean Challenge - #82 Lot of Layers
 

 
Now for the fabulous news !
I had a lovely email a couple of days ago from Kathi who is the co-owner of 613 Avenue Create Weekly Challenge blog asking if I would like to join their Design Team !
Well as you can imagine after I came back down from the ceiling I emailed her straight back and was delighted to accept the post. I have been blogging for nearly a year now and this will be my first DT post and I am so very excited if a little nervous but thrilled to be chosen, thanks Kathi. I will be starting next month so wish me luck !
 
See you all soon,
 
Lorraine
 

Thursday 24 July 2014

More from Angelica & Adam

Hi Crafters,
What happened to the last few days? I blinked and they were gone! I promised to post my other Angelica and Adam cards so here they are now ...



All the cards were made using papers and images from the CD-Rom from Crafter's Companion.
The first card was cut using a SB Grand scalloped circle die and adding an LOTV sentiment.
The second has the SB Eyelet Circle die cut twice and layered on top of each other surrounding Adam and his little kitty friend as he skateboards to the birthday party. I also added some enamel star brads randomly over the background.
The last card shows Angelica ready for her party, complete with sparkling tiara. I placed a doily behind the deckle edged matting and used a Joanna Sheen Butterfly Flourish die ( I love this) to the side. Then I die cut a Cheery Lynn Flower die a few times from the backing papers and layered it up with a punched stamen and another enamel star brad. To finish I stamped some more of those great LOTV sentiment tags and attached those with a star brad.

Hope you are able to enjoy some lovely weather especially now that some of you have children that have finished school for the summer hols.

I'll be back tomorrow with a card made using a fabulous Lily of the Valley stamp.
See you then.

Lorraine

Saturday 19 July 2014

I've been playing with Angelica & Adam again

Hi Crafters,

Over the next few days I am going to be sharing a few cards that I have made using the Angelica and Adam CD-Rom from Crafters Companion. I really do like digital crafting but I also like to mix it up with stamping and 3d embellishments too.


Image and papers - Angelica & Adam CD-Rom
Centura Pearl card
Doily - Magnolia die
Flowers - Flora Doodles Foam Flowers
Mini Button Brads
Sentiment - LOTV
 
The image was a decoupage sheet printed from the CD, hopefully you can see the layers and the foam flowers have been waiting patiently ( about six years, lol ) in my stash for the right project to suit them. I have decided to try and use up some of my accumulated stash instead of buying anything else new. This has been brought about by the fact that my 8' x 11' craft room has just enough space in the centre for my desk chair to wheel in and out from the desk and a path to the door  :P   I have plenty of storage that is being used to the max but the sides seem to be creeping in rapidly. So all the lovely, crafting goodies that I keep getting emails about from various companies are off limits... :(    It's also getting quite frustrating to find things that I know I have but is maybe in a box under a few other boxes and so in the end I don't use it. Wish me luck !
 
I'm entering the following challenges:
 Deep Ocean Challenge - #82 Lots of Layers
Charisma Cardz - #15 Anything Goes
Sister Act - #66 Anything Goes
My Mum's Craft Shop - #19 Summer / Bright Colours
 
 
See you all soon,
 
Lorraine
 
 
 
 
 
 
 



Thursday 17 July 2014

Take Me Away - Tiddly Inks

Hi Crafters.... no I'm not ready to be taken away just yet, although I'm sure that's what my family think sometimes. I'm referring to the gorgeous digital image from Tiddly Inks. I've had her sitting in a folder on my computer for quite a while and thought it was about time that I coloured her up again.


Doesn't she look so relaxed in her bubble bath.
I coloured her with my Promarkers, cut her out and popped her up on foam tape. The background papers are digital but I stamped and heat embossed a Creative Expressions 'Bubbles' stamp with Cosmic Shimmer 'Aurora Crystal Sparkle' embossing powder. Turned out quite cool I think IRL. Her frothy bubbles are Collall glue gel covered in glamour dust and the sentiments come from LOTV.

I'd like to enter the following challenges:
Tiddly Inks Challenge - #136 BFF
Bearly Mine Challenge - Let's Go Digital - July
Scribble & Scrap - #22 Anything Goes
TTCRD - Anything Goes
I Love Promarkers - #228 Girls, Girls, Girls.
Charisma Cardz - #15 Anything Goes
 
 I do hope you are having this lovely weather although I think it's set to be very hot here today.
Thanks for your time and lovely comments recently,
 
See you soon,
 
Lorraine 

Monday 14 July 2014

Stamping Bella - Posh Has A Present

Hi Crafters,
I love Stamping Bella Uptown Girls and there seems to be a stamp to cover most occasions. I only have a few of them but this one has been used quite a lot....Posh Has A Present.


I've coloured her with my Promarkers, teamed her with some pretty Recollections flowers that I bought from Ebay, digital papers and a strip of Stampin' Up pleated ribbon. Quite a simple card really, but bright and fresh.
 
I'm entering these challenges:
Crafty Catz - #239 Flowers
Sister Act - #65 Anything Goes
Creative Fingers - #43 Anything Goes
My Mum's Craft Shop - #19 Summer/Bright Colours
 
Summer has returned to this region today, it's been gorgeous. Hope you enjoyed your day.
 
See you soon,
 
Lorraine

Sunday 13 July 2014

Christmas Card Club #15 - Use A Christmas Teddy.....

.....or maybe a Polar bear?
Teddy's are bears, Polar bears are bears - so same thing, right?

Hi Crafters,
This is the dilemma I had when making my card for our Christmas card club using the theme set by Sue P this time. I didn't own a Christmas Teddy bear stamp or digital image and I didn't want to have to buy one so...     ...firstly I used a magazine freebie stamp that I have had for ages and never used, it's an old DoCrafts one I think. This is actually of a Christmas dog and thought this might pass for a Teddy, but alas the stamp has a lot of shading on it and when I coloured it with my Promarkers I wasn't very happy with how it turned out. Then I remembered a Lily of the Valley stamp in my box called 'Snow Buddies' and this is the only bear I have remotely connected to Christmas, so sorry Sue for changing it up a little but here he is....

I have used my SB hexagon dies, some bakers twine, a Dreamees sentiment, my Promarkers,  Marianne Designs snowflake die and a present charm. The background paper is from a Dovecraft Christmas pad. Here is a close up of the gorgeous bear with his Christmas present - so sweet.


I'm entering into the following challenges:
Completely Christmas - #20 Anything Goes
CHNC Challenge Every Saturday - #185 Glam It Up
CHNC Challenge Extra - July Anything Goes - Christmas
Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge - July Challenge
 613 Avenue Create - #80 Anything Goes
 
Thanks for visiting and do check out the other members of the CCC by clicking on the tab at the top of my blog and seeing what they have come up with this time.
See you soon,
 
Lorraine
 
 
P.S. Here is my poor Christmas Dog reject card...   ...don't laugh too much he's a bit sensitive  :)
 
.... and he definitely doesn't look like he's having the 'most wonderful time' does he?  :/


Saturday 12 July 2014

Patchwork Boat

Hi Crafters,
Hope you are all well. I'm wishing for summer to return to us, the last few days have been like winter :(   We've had rain, high winds and it's been quite chilly.
On to my card for today though and as promised it's the second of the two cards that I made for my Great Nephew.....


One year old - where has that year gone?
For this card I paper pieced the sail boat using some of the many snippets of patterned paper from my ever-growing paper mountain, lol. The stamp is from Woodware and aptly named 'Patchwork Boat', so cute for a young baby card don't you think? I then layered the boat on to a circle and scalloped circle die cut, used some more patterned papers from The Mountain and cut a number '1' from my very useful MFT Die-namics 'By The Numbers' die, added a few pearls, ribbon and some faux stitching.

I'm entering these challenges:
Scribble & Scrap - #22 Anything Goes
TTCRD - Anything Goes
Sister Act - #65 Anything Goes
Creative Fingers - #43 Anything Goes
 
 
Tomorrow I will be here with my creation for our friendly Christmas Card Club, we make a Christmas card every fortnight to lighten the load on us in the run up to December. Hope you can join me then.
 
Bye for now,
 
Lorraine

Friday 11 July 2014

Another Adorable Hobby House Topper

Hi Crafters,

My Great-Nephew is ONE today and so it is safe to share one of the cards that I made for him.


It's another wonderful Hobby House topper and the image is by Sylvia Zet. I used my new MFT Stitched Circle Stax dies, I really love all the stitched dies that are out there at the moment but these are the only ones I have.......for now :)  The layers are a scalloped circle and square SB die, the paper is from Nitwits and the pearls are from my stash. The sentiment was created on the computer and mounted on another scalloped circle to match. I did put some glossy accents on the cherry and candle flame but you can't see it here :(

I am entering these challenges
Creative Moments - #46 Anything Goes/Celebration
CHNC Patterned Paper Challenge  - July Challenge
Deep Ocean Challenge - #81 Add A Sentiment
 
I will be back again tomorrow to share a second card for the same little lad -' Hope you have a fun filled Birthday Nicholas !'
 
Thanks for joining me today, so until tomorrow.....
 
Lorraine

Thursday 10 July 2014

Mo Manning - Big Shoes

Hi Crafters,

I'm back today to show another card that has been waiting in the wings. Now that the recipient has received it I can go ahead and share it with you guys. I have a further 6 cards for you to look at when the timing is right so hopefully over the next couple of weeks I will have plenty to show you.
Here she is, this little cutie is called 'Big Shoes' and comes from Mo's Digital Pencil shop. I think all little girls go through the phase of wearing their mummy's shoes, I know I did.


I had great fun colouring her with my Promarkers and I adore this colour combo (nearly as much as brown and blue together, which is my fave). The patterned paper is a digital freebie and the spotted cardstock comes from Anna Marie Designs. I used a SB Labels Seventeen die for the frame and the border die under the ribbon is a Nellie Snellen die. The sentiment is an old one from DoCrafts.
I'm entering the following challenges:
 
Brown Sugar Challenge - #101 Anything Goes
Sister Act - #64 Anything Goes
Creative Fingers - #42 Anything Goes
Bearly Mine Challenges - Lets Go Digital
Scribble & Scrap - #22 Anything Goes
TTCRD - Anything Goes
Creative Moments - #46 Anything Goes/Celebration
 
Thank you to all who visit me and leave such lovely comments, everyone is an encouragement to me and greatly appreciated.
 
Stop by again soon,
 
Lorraine


Wednesday 9 July 2014

Strawberry Tea from The Hobby House

Hi Crafters,
Today I'm sharing a card made using one of the fabulous toppers from The Hobby House featuring Elisabeth Bell images. These sets of toppers are great for quick cards when you haven't much time for colouring...   ...and that's how it's been here these last few weeks so I've been grateful for the help they provide in creating a beautiful but fast card.

The sweet little image is one of six on the 'Strawberry Tea' topper sheet and they are all so cute. The banner paper is a sheet from the My Minds Eye pad - Summer Splash and the number 2 was cut from the pattern on the other side and covered in glamour dust. I used Spellbinders 'Captivating Squares' die for the frame, organza ribbon to match and some dark red brads.
I'm entering the following challenges:
TTCRD - Anything Goes
Brown Sugar Challenge - # 101 Anything Goes
Sister Act - # 64 Anything Goes
Creative Fingers - #42 Anything Goes
My Mum's Craft Shop - #19 Summer or Bright Colours
 
Thanks for joining me today,
See you all soon,
 
Lorraine

Saturday 5 July 2014

My Take On Yu-Gi-Oh

Hi Crafters,
Thanks for stopping by and looking in, hope you are all well and happily crafting.
I have been busily making all sorts of cards lately but unfortunately I can't share them with you yet as the recipients haven't seen them and I don't want to spoil the surprise for them.  I know that they look at my blog so....
.....I'd like to quickly share with you a card that I made recently for a friend.


These cards are fun to make and I like to layer them up to make the picture as 3D as I can.


Hopefully you can see the layers here on this piccie. I put the image in to the My Craft Studio program and  re-sized it and made the layers then cut them out and voila!
Love the colours on this one and I hope Aron will love his Birthday card.

Bye for now,

Lorraine