WOYWW 217

Another fleeting, late night (well, early morning really) WOYWW post from me this week.

 

My word, the summer holidays are busy! We've spent all day today out having a playdate at a friend's house. Tomorrow we're meeting friends in the morning and going off to a soft play in the afternoon. Friday we're invited to lunch at another friend's house... how is it that my kids have a better social life than I do?!! ;)

 

I've also made plans for the kids and I to have a short break next week at my mum's in North Wales - summer holidays at grandma's house at the seaside! Yay! - and we've also booked a family week away in Scotland at the end of August. All of which means I've got to crack on and try and get ahead on my DT commitments!

 

So that's what I've been working on tonight:

 

 

I've finished up one in-progress card and made another card from scratch. Of course, I can't show you them yet but you can see on my desk that I've been painting with Distress Inks. :)

 

I'm also struggling a bit to concentrate fully on my crafting this week cos I'm in full-blown geeky fangirl overdrive atm since a very lovely friend has offered to babysit this weekend (having a babysitter is a very rare occurrence for hubby and I as we have no family nearby) so that hubby and I can go to the cinema together... to go and see The Wolverine! :)

 

I am *such* a Wolverine fangirl and the new movie looks absolutely freaking awesome and I just cannot *wait*. Seriously, I am counting down the days till Saturday.

 

So that's me and my desk for this week. Thanks for stopping by and hope you have a fab Wednesday.

 

P.S. Please do not be surprised if my WOYWW next week consists mostly of fangirly blethering about The Wolverine! :lol:

Too Cool For School

It's an Anything Goes challenge at One Stitch At A Time this week and, rather topically, given that the school year has just ended here, I used some great school-themed Education Stations papers from Panda Bear Designs to create with:

 

 

I also used a great digi stamp from Stitchy Stamps, called Hippie:

 

 

I loved the bright colours of these papers and wanted to really let them be the star of the show on this card so I cut and shaped them into a funky, slightly retro design, and then cut out my coloured digi stamp and attached her with foam pads:

 

 

I stamped out the sentiment (I thought it was appropriate :D) and hand-drew borders around the words and cut them out before attaching them.

 

The challenge runs for a week and, as ever, entries using a Stitchy Bear product will be eligible to win our main prize. Entries not using a Stitchy Bear product will be entered into the draw to win a $3 gift voucher to the Stitchy Bear Digi Outlet.

 

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

Crafts 4 Eternity Recipe Challenge - Anything Goes

Creative Fingers - Anything Goes

Graph'It Colour Challenge - Blonde Hair

Delicious Doodles - Summer Time

Kitty Bee Designs Aloha Friday Challenge - Summer

Sister Act Card Challenge - Anything Goes

A.R.T. Card Challenge - Anything Goes

Happy Campers - Summer

Crafts and Me - Anything Goes

Divas by Design - Anything Goes

 

 

 

Tag, You're It!

The new challenge at Dilly Beans Designers and Friday Challenge blog is to make a tag and I couldn't resist...

 

 

I used Ginger and Cinnamon digi stamps and used my Promarkers to colour them in summery shades of yellow and orange before cutting them out:

 

 

I cut a tag from kraft card and inked the inside of an embossing folder with Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink before running the tag through the folder. 

 

 

I attached the cut-out images using foam pads and finished things off with some layered flowers, a few teeny tiny gemstones and some ribbons.

 

 

I love how this tag came out. The colours are all warm and bright and summery and the two girls look like they're standing in a summer garden. :)

 

I'm going to enter this tag into a couple of other challenges:

Crafts 4 Eternity Recipe Challenge - Anything Goes

Cut It Up - Summer

Graph'It Colour Challenge - Blonde Hair

Simply Create Too - Anything But a Card

Crafty Ribbons - Anything with a Ribbon

MilkCoffee Challenge - Emboss It

Creative Moments - Anything But a Card
Divas by Design - Anything Goes

 

 

Art Nouveau

I love the whole art nouveau style and when I saw Karen Middleton's gorgeous new digi stamps, Art Nouveau One and Art Nouveau Two, I just had to have them. I couldn't wait to colour them in and I started with Art Nouveau One:

 

 

I love this stamp. It perfectly captures the art nouveau style and she's just so glamorous and striking. I used my Promarkers and coloured her in vibrant shades of blue and gold and gave her vibrant red hair.

 

 

I made a background using Pan Pastels and a Donna Downey stencil and used gold mirri card for matting. I added layered ribbons and lots of flowers and added detail with a gold Perlen Pen and some blue Stickles.

 

 

This gorgeous digi stamp is available from the Sweet Pea Stamps store.

 

I saw a mouse...

Where? There on the stair. Where on the stair? Right there!

 

Karen Middleton has drawn some absolutely adorable new images of cute little mice and when I saw them I loved them all so much I just had to use all three of them together on one card. :)

 

 

I coloured these sweet little images with my Promarkers, using a running theme of red accents - the strawberry, the flower and the wording - to tie them together:

 

 

 

 

I cut each image out into 6x6cm squares and matted them onto coordinating red cardstock before mounting them onto a plain white card blank using foam tape:

 

 

To finish off the clean and simple design, I filled in the remaining space on the card with a heart shape cut from cardstock, coloured red with my Promarkers, and coated in a layer of clear crackle paint.

 

 

These adorable stamps are just perfect for so many occasions. They will be available shortly in the Sweet Pea Stamps store so keep an eye out for them. :)

 

 

WOYWW 216

Am so glad Julia's posted the WOYWW post early this week... cos I stayed up waaaaaaay too late last night and I really must get an early night tonight!

 

So here's my sneaky peek at my desk:

 

 

The small oasis of usable space is now definitely on the endangered list. I keep telling myself I'll tidy but I just need to finish these one or two projects first.... and maybe that one... you know how it is. ;)

 

Been doing a fair bit of crafting lately, mostly cards and ATCs - oh and a whole bunch of teacher gifts! (see previous post) - and indeed there is an in-progress set of ATCs on the desk.

 

Am also getting my head around the summer holidays starting and the sudden lack of routine - no kiddy classes or pre-school!

 

And that's it for me. Am going to finish up watching an episode or two of MacGyver on Netflix (I know, I know, I'm feeling nostalgic for the 80s.. :D), eat some ice cream and then hit the sack! :)

 

Have a good Wednesday folks.

New Homes, New Babies, New Beginnings!

Boy, has there been a lot going on around here lately! An awful lot of changes happening...

 

One of my best friends, who had to move up to Scotland a few years ago due to her husband's job, has moved back to Yorkshire which is just awesome... lovely to have her back and for us to be able to get together for chats and kiddy playdates again.

 

So... a new home card was required. :)

 

 

 

One of hubby's friends, who he used to work with years ago, has recently become a father for the first time. They're a lovely couple and I was really pleased to hear of the safe arrival of their baby boy.

 

So... a new baby card was required. :)

 

 

 

 

And last week was rather the end of an era... the end of the school year and therefore the end of DD1's year of pre-school. From September she will be attending full-time school. Eep. My little girl is growing up so fast! Starting full-time school also means she will have to give up her Rhythm Time classes, which she's been going to since she was just 4 months old!

 

Friday was not only her last day of pre-school but also her last ever Rhythm Time lesson... so I wanted to make some little thank you gifts for her pre-school teachers (of which she has 5, because they all work part-time) and also for the Rhythm Time teachers and assistants. So I had a bit of a production line going last week in the craft room:

 

 

I made little decorated notebooks, complete with a ribbon loop pen holder (and pen). I made one design for the pre-school teachers and another for the Rhythm Time teachers. They were all lined inside with the same patterned paper as used on the front.

 

 

 

 

 

And I also made little thank you cards to go with each notebook. And DD1 wrote her name inside each card, and also on a little label inside the cover of each notebook so that the recipient would always remember it was from her. :)

 

 

Busy, busy, busy! :)

 

Sweet Pea Stamps Summer Sale!

Check out the awesome overstock sale going on right now at Sweet Pea Stamps!

These low prices will only last until the overstock runs out - so grab a bargain now! :)

Favourite Things

Time for a new challenge at One Stitch at a Time and this week the theme is Favourite Things.

 

One of my favourite things is ATCs - Artist Trading Cards. I love making these little works of art - they are fun to create and great for trying out new ideas and techniques. I also love to trade them and have swapped cards with people all over the world.

 

So for my project this week I made a set of ATC's using Gingerloft's Dream In a Dream Poe image from the Stitchy Bear Digi Outlet:

 

 

I made one card in a sepia colour scheme, just because it seemed to fit the image:

 

 

And I made another two using a red, white and blue colour scheme, inspired by the IndePOEdence challenge at Quoth the Raven, Nevermore:

 

 

 

I used kraft card for a base and made the backgrounds using Distress Stains. I added the Poe image and, to finish, stamped and heat embossed a flock of birds (hey, they look like ravens to me, right? :D) and, on the blue and red cards, added some highlights and little stars with a while gel pen.

 

The challenge runs for a week and entries using a Stitchy Bear product have a chance to win our main prize. Entries not using a Stitchy Bear product will go into the draw to win a $3 gift voucher for the Stitchy Bear Digi Outlet.

 

I'm entering these cards into the following challenges:

Quoth the Raven, Nevermore - IndePOEdence

2 Sisters - Stars

A Gem of a Challenge - Anything But Square

Hiding In My Craft Room - Freestyle

One Stop Craft - Make Your Own Background

Brown Sugar - Anything Goes

Crafts 4 Eternity Recipe Challenge - Inky Fingers

Pattie's Creations - Monochrome

Simply Create Too - Anything But a Card

MilkCoffee Challenge - Emboss It

Crafts and Me - Anything Goes
Fun With ATCs - Set of Three

 

 

 

 

I long to be...

...under the sea...

 

..in an octopus' garden, in the shade. :)

 

The idea of being underwater - or at least in water - is actually quite appealing at the moment. Wowzers, it's been hot here! For days and days and days! So hot I've been coming home from the school run, changing into a swimsuit and sitting in the paddling pool for half an hour just to try and cool down! :lol:

 

It's Team B's turn to host the new challenge at Sweet Pea Stampers and the theme is Under The Sea... and this is the card I made:

 

 

I used Elaine Cox's gorgeous Celestia digi stamp and coloured her with my Promarkers in pretty shades of pink and blue:

 

I also added some sparkle and some Glossy Accents "water droplets":

I used some pretty freebie papers and inked the edges with Tea Dye Distress Ink and layered delicate die-cuts under my image:

To finish I added pink lacy ribbon, some pearl gems and a layered flower cut with the Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die.

The challenge runs for two weeks and you don't need to use a Sweet Pea Stamps to enter, though of course we'd love it if you did! :)

WOYWW 215

Oooh lookit, I actually remembered it's Wednesday! :) And that that means WOYWW. (In fact, I even remembered to put the bin out which is progress cos I forgot to do that last Wednesday too! :/)

 

My desk this week (still untidied, still chaotic) finds me mid-creating:

 

 

School finishes for the summer this week and my DD1 is finishing pre-school and will be starting full-time school in September (Eeep! Still can't quite get my head around that!).

 

Her teachers at the pre-school class have been awesome and she's absolutely thrived there and settled in really well (and she got *the* most lovely school report for her pre-school year last week :)). So I wanted to show my thanks and appreciation and give the pre-school teachers a little thank-you gift. I think something handmade is always a nice gift and I decided to make them each a little decorated notebook.

 

So I've spent tonight playing around and creating my prototype, which you can see on the desk. I'm quite pleased with the results though when making the rest I will tweak the design a little and use a wider ribbon for the pen holder. Tomorrow I will have a bit of a mini production line and make another 4 of these.

 

From these:

 

 

To this:

 

 

I hope they like them. Oh and I also need to make thank you cards to go with them. Busy busy busy! ;)

 

Thanks for stopping by and hope you are having a good WOYWW.