My First Christmas Card 2011

I had every intention of starting early and making all my own cards this year......well, it's nearly mid-November and I've just made my first one. It's quite plain, no ribbons or embellishments just a bit of decoupaged mistletoe above the Gorjuss Girl image. My photography skills aren't quite upto David Baileys standard but if you look closely the backing paper is a red and gold sparkly paper, the image is coloured with Promarkers and Prismacolor pencil crayons.

I'm entering this card into the Charisma Cardz Challenge #44 - cutesy

and also into the Winter Wonderland Challenge - Make Your Cards Sparkle.

Time Gentlemen Please.....

It's not very often I make anything with a masculine look to it but I wanted to use a few bits and bobs from a little box of "treasures" I've had since my dad died, nearly 10yrs ago. The little "treasures" are just old buttons, coins and some medals my dad had in a little wooden box. I used to love rooting through this box when I was younger, I haven't changed much as I still love to rummage through "old tat" as some people call it...lol!
I started with a cheap wooden framed mirror I bought about 5yrs ago from that Swedish store....you know!
Covered it with some old dictionary pages, stamped some images and added my bits of treasure to it.

What I Used:
Wooden Framed Mirror
An old dictionary
Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink
PVA Glue
Crafty Individuals Stamp - CI-077 - 3 Wise Gentlemen
Paper Artsy Minis - MN60 - Cogs
Watch and Clockface Stamps (not sure where from)
Clearly Impressed Typewriter Alphabet Stamps - Stampington & Company
World Map Stamp - Travel Set 1 - Tanda Stamps
All Saints Tag
Wine Bottle &Corkscrew Drink Charm
Old Uniform Buttons
Old British Coins
Copper Tape

I'm entering it into the Stampman Challenge this week which is Collage/Collage Background

Altering Boxes Again

This box was actually started months ago and was then put on the shelf to gather dust. It was a challenge on Try it on Tuesday to alter a shoe box. "Oooh! great", I thought, I'd like to join in that one, I love altering boxes and tins.I got as far as covering it with tissue paper and that was it.
The summer came and went and as some of you know I don't get time to craft through the summer, but I rediscovered it a couple of weeks back and felt sorry for it sitting there looking sorry for itself.

It started life as an All Saints shoe box.

It was then covered in PVA glue and tissue paper.

Painted all over with black acrylic paint, sprayed with gold spray paint and then I rubbed it with bronze metallic rub-ons. Added a few Tim Holtz Grungeboard embellishments.

Plus some Tim Holtz box feet and a little drawer knob.

I then decorated the inside with the tissue paper that came with the box, it was too good to throw away.

The box so far .......

I might add a little more to it later. Just have to work out what to use it for now. 

There's a party in the graveyard....

I decided that today was going to be a day for myself, no housework, no shopping, just crafting. I've got a few boxes that I've kept for altering and I decided to alter one today. Halloween always seems to inspire me, especially the creepy things like skeletons and gravestones.
The box was a gift box full of toiletries, I painted it over with black acrylic paint, coloured a piece of card with TH Distress inks and hand drew the tree on it. All the stamps are from Stampotique and the gravestone I made out of Fimo. I rubbed on some silver from the Metalic Rub-ons set so the black acrylic looks like stone. Hope it's not too scary....lol!

I've put a before, making up and after pictures in to show you how I did it.

Covered with black acrylic paint.

Background and stamped images added.

Aclose up of the inside and last but not least, on the back of the box is your very own invitation to the party!!! Hope you can make it.

New Challenge Blog

Want to join in with this new blogs challenges? Go take a look, there's some blog candy on offer too.



Just Inspirational Challenges - off to have a look and get inspired :)

Fraidie Cat.......

It's that time of year again when all the ghouls and goblins are about, yes that's right, it's nearly Halloween, you either love it or you hate it. I love it for the colours if nothing else, orange and black just says Halloween, don't you think?

This is my very first fat page for Cazro's swap on Docrafts. I drew most of it by hand but added the lovely little pumpkin in the corner with a stamp from Stampotique. The background is simply coloured with Tim Holtz Distress Inks, spiced marmalade and mustard seed. The moon was masked out with a circle made from a post-it note. The back of the page is very similar but with less on it and my details.
I'm entering it into the Stampman challenge this week which has a theme of circles.

Happy Halloween all.........



Well, I feel like my mojo is back....

I'm on a roll, two nights crafting in a row and two cards to show for it. September is always a busy birthday month for me, so I thought I would join in some challenges and get some cards made for friends and family at the same time. Tonights card is very simple, I've made it using part of my lovely prize from Craft Stamper. It's a gorgeous Crafty Individuals stamp (C1-283) but I've masked out the border of it for this card. I've coloured it very faintly with Prismacolor pencils, the wording is part of the stamp set and I didn't think it needed anything else so I've left it at that. I'm entering into the My Time To Craft challenge #156, Just Between Friends. 

Monochrome Card......

This week at Try it on Tuesday it's monochrome card week, sponsored by One Stop Card Crafts  I've used my Tatty Button stamp on this card and followed a tutorial by Ange Lee on her blog. The striped card is Mono Christmas Stripes from Kanban, the flower was made from some die cut flower shapes I bought, coloured with Marvy Blending Box, Shades of Gray. I've touched it with some Crystal Stickles for a dewy effect. Well, I'm slowly getting my mojo back and it's thanks to the inspiration I find on the lovely blogs I visit. Take a look at some of the creations from the DT on TIOT this week, they're fabulous.

Meet Carmen and Dolly....

These are my two latest ATC's, one is heading off over the water to the lovely USA. Both are hand-drawn and coloured with Prismacolour pencil crayons

Christmas or Halloween?

I've spent the afternoon playing with my new stamps that I treated myself to, Minky Girl and the Mistletoe stamp, both from Stampotique. I made this large tag but don't know whether it should be classed as a Christmas Tag or a Halloween Tag!

I used a piece of mountboard for the tag and covered it with Gesso and acrylics, then stamped on it with Stazon, Gesso and Gold Krylon pen.

I think I'll say it's my first Christmas piece for this year, making me a very early starter (in my book anyway).

Oooh! nearly forgot to mention that I'm entering it into the Try it on Tuesday challenge this week where "anything goes".

Well, finally I have something to show.....

on my craft blog. This ATC is for a Macmillan coffee morning appeal on Docrafts organised by Crafty Vonx. It's hand drawn and painted in instant coffee, with a little bit of glitter because I couldn't resist it....lol!

My Winning ATC in Craft Stamper

This is my ATC that has won me another prize from my favourite magazine Craft Stamper It also doubles as a fridge magnet as I stuck it onto a piece of magnetic card. I recieved some lovely goodies from Crafty Individuals as my prize. I'm hoping to find a bit of spare time this week to use them and stop my withdrawal symptoms.

Butterfly Cake

I'm thinking of starting a second blog, one for all my cakes. I seem to be spending more time doing cakes at the moment than I do crafting.

This one is a chocolate cake filled with a chocolate French buttercream. I have a couple more coming up in the next couple of weeks but I need to find time to craft, I'm beginning to get withdrawal symptoms.

Ok, my new blog is up and running (just) if you have a minute please check it out and let me know what you think, not much on it at the moment but give me time :)

It's Cake Art by Carol - Thank you

Thank You Netty

Problem solved by the lovely Netty.....I'm back to blogging again and leaving comments from tomorrow, it's late now and I need my sleep xxx

Green Goddess - ATC

I'm having a lot of problems signing into my blog at the moment, if I post this it will be a small miracle. I've been trying for over a week to leave comments on peoples blogs but it's just not happening, it's so annoying.

Anyway, I managed to get a few ATC's done over the bank holiday weekend, this being one of them. I made it with a few more of the Fimo ivy leaves that I had made a long while back. It's for Lisa Sparkles "Game Piece" swap on Docrafts.

I hope I get this problem sorted soon as I can't join in any challenges at the moment :(

Nothing to show at the moment.....

It feels like a lifetime since I did any crafting, I'm busy getting ready for a massive event in London next year so I'm up in central London quite a lot of the time, by the time I get home I just want to do nothing (apart from have a glass of vino.....lol).
I sat by the Tower of London and had my lunch today, that made a nice change. Life is busy at the moment but I managed to spend a lovely weekend in Ireland last week. I was at a friends wedding in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, such a pretty area, the weather wasn't great but it didn't spoil the day.
Well, it's a bank holiday weekend this weekend so with a bit of luck I'll have something crafty to post next time.............:)

Pop Over and Join in the Poppy Challenge.....

This week on the Stamp Man Challenge blog they are having a Poppy Challenge to help the lovely Janet and her husband raise money for the Poppy Appeal 2011. I had made a card last week to send to Janet for the Poppy Appeal and so I was delighted to see this challenge and even more delighted that I could enter. I have very little time for anything other than work at the moment and didn't think I would be entering any challenges for a while.

My card is quite simple, the stamp is from the Kadoodle Floribundi collection and is coloured with Promarkers.

Thank you for taking the time to look.

Something Old, Something New...........

Is the challenge on Try It On Tuesday this week. I was invited to be a guest designer so I made my card using some "Old" Fimo ivy leaves that I made a couple of years ago, I knew they would come in useful one day! The music stamp is one of the first stamps I bought when I started crafting, I had to make a card for a piano teacher, I cringe when I think about what it looked like now.....lol!

The "New" is the Gorjuss Girls stamp which I bought over at the Craft Barn last month when I was attending a class on Copics and the little Candi buttons.

This weeks sponsors are One Stop Card Crafts

Thanks to all the inspiration I find on all the lovely blogs I follow, I'm getting a bit more confident about card making.

Thank you to all who leave comments on my work, I really appreciate them all.

Altered Tin

Over on Try It On Tuesday the challenge this week is to alter a tin. Mine is a small 3" x 3" tin that has been covered with scraps of paper then painted over and has a couple of little clock faces, one with some Tim Holtz grungeboard wings. The inside is also decorated with parts of a watch set in some utee. There's also the chance to win a voucher from this weeks sponsors The Craft Barn, so why not go on over and have a go yourself.

Who Lives in a House Like This?

LisaSparkle over on Docrafts is hosting a "House" ATC swap, I was a bit late getting mine done, but here they are. I used some pieces of mount board that I scrounged from my local picture framer and covered them with brightly coloured acrylics, some scraps of paper and a mini playing cad (from a Christmas cracker). It's surprising what you can make from a few scraps of card and paper.....lol!

Gesso Flowers

Well, where did April go? It seems like a week ago when I last posted on here but it's actually nearly a month ago. I've only managed to get a bit of crafting done since the end of March and one thing I wanted to try was Gesso flowers. I made them using some pages from an old dictionary and put them in a little china bucket that I got some chocolates in. Chocolates are long gone but I thought the little bucket was too cute to hide away in a cupboard so I thought the little flowers were perfect to go in it.

Slumberparty Cake

Well I had a lovely time at the Wolverhampton meet last week, lots of chatting and laughter going on, some great demos and lots of swapping of ATC's too. I haven't managed to do much crafting since though, I've been busy making cakes this week, I have 4 to do in total including a 4 tier faux wedding cake, for an exhibition.

Today I was busy making a slumberparty cake for a little girl, I've uploaded a picture for you, I thought it turned out quite well. Infact I think it looks so comfy, it makes me want to climb in it....lol!

At Last......

I've found some sewing that I CAN do!!!! Faux stitching....lol! just my kind of thing when it comes to sewing. I've done the edges of the Cowboy in faux stitching, I thought it looked quite realistic, shame I can't make clothes with the same technique....lol!

These ATC's are for the Wolverhampton meet tomorrow that the lovely AngyB from Docrafts has organised. Looking forward to seeing everyone there, it's a bit of a drive for me but worth it.

Inchies Card

I made this card a few weeks back and it's come in handy now, for two reasons, the first being a colleagues birthday that I completely forgot about, the second is the challenge this week on Try It On Tuesday. Somewthing that has at least 3 "Inchies" on it. I've glazed the inchies with clear embossing powder so they look like tiles, well they're meant to look like tiles.

My New Tatty Button Stamp

I couldn't wait to get my new Tatty Button stamps created by the very talented artist Ange Lee. I thought I'd use one to decorate a little box I made for the challenge on Try it on Tuesday, which is chocolate this week....yum! Only there are no chocolates in my little box, I don't have any at the moment :(

Pink Tag

I made my tag using some pink dotted paper with a stamp from Aspects of Design Rubber Stamps inked up with TH Distress ink, Vintage Photo. The flower is made from the same paper and has some script stamped on it using a stamp from Quietfire Design, added a little button and a bit of ribbon.

I'm entering it into this weeks challenge on Try it on Tuesday and also into The Craft Barn concertina challenge.

My First Try With Copics

I spent a lovely day at The Craft Barn in Lingfield today. It was my first visit but it certainly won't be my last.

The lovely Jane Collman taught us how to use copic markers and make a card using Gorjuss Girls stamps. I had a fabulous day, spent a small fortune and felt very pleased with my results and I didn't choose pink!

Red is the colour.....

Seems like red is the colour that's in for cakes at the moment. I have another cake to make this week and that's also in red.

The Minnie Mouse cake was made for a four year olds birthday and everything on it is totally edible including the ribbon around it. I love Disney and when I was asked to make a Minnie Mouse cake it was like it was MY birthday.....lol!!