Wedding Congrats

Well hello,

Weather changeable today in my part of the world but Olympic fever has set in.
What a fabulous opening ceremony !

Anyway back to my card for today. Whilst we were on holiday on of DP colleagues got married. It was all rather unexpected and hush hush, so by the time we got back it was all done and dusted.

Whilst I was moving stash around I found saw this topper in the lovely Lucy Cornwall Papermania pack and it seemed appropriate in the circumstances.

I layered it on some gold mirri card and added an organza bow with a button to finish it off.

Best of luck to Team GB !

See you soon

Laurie x

Super Son

Hello all,

After a lovely relaxing holiday our noses are back to the grindstone. Isn't it always the same...you wait all year for your break and then it's over as quick as a flash.

But hey we have SUNSHINE !

And today is my Sons birthday,(why is it always so tricky to make mens cards ? could it be no flowers and frippery ???)

So Happy Birthday Darling.

This was made from some freebie papers (sorry hun, but I liked the colours) and an X cut frame die from gold mirri card. Letters cut from my Cricut.

Til next time

Laurie

And for the Birthday girl....

Hi all,

Just dashing around before I go on holiday, I am never quite sure if all the pre holiday stress is worth the actual holiday ??? Yes I think it is !

So before I go, I promised I would share with you the special box card I made for my sister.

I knew how I wanted it to be but it wasn't as easy to get there as I thought....

As all things haberdashery are on trend (and I love it all !!) I went with that theme

This was the front, and inside...

I can't list all the items I used as I hunted through my stash for likely subjects, but the stamps were Crafty Individuals mostly and the paper is the Prima Songbird range.

See you when I get back.

Laurie

For the Boys

Had a lovely weekend with my family down in Kent to celebrate not only Fathers Day but my siblings birthday. They were both born on Fathers Day so it always makes for a busy weekend.

First up is the card I made for my brother.



This was made with a Kanban Topper, paper from my stash and finished off with a rub on sentiment and some card candy. I rather liked the colour combo here, not one I've used before.

And here is the Fathers Day card I made for my 'Diamond Dad'



This came courtesy of some free paper and Crafty Individuals Stamp set CI-334. I also used the Tim Holtz rosette die and my favourite Molly Bloom bunting stamp. The DAD was made with my trusty Cricut.

We had a fab day and I even got a little bit of crafting in with my lovely nieces before the celebrations got under way !

Show you the girly card next time...

Laurie

Bloom

Hello all,

Just a quick post. I have been very busy card preparing...that is deciding what I am going to do but not assembling it all. So I have about half a dozen cards to put together.

I have finished off one special card but can't show that off yet !!

Anyway I'll show you these cards I made a little while back.

It was one of those evenings when I just fancied doing some cutting out, and happened across a CD I had bought and not used. It is "Sew Cute " by Chameleon Card Craft, I printed out some sheets and made some little A5 cards. As I have been making big 8 x 8 cards for a while now it made quite a change.

As I was cutting I realised they are the same as the Nitwits collection.

I think they are fun and cute and I loved making them which is what it's all about isn't it ?









And the good news is that they have been passed on to be sold for charity, so happy days all round.

Heres hoping the weather gets better soon...

Laurie x

Jubilee Weekend

And what a shame about the weather. After all the lovely sunshine when we really need it , it's gone !

Hey ho that's blighty for you.

Anyway, however you are celebrating have a great weekend.

I made this card back in Feb for my pal Suzy and thought I'd blog it on an appropriate occasion.

Supplies were;

Stamps Crafty Individuals CI-334, and Molly Bloom bunting
Paper from my stash
Craftwork Card Candy
Couture Creations Embossing Folder- Lovingly Baroque

I shall enter this card into the Crafty Individuals June Challenge- A Summer Ball.

Laurie

Birthday Party

As I mentioned in my previous post I was also down in Kent to celebrate my crafty pal Trudy's birthday. All the usual suspects assembled for a lovely day of crafty presents, lunch and cake !!

Here is the card I made for Trudy

I used the Tim Holtz mannequin die and papers from the Alla-Prima collection. The stamps were from Paper Artsy and the embellishments from my stash.

As usual beautiful cards were made and to see the rest pop over to Trudy's Blog.

Have a lovely Jubilee weekend !


Laurie

Hello all,

Had a busy time down in Kent last week with a visit to the Biggin Hill craft show. It was well attended and as it is the first show I have been to this year I treated myself to some new goodies.

I also went down to celebrate two birthdays.

My grandson was nine years old..(where does the time go ??) and we celebrated by having a day out at Legoland.

We had a really great time, I loved mini world and could have happily whiled away a few hours there.

Alas I was dragged away to get soaked on a watery ride. It is a great day out but sooo expensive !

Anyway as the lad is into Beyblades here is the card I made for him...

Lots of bright colours and made with materials from my stash.

The other birthday was my crafty pal Trudy and a meeting of the Swanley Scissor Sisters, more about that in my next post....


Laurie

Purple Birthday

Have been busy crafting lately but can't show you too much because they are cards for people whose birthdays are coming up soon, (you know who you are !! lol).

But I thought I would share this one with you.

This was inspired by Erika over at Snappycrafts. It looks so elegant and simple that I thought I would try a spin on it.

I used distress inks Milled Lavender, Worn Lipstick and Dusty Concord and stamped on it with a Penny Black stamp called 'flying stars '. I edged and embellished with Glitz stickles in Tiara. The sentiment is from Polka Doodles.

I have recently dug out my trusty Cricut machine as although I love all the dies that are out I can never decide which set to buy. After some investigating I discovered the Cricut Elegant Edges cartridge which gives me loads of shapes to cut out in different sizes. The one I used for this card was Stamp.

I did of course ink a little around the edges and finished off with some card candy.

I like how it turned out and will try some more with different images and colours.

Off now for a cuppa

x

An Inky Day

Last Sunday I was lucky enough to go to a workshop with Hels Sheridan at Birds in the Barn. My sister joined me and we had a lovely day getting inky.
Hels was a very informative teacher and we picked up lots of useful hints and tips.

So many thanks Hels for a super day. Here are the fruits of my labour...

A lovely tag and envelope made with distress ink techniques and a handmade rose. Unfortunatley I didn't get a pic of my sisters to share :(

Thanks also to Denise for sharing her coffee cake with us !

Babies in waiting

Hello all,

Hope you are all keeping well. Just looked out the window and GUESS WHAT ??? yep, it's raining again ! Have been quite creative this week DB asked for a baby card and as the said baby hadn't yet arrived and we don't know what sort it will be I made 2....one of each !

I used this LOTV image for both cards and coloured it with promarkers. The papers are all double sided so I spent a lot a time turning them back and forth for the best possible permutations. I have had them quite a while and was using up left overs so I dont know what range they are. I also used a new die I bought made by docrafts 'Ornate frame'.I then finished it off with some bunting and card candy.

The girly card was made in a similar fashion using craftwork cards Vintage Rose paper pack and a fleur de lis die from Spellbinders. Final embellishments were a doily, flower and more card candy.

Which one do you like best ?

PS Am I the only one struggling with paragraphs and spacing on this new blogger layout...? help...

Just One Sketch 4

I know...I got all behind. Anyhow working my way through the prompts again. On the Easter weekend I was joined for the second year running by Mum and Sis to happily craft away whilst DB is off doing his thing. All good as usual. So, with a whole weekend ahead of me decided to do prompt 4 - monochrome. I didnt fancy black and white and had done brown and vintage looking already. So as a framed layout had been requested by my daughter I picked the colour to match her home decor..purple.

I ended up doing two layouts almost the same..one for me to keep and a framed version to give away.

Black and Cream

Hello All

A little while back I was lured into ordering some stash from a well known crafting channel. I don't watch said channel all that often nowadays but you know how it goes...ooh that looks good, presenter says hurry now stocks won't last, fast forward to you on the internet ordering !
Anyway, package arrives, I open it excitedly and oh...did I really want this ??

Then a few days later I look again and do you know what... it's very good !
Once I started making cards with it, I didn't want to stop !

So, just a couple to show

A New Home card for my Son who is finally in his new abode.

And a birthday card for my Mum

I had already made her one but thought she would like this better...I was right !

And I made another birthday card that I forgot to photograph..

They are all made using Kanbans McKenzie collection and embellishments plus some Spellbinders dies and embossing folders.
And there is still loads left...it was a bargain after all !

And the rest...

As promised here are the remaining birthday creations I received.

One from Jenny

A beautiful stamped card from Sarah

And last, but not least my lovely matchbox altered art piece from Trudy

Thank you girls..birthdays just wouldn't be the same without you.

Birthday Girl

I was in Kent last Tuesday for my birthday celebrations with my Swanley Scissor Sister Gals.
As usual lovely crafty pressies were received (most gratefully I might add.. they were all fab) but cake aside, I most look forward to getting my lovely handcrafted birthday cards and as my good friend Trudy says, 'Art should be shared' so here goes..

Beautiful butterflies from Jean..

and Hilda,

A fab Tag from Joan

and flowers from Vicky

I'm sure you will agree how great they all are, show you the rest soon.

For Mum

Happy Mothers Day to you all out there...a day late I know but that seems to be my life at the moment.
As I said in my previous post I have been playing with my new Spellbinder dies and thought I would use them to make a Mothers Day card.

I started with a base white pearl card and layered with some grey cardstock, topped with a glittery page from my First Edition paper pad 'Isabelle'. I then decorated the card with the various die cuts and finished it off with a ribbon rose and some Prima flowers.

Its all go !!!

I know, I have been a very bad blogger...and a very bad crafter.

There has been so much going on just lately I can't tell which way is up. After my daughter had her baby she had the news that she was moving so all were roped in for the big day. The up side was that I got to babysit my new grandson for the first time when he was three weeks old.

After all this rushing around and catching up with work I felt that I had lost my crafty mojo...but DB was away this weekend and I gave myself a good talking to and got on with some cardmaking.

This is a belated new home card for my daughter.

I have had the heart paper for quite a while but don't remember where it came from, I used the Go Create Frame, Pointy #1 and printed out my message on the computer.
I finished it off with a Martha Stewart heart punch and a mini peg.

Somewhere in the last week or two I also had a birthday and my beloved bought me some Spellbinders fleur de lis dies that I have been playing with, more to show soon.

Am heading off to Kent tomorrow to celebrate my birthday with my Scissor sister gals...watch this space for more wonderful creations from them !

Belated Valentines

Good Morning

I promised some valentine cards yesterday and as usual life got in the way, so before it is too late, here are a few I made.

And last but not least, as promised our new baby....

Isn't he gorgeous ?

Here at Last !!

Hello

I spent a few days in Kent this week awaiting the birth of my grandson. He should have arrived on the 1st so I had cleared a few days for some Nanny time.
As we should know boys never behave as they should so and he didn't make an appearance. My poor daughter was fit to pop !

Luckily though I got to spend some time with my Dad to celebrate his birthday and do some crafting with my Mum.

This is the card I made for him, it is quite similar to the one I made for my beloved, (probably because I made them at the same time !!)


I also made some Valentines cards which I will show you tomorrow.

And in typical fashion after my daughter was booked into hospital for this morning, baby Pheonix James decided to arrive at 10.48 yesterday morning weighing in at 8lbs 8oz.
Both Mother and baby are well..pics to follow !

Just One Sketch #3

Hi There,

Having a busy week as usual..where does the time go ?

Saturday saw the Eclectic Keepsake February crop, always lovely to catch up with everybody. As I left at home a box of stash I didn't get much done.

I have however finished the third challenge on 'just one sketch'. It was to do a mirror image layout and if possible reflect two sides of your personality.

I did a slightly different layout than normal by having quite a bit of white space on the pages. I wasn't sure at first but by the time the embellishments went on I was liking it.

Got lots of projects to catch up on and a Valentines card to make !

Hope you are all warm and snug in this snowy weather.

X

All In The Family

Hi There,

I am continuing with my 'Just One Sketch ' layouts and the second challenge is to rotate my sketch . With this in mind I found a portrait photograph that will go in my family tree album.

My brother has been tracing our family tree and I am doing a scrapbook using all the old photos. The photo on this layout is of my great-grandparents with my grandmother and her brother. Whilst I was checking out the information and names I suddenly realised that my nan's mun had died when she was 11 and her dad passed away two years later leaving her an orphan at 13.

Although she lived until the grand old age of 94 she never spoke of this to me and I am now so curious as to how she managed. A conversation to have with my father when I see him next...

I used K&Co's Maison Scrap Pad by Brenda Walton. This scrap pad has served me well and is so suited to using with old photos. I have made an 80th scrapbook with it and some cards and still have papers and embellishments left !

I am working now on my mirror image pages and looking at the task after that, see that it a monochrome layout...drat even though this picture may not show it this is a brown monochrome page !!!

Hey ho.

Happy Crafting

Izzy in the Snow

Hello,

Although I have had a busy week, I am pleased to have finished my first layout for 'just one sketch'. I found this photo while I was tidying up my pictures folder, I hadn't seen it before and fell in love with it.

As I still had Christmassy stash out and it was a snowy picture I thought I'd use some up.

It is a picture of my rescue greyhound Izzy in December 2010 at Highwoods Country Park. She is such a lovely pet and this photo sums up the freedom she now has.

I don't scrapbook much but was happy with the result. What do you think ?

So....first layout done, now we have to rotate the sketch for the second layout...off to hunt down another photo.

Just One Sketch

Hiya All,

Not much crafting been done around here this year. Went to the Eclectic Keepsakes crop last Saturday and had a lovely day as usual. The last few weeks haven't been great and needed cheering up. Mission accomplished..thank you girls !!! Didnt manage to finish a mini scrapbook that I started, but watch this space.

I recently signed up for an online scrapbooking class and have had to come up with my 'just one sketch '. This was a bit of a problem as I don't do loads of scrapbooking and do not have a lot to choose from.
BUT I do make a lot of cards and cards are sort of like small scrapbook pages. So..after considering the cards I have loved making last year, three stood out for me.

Apart from the colours, the layout of these cards please me and so I have made my sketch based on these and adapted for a scrapbook page.


Ta Dah !!

Have added some bunting because I like it and a space for journalling because I don't.

It all starts on Sunday 15th and its not too late to join in.

Will keep you updated as I go along.

Another Year

As usual the family gathered at my parents on New Years day. It has become a tradition that started when we couldn't all get together at Christmas because of work family etc. It is a day that I love as I get to see all the people that are the most important to me in one place.
The main reason we go is to celebrate my parents wedding anniversary, and yesterday they had been married for 57 years !

This is the card I made for them, another rubbish photo, seem to be taking a lot of them recently, must do better.

Well done folks, here's to next year !

On a totally seperate note, I have joined a blog called 'just one sketch' to hopefully encourage me to do more scrapbooking and support a good cause at the same time.
It is run by Miss Smith, costs £5 and the proceeds go towards supporting the Guides.
Go and have a look...maybe I'll see you there.