LOTV card for a few challenges

Don't look too close at this card because I think the glue's still a bit wet.  I wanted to post this card that I made this morning because it seems like ages since I've made any cards.  So, time to stop looking through my new crafty stash and start getting down to some serious card making again!

This one is made with my new Lili of the Valley stamps that I bought last week at the NEC show.  I love their new circular sentiment stamps too!  The image has been coloured with pro markers and the papers are some of my neglected Kay & Co papers.  The ribbon slider was from Crafty Emma's Store and the peach flowers are Prisma.  The other bits are from my stash.

TOP TIP: One thing that I forgot to buy at the NEC was blending sponges because I love the soft inked effect around edges of images.  So I thought I'd try make up sponges to see if they were any good - and they worked brilliantly.  At £1.60 these Boots ones were much cheaper than the craft ones.  I think I could probably get them even cheaper next time if I shop around (will try Poundland or somewhere similar).  So, I had a try inking around the edges of this circle.  Its quite subtle and you can only just make it out on this picture.

I am going to enter this card into the following challenges:

Tuesday throwdown - Floral
Top Tip Tuesday - Nature (+ make up sponges tip)
Fab 'n' Funky - Shabby Chic
ABC Challenge - R is for Roses (backing paper and flowers)
Patties Creations - Flowers and pearls
Ambers Crafts - Flowers
Sweet Sketch Wednesday - I used their sketch
Lili of the Valley - Spring

Thanks for looking,

Amanda

My day at the NEC - Hobbycrafts and Sewing Show

So sorry that I haven't been around in blog land this past week  I have been making the most of this unusually nice March weather and spending lots of time outside in the sunshine.  I've been getting the garden tidied up after the winter and getting some seeds planted for my summer plants.  Also, we've been doing a bit of work around the fishpond, which we installed at the end of last year, after replacing our very tiny pond.  The pond has loads of frog spawn in it with hundreds of tadpoles.  I guess the fish will probably feast on the majority of them; unfortunately nature can be cruel at times.

I thought that I'd share with you my crafty stash after spending yesterday at the NEC Hobbycraft/Sewing for Pleasure show.  Once again, I spent far too much money but had a lovely time in the process!

These bags of flowers and beads were a total bargain at just £1.50 per bag!  Stocked up on a few of those .....

I'm really loving Lili of the Valley at the moment and stocked up on some of their lovely circular sentiments, a new background stamp and some rubber stamps.  You can't see them too clear but watch out for them to be appearing in a card on the blog soon ......

In the sewing side of the show there were some amazing creations.  I am always in awe of the talent and skill of some of the exhibitors.  One stand caught my eye in particular - Mandy Shaw's Dandelion Designs.  I just loved the vintage style makes and the bold but muted colours, with a  very English touch.  I had a couple of kits from there - can't wait to get the sewing machine out and start sewing again.  Talking of sewing machines - there were some totally amazing ones there.  The most expensive one I saw was £999 which puts my rather basic machine to shame!  I just loved the little wooden spools of braid which took me back to my childhood - sorting through my nan's sewing box of wooden spools of Sylko threads.

Almost forgot ...... these Tim Holtz tickets were a great find on the Lili of the Valley stand too!

I've got quite a few colours of card candi but I couldn't resist these cute polka dot candi's!

And, aren't these embroidery scissors just the cutest ever!

Need to get shopping and housework done this morning so that I can spend the rest of today playing with my new stash!

Thanks for visiting!

Amanda

Challenge 16 - Craft Your Days Away

It's my turn to set the challenge for the next two weeks at the Craft Your Days Away challenge blog and, as it will be Mother's Day in the UK on 3rd April, I have chosen the theme:

Mother's Day / For a Special Lady

We want to see some pretty, feminine creations this time to celebrate a special lady in your life.  Our sponsor for this challenge is our very own CYDA DT member Shelley whose on-line shop, One Stop Card Crafts, is offering a great £10 voucher for a lucky winner. 

And, don't forget that if you'd like the chance of being a Guest Designer with us, just add GD after your name on your entry.

Here's a side view of my card - I think that I've seen them called stair step cards or just step cards.  You can find the tutorial and sizing HERE at the LOTV Ideas to Inspire blog - they are really easy to make and take hardly any paper too! 

The papers I have used are from Anna Griffin and the rubber stamped image is by Lili of the Valley.  It has been coloured with pro markers and I've added some Glamour Dust glitter.  The label is a shapeabilities die with some rub0ons to make the message.  The swirls die is a Sizzlit and all other bits are from my stash.

I am going to enter this card into the following challenges:

Crafty Catz - Mother's Day

The Stamp Man - Mother's Day/Floral

Stampin' for the Weekend - Mother's Day

Art Impressions Stamps - Use punches (Woodware grass punch + dies & nesties)

Do you stack up? - Add a bow

Pink Gem Challenge blog - Anything but a square

Thanks for looking and don't forget to join in with us and Craft Your Days Away!

Amanda





A Welcome win and a blog award

I love going to the craft show at the NEC Birmingham and spent way too much money when I went there last November.  With that in mind, I was thinking of giving the March show a miss, so as to give my pennies a chance to build up again!  However, I did enter a competition a few weeks ago and I was surprised that I won 2 tickets for the show next week!  I guess that I'll just have to go now - I need to hunt down the back of the sofa, under the bed, behind the fridge to see if I can find any lost £20 notes to add to my craft show fund, ha! ha! 

I've also had another award from blogging buddy Jasmina.

So, I need to:

• Thank Jasmnia at Dreamy Land for the award - thank you!
• Tell you 7 things about myself:
• Favourite singer is Pink
• I sing Pink songs (badly) when I'm in the car alone!!!
• Favourite TV show is Desperate Housewives
• I love staying home - I'm not a going out person!
• My stamp collection is getting way too largeand needs to be thinned down.
• I am trying to decide where to spend my summer holiday this year but can't decide - any suggestions?
• Favourite food - probably jacket potato with cheese
• Now I need to pass the award on to 15 other bloggers - I'll have to have a think on that one and get back to you!

Must start preparing a shopping list for next week's craft show at the NEC!

Amanda

New old-style little ted and crochet update

Time for What's on my Work Desk Wednesday and join in with the weekly Show and tell.  So, on today's work desk/dining table there's my new (to me) Whiff of Joy rubber stamps that I got from ebay last week, together with a card that I made with one of them (see the post below this one), some stamped images ready to colour and my blue pencil case/crotchet bag.  The purple lidded box is my new storage solution - its what the clothes washing liquid capsules come in - the boxes are see through, quite sturdy and are just the right size for my bling and other bits 'n' bobs.  Doing my bit for recycling too!

Here's a close up of my new stamps - I know that the middle one is Shopping Willow but I don't know the other two ... Willow something or another I'd guess.

So in my pencil case there's a little sneak peek of the little teddy I finished yesterday.  It is made of mohair and is about 3.5" tall.  The ball of white crochet thread was a Hobbycrafts bargain and was only about £1.50.

In Sunday's post I said that I would let you know how I got on with teaching myself to crochet flowers - well, here's the result.  As a compete crochet novice I'm really please with how they've turned out.  The pastel ones are done with 4-ply wool and the smaller white one is done with the crochet thread.  All were done on a 2mm hook.  I prefer the white one because the thread is much finer - look out for them appearing on a card soon!

Here's a couple of close ups of the little teddy.......

Just the right size to hold in your hand for a mini hug!

Thanks for visiting today!

Amanda

My new Whiff of Joy stamp

Today's card is made with one of the "new to me" Whiff of Joy stamps that I purchased from ebay the other day.  I think it is called Shopping Willow.  I love my Tilda stamps but I think the Willow designs are great for more "grown up" designs.

I have coloured the image with pro markers and used papers by My Mind's Eye and Pink Petticoat.   The stitching is a bit wonky but I guess that adds to the hand made feel!  I have used some prima flowers to make the focal flower - I misted them with water, scrunched them up then let them dry.  They dried in the scrunched up shape and I think they look more like how a real flower bud opens.  I'll definitely use that trick again!  The rest of the flowers are old ones from my stash, from when I did my floristry qualifications.  I used to use them on wedding "things".

I am going to enter this card into the following challenges:

Secret Crafter - Flowers for Mum

Little Claire's - Flowers

Friday Sketchers - I used their sketch

Gingerloft - Flowers

Simon Says Stamp - Anything goes

That's it for today - I'm off to practise some crochet.  I am just teaching myself and will let you know how I get on with it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Amanda

New Little Scruffy Bear

Here's the scruffy little ted that I finished last night.  It has been in my sewing bag for about 6 months - I bought a piece of sparse mohair, cut the pattern out and started to stitch it together.  Then I put it to one side and it has been left unfinished for weeks. 



The reason I stopped making it was because I didn't like it at all.  You need to remember that the fur all over the face was long at it just looked like some kind of "yeti" monster.  When I was finally fed up of the pieces hanging aroung my sewing box I decided to stuff the head and crack on with finishing it.  After I had trimmed the fur to create the face things were starting to take shape.

Now that it is finished I'm starting to really like it but I can't decide how I want to finish it.  I tried a lace collar, then a little key necklace , but I am also thinking about it would make a nice fairy teddy.  I thought that I could make some butterfly wings from acetate and glitter them up and add a few flower and fairy things.  What do you think? 

The trouble is, my teddy bear's always seem to look like little boys but I think that with a bit of work this one could be made into a little girl.

If I change it, I'll put some more pics on the blog to show you what I've done.  Off to play with some new Whiff of Joy stamps that arrived today - had a bit of an ebay day the other day!

Thanks for stopping by!

Amanda



Cherry Kisses Shopping Card

I could say that this was my favourite image by Pollycraft, but I would be lying.  The truth is that I love them all and don't think I could pick a favourite.  Pollycraft are probably my biggest collection of digi stamps and this image, Cherry Kisses Shopping, is a great one to use for girlies of any age.

Like so many of us crafters I am on a mission to use up some of my paper stash because I have so many.  There are stacks of papers squirreled away all around - some in the blanket box, some in my craft drawers, some in the unit under the aquarium, some in a bag in the bedroom ... I could go on an on!  I guess that I would be amazed at how much there is if I actually were brave enough to put it all together in one huge pile!  Anyway, these are some of my "ooh, I forgot I had those" papers.

Here's what I've used for my card:

Image - Cherry Kisses Shopping by Pollycraft, coloured with Pro Markers

Papers - DCWV and (stripey paper) Pink Petticoat

Sentiment Stamp - Stamps Away

Paper flowers and glitter brad - Papermania

Glitter - Glamour Dust

All other bits n bobs from my stash

I am going to enter this card into the following challenges:

Craft your passion - Anything goes

Cupcake Craft - Pink polka dots

Paper playtime - Anything goes - use a digi

Allsorts - Card for a teenager

Sweet Stop - I used their sketch  

Pixie Dust - Polka Dots

Stamp Something - use a digi

Thanks for stopping by!

Amanda

Another blog award

I have been lucky enough to have another blog award this week.  Jasmina over at Dreamy Land left me a lovely comment to say that she's passing this blog award on to me.  It really makes my day when I read the comments that you leave on my blog and to see that I have almost 200 followers now - WOW!  - now, that is real inspiration to me!

Here goes then .... The main purpose of this award is to bring to life bloggers who are creative, make wonderful creations, but have less than 300 followers.

The rules of this award are:

1.) Create a post where you blog about the Liebster love award and choose 3-5 blogs to pass this award to.

2.) Let these bloggers know you passed this award to them.

3.) Copy and paste this award on your blog

Here's who I would like to pass my award to:

Missy B - Always good for a crafty conversation and her cards for Little Claire's are so lovely.
Charity Crafter - Leigh's blog is a great place for inspiration and tips for crafting on a budget. 
Susie's Card Making Adventure - I just love to visit her blog to see the lovely cards.

Thank you once again to Jasmina for the award - back soon with a card or two!

Amanda

Craft Your Days Away #15

Here's my card for today's challenge over at Craft Your Days Away.  We had some lovely entries for our sketch challenge - pop over to the challenge blog to see who the lucky winner is and the Top 3 and Guest Designer spot. 

I've gone with a complete change of style for this card - no image, no glitter and no pro markers for once!!!  Our challenge for the next two weeks has been set by DT member Lisa and it is:

BLACK & WHITE

We are being sponsored by our regualr sponsor for this challange - Simon Says Stamp.  They are offering a $10 voucher for the winner of our Black & White challenge.

Onto the card now .... the paper is by DCWV and I made a pleated flower with it, layering it up onto a nestabilities scallop circle.  The flowers are really easy to make - basically taking a length of pleated paper, joining the two ends to make a pleated tube, then pushing the one end into the centre and glueing it down to create the flower shape.  If that's totally confused you I've found a video tutorial HERE that might explain it easier than I do!  I've used a Sizzix texture plate to emboss the black card, added a bit of faux stitching and an old button with a bit of garden string for a bow.

I am going to enter this card into the following challenges:

Cupcake Craft - Anything but a square

Fun with shapes and more - Happy Birthday (use die cut/punch)

4 Crafty Chicks - Stitching - real or faux

Don't forget to join us at Craft Your Days Away and thanks for looking!

Amanda

Pretty Pink Tilda

I am a little late posting this card that I said I'd made - after work I have been to visit my grand father who has celebrated his 89th birthday today.  Unfortunately, he is quite poorly and the years are starting to show now.  I was just happy that I was able to see him on his birthday and share a "wee dram" of Teachers whisky on his birthday with him (his favourite tipple!).  I made a card for him but was in a bit of a late minute rush and didn't take a picture.

I am back to my favourite girly and glitter!  This Tilda card is possibly my favourite Tilda stamp and you'll see it in a few place on my blog.  I've coloured it with pro makrers and used my free Wild Rose papers that I had a couple of week's ago.  The puch around the page is by Martha Stewart and the doily die is by Marianne.  The flowers are from Papermania/my stash, as is the sentiment stamp.  The flourish die is a Sizzlits and it has been sprinkled with Glamour Dust.  The hearts embossing folder is from Papermania.

I am going to enter this card into the following challenges:

Just Magnolia - I used their sketch
Wild Orchid - Anything goes
Passion 4 Pro markers - Sugar rush
I did it creations - Punches or dies
Ooh La La - Pink, pink and more pink

Thanks for stopping by!

Amanda