Tuesday 30 October 2012

'Tis the season to go shopping!

I have had one of those run around days today - 
where I have taken pictures of my card in just about every room in the house.
I've finally settled on these - the best of the bunch I'm afraid!



This was a quick make, using Lili of the Valley die cuts.
I used a shaped nestie to make a 'window' in my card and stuck one of the scenic die cuts to the inside piece.



The little shopper was cut from one of the die cuts and everything was sprinkled with Glamour Dust and Stickles.
IRL this is VERY sparkly. 
 

Challenges.
Lili's Little Fairies - A Christmas Card for the Girls
Crafty Ribbons - Christmas
The Crafty Pad - Christmas Is Coming
Stamp & Create - Winter Wonderland


Supplies.
Lili of the Valley die cuts, Snowy Town and Christmas Kids
Glamour Dust.   Ribbon from my stash.
Sentiment from Craftwork Cards.     Cheery Lynn Designs, Lamp Post.

Sunday 28 October 2012

Sweet Sunday


I was gutted to leave my big range cooker behind when we moved and I moan about it constantly,
but I have to admit, the cooker in this house is doing a pretty good job, so far.

Yesterday it made the most scrumptious slow cooked pork, with crispy crackling
and a caramel, walnut tart :-) 


I panicked a little, when I saw the recipe needed me to make a caramel sauce. I have never made one before and I was thinking about all those pans, piling up on the Great British Bake Off, as the contestants tried several times to master it.
I needn't have worried though -  it was perfect -   beginners luck ;-)

The tart is yummy, rich and caramelly (is that a word?) but definitely for those with a sweet tooth. 
I've added the recipe below, but if you want to try the complete version it's in November's Good Food Mag. I just cheated and bought my pastry case ;-)


 





Saturday 27 October 2012

Snow Day


Did you all get a dusting of the white stuff this morning?
Here's the view out of my bedroom window at 7am this morning!!  
Smashing! A day of cooking and crafting, with the TV on :-)
I have a lovely pork, crackling joint, slow-roasting in the oven and a caramel walnut tart, cooling on the worktop and..... a card ;-)



Something a little different for me.
A while ago I picked up these A6 card blanks (10.5 x 14.8).
They always seemed a bit too skimpy, but after forcing myself to use one, I found that they are perfect for these smaller stamps.


 I tried a new technique for shading on my Gorjuss girl - little dots in darker Copics. 
It's something to work on.

I think I had snow on the brain when I did the white gel pen dots around her. These were fun to do - you can't see where they are, but gradually, as the gel dries, they start to appear.


Challenges.
Fussy and Fancy - Anything Goes
Stampin' for the Weekend - Anything Goes
Allsorts - In Stitches (hoorah! I finally found my sewing machine and got it set up and running. I also added a little faux stitching round the sentiment).

Supplies.
Stamp - Gorjuss Girl
DP - Prima, Rosarian.  Dew Drops.   Ribbon.
Dies - Spellbinders Edgeability + Pennant  Memory Box, Buckle.

Wednesday 24 October 2012

Bears need people...people need bears!

Typical!
I bought some cute, new Elf digis at the weekend, just as the printer decided to cough and splutter.
Some nice Kodak doctor is sending me a new head for it though - so after a transplant, it may yet survive.

I did need to make a start on my Christmas cards though.
It is only 61 days til Santa. Eek!!


I stamped and paper pieced my Me To You bear, adding some colouring and shading on the DP.
This card is best viewed from about 10 paces back - then you don't notice all my mistakes!! 
You're searching for them now, aren't you? :-)




 Challenges.
I followed the sketch at Christmas Challenges. I did move my image to the side though  (don't worry girls, just delete me if this isn't ok). There is also an added twist this week, to use flags/banners. I put my sentiment on a little die cut banner.
ABC Christmas - Up to You. 
Cupcake Craft - Pieced Off! 
St. Luke's Charity - Simple Christmas 
  
Supplies.
Stamp - Me Tou You, Winter Wonderland, coloured with Copics.
DP - Memory Box, Mistletoe.  Embossed Dots Folder.
Spellbinders Pennant Die.  Ribbon from my stash.   Sentiment, Craftwork Cards.
   

 

Saturday 13 October 2012

Too Cute To Spook

I have finally found the secret to keeping dh out from under my feet, so that I can craft and bake all day.
James Bond movies... all 22 of them, all 'on demand' on Sky Anytime
Right now I am singing along to Goldfinger... da da da!

So, back to crafting, and here is my 2nd Halloween card, using the Tiddly Inks couple (scroll down if you want to see the first one).


 As you can see, I stuck with the same layout, just changed the colours.
This card is for my dd Maria, who is going to her party as a peacock (weird!). I know she has bought a blue/green dress, so I tried to reflect this in my colouring, and I had some fun with the red hair.

I also sprinkled some Glamour Dust on her dress and a little on her 'eyeshadow' - the camera hasn't really picked it up, but it's sparkly IRL.

 

Tip for Top Tip Tuesday.
I'm finding it difficult to find some thin black paper, for layering  (I use black a lot!) so I have resorted to running  my black Copic around the edge of my DP. This creates the illusion of a black layer and of course you can make it as thick or as thin as you like, or use a colour to match your scheme.
You're gonna tell me you've all been doing this for ages, aren't you? ;-)
 
Challenges.
2 Sisters - Anything Goes
Allsorts - Too cute To Spook
Stampin' for the Weekend - Something Spooky (I know this is more cute than spooky, so if you feel it doesn't fit the challenge ladies, I will delete it, just let me know)
Top Tip Tuesday - Things with Wings (The crow cut from my DP)
Polka Doodles - Halloween

Supplies.
Tiddly Inks Digi Couple, coloured with Copics and Glamour Dust.
Little Claire's Silhouette Cats.
DP - Basic Grey, Max and Whiskers and Memory Box
Black Gems, Ribbon, Spellbinders Nestie Die.

Wednesday 10 October 2012

When black cats prowl...

Is it getting chilly where you are?  I am sat here, in my boots, leggings, 2 cardis and a scarf!! 
The kitchen temperature thingy is reading 16C - time to blast the heating on me thinks.

I have just 2 Halloween cards to make this year, and here is the first one... for my dd Annabel and her b/f.


I know that my girls' have a big Halloween party planned, but I have no idea what Annabel is going as - she usually decides the night before and wants a costume making lickety split!

I do know that Maria is going as a peacock (weird!) - so I will be trying out my blues/greens on this image next.

Oh, and the 2 kittys I added are for Annabel's fur monsters - Benga and Nero.



Can you spot todays deliberate mistake?
I added some glitter to the bottom of her dress and sprinkled silver instead of my fav. Glamour Dust.
Definitely a *bleep* moment - it looked awful - so I went over it with an orange Copic to try and blend it in...   all I can say is - it's better than it was!

Challenges.
Tiddly Inks - Fall
Digi Galore - Goth (hope 'cute' goth is ok)
Cupcake Craft - Autumn
Papertake Weekly - All creatures great and small. 
Creative Inspirations - Anything Goes
Divas by Design -  Anything Goes
Without Words - Things that go Bump. (Thanks to Squirrel for the heads up on this this challenge, where the focus of your card should be the image and they like you to have fun with colour.)

Supplies.
Digi Image from Tiddly Inks, coloured with Copics.
DPs - Memory Box, Blackbird.   Fancy Pants, It's the little things.
Prima, Printery.
Cats - Little Claire's, Silhouette Cats.
Ribbon,  Gems,  Spellbinders Dies.

Wednesday 3 October 2012

Happy Birthday 2U

Don't laugh... it's taken me 6 hours to make this card. 
6 HOURS!!!!
I could have been de-greasing the cooker, or mowing the lawn, or tackling the ironing mountain!!
My vision of a squirrel in an aeroplane (don't ask!) ended up in the bin - twice.
Then, I learnt my lesson and went in search of a nice sketch, which was kindly provided by Natalie of Creative Inspirations.



I used stars, instead of  flowers and I couldn't quite squeeze them in next to each other, but I'm sure you can still make out the original sketch.

Can you believe, when I'd finished the card and went to stand it up, I realised I had tied the string all the way round it (not just on the top layer) Duh!! I had to cut it off and start again.



Challenges.
Creative Inspirations - Natalie's Sketch
Stamptacular - It's Your Birthday
ABC Challenge -  Y is for Y Chromosome (male themed)
Crafty Sentiments - Happy Birthday
Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes (optional extra 'celebrate' theme) . They also have a fabulous Blog Hop, with some amazing prizes, to celebrate being 5 !! Congrats ladies  xxx

Supplies
DP - My Mind's Eye 'Ooh La La'         
Stamp from Molly Blooms was a magazine freebie - coloured with Copics and popped up on foam pads.
Birthday tag from Craftwork Cards.    String.
Circle and Postmark stamps from Whimsy Stamps.