Scrap Pages 04 & 05/2021 - Ebony & We Are Family

Hello Everyone,

Thanks for stopping by. I'm back with two more scrap pages. 

Ebony

I've gone back in time again, but not quite so far as with the last page here. The photos in this page only go back two years when Ebony was just a puppy. An adorable one at that. She's still a lovely very lovable and friendly dog now, one that would happily like you to death should you ever have the pleasure of meeting her. 

Materials used: tartan paper form a Carta Bella collection and the paw printed one from Stampin' Up. As is becoming usual the embellishment clusters are made up from my ancient stash - sources long forgotten. Punches used: a corner rounder and two small circle punches (1" & 1.25").

We are Family

And yet another old photo - 2013. This time one of my son-in-law and the two youngest of my grandchildren out on a bike ride to Portencross, a hamlet near Farland Head on North Ayrshire's coast. Not seen, because someone had to take the photo, is my daughter. ... isn't it always the case that the photographer is the one never seen. 
 

Materials used: the patterned papers are leftovers from an old Mind The Scrap kit and the title banner is years old - from an old autumnal collection, I think. the embellishments are a mix of new, also from a MTS kit, and ancient. The pink view finders are available as a digital file from NicoleJones911. 

I wish I could give more details about much of the materials used but my memory does not serve me well. Although, I'm still treating myself to paper and mixed media kits - there's a limit to self-sacrifice even for me - I have, for the time being, decided that there will be no more purchases of embellishments, thickers and stickers. Not until a serious dent has been made into the ridiculous amount that is taking up valuable space in my craft room! 

I trust you are having a good day - it's Friday, usually, and still surely, a reason to smile - and I wish you all a lovely weekend.

Take care and stay safe. 

Scrap Page 03/2021 - Beautiful Kittens

 Hello Everyone

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you are doing okay, especially during the current lockdown. Personally, I can't wait for it to be over but the situation is serious and so we're trying to make the best of it . Alan had his Covid vaccine last week and unfortunately it made him quite poorly. Happily, he's getting over it and starting to get back to his normal, cheery self. Enough of that, I'm here to show the third scrap page of the year.

And I've gone right back in time for this one - 1990 in fact. I have an album dedicated to all the animals that have been in my life and it's proving to be such a pleasure to look back and remember. These kittens, sadly long gone, were twins that had been rescued by the local cats and dogs home. Named Dotty and Daisy, they were just a delight to have around. 

Materials used: the 'wordy' paper is from Stampin' Up and the embellishments are from a variety of sources - mainly Simple Stories 'I Am' sticker sheet, and the black cat fussy cut from an old Echo Park collection, 'Meow', that I've practically done to death now. The papers are edged with Adirondak's Stonewashed ink. 

I've completed many more pages since the start of the year which I shall, in time, show and write about here. It's just that I'm running way behind with posting, as I have been since the start of the pandemic last year. Too many other distractions - most difficult and too sad to talk about on this blog - to keep me away from here. You really don't want to hear about my troubles - I'm sure you have enough of your own right now.  I just keep thinking things have got to improve, and maybe with the roll out of the vaccine it will. Let's hope so anyway. 

Take care and stay safe. 

WOYWW - Week 560

Hello Everyone,

Wednesday again and, at last, I can report that it's a lovely day. There's fluffy white clouds in a blue, blue sky and the sun is shining. It's still chilly out there but it feels like spring in my craftroom and, given that it's Julia's What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday, here's what's on my desk today.

I admit I've tidied up after the cyber crop that took up much of my weekend. Working against the clock leads to nothing but chaos here in my room. The pile of empty Stampin' Up DVD boxes are a new acquisition, just delivered yesterday. I've been increasingly frustrated with my stamp organisation or, more correctly, lack of organisation - it had got well beyond useful. Spotting Sarah's beautifully organised stamp storage last week was just the inspiration I needed to do something about it. Time to get sorting - I just have to decide where to begin!

The layout is my interpretation of the fifth challenge from the weekend. Appropriately for today, the subject is WOYWW.

Crops 2017, 2018 & 2019 recorded with the group photos for each year. Those photos of so many happy, smiling ladies, are reminders of how much fun these get-togethers are.

I've been slowly sorting through stuff since the start of the year.

I've re-jigged the contents of this trolley and now I have all my packs of alphabets in the one, easy to access, place. They are filed, more or less, by colour - very helpful.

And now I have the mixed media/painty stuff on one shelf and markers and pens on another.  So much better than being spread about all over the place.

And finally - a few posters that have made me smile this week.

That's it from me this week. I'm off now to see what Julia and our fellow deskers have been showing us today.

Take care everyone and have a great week ahead.

Cardmaking - Little Green Fir Tree

Hello Everyone,

Hope your day has turned out to be a good one. A very warm welcome to my newest followers, Megan and Karen.  Thank you to you all for taking the time to check out my blog, I really appreciate it.

I have another quick and easy Christmas Card to share today ...

... and it's another one that features one of the stencils I was playing with last week. And, again, I think it's a card that is suitable for both a male or female recipient.

There really was not much to the making of it but here is how it was done.

• I had already inked up the beginnings of the topper, using Lawn Green Gentle Blend (Pinflair) and the Fir Tree stencil from Imagination Crafts on a scrap of white card but I decided it needed a bit of bling. First, I squeezed some clear glitter glue (a very old one that came free with a craft magazine) along the edges of the tree 'branches'. Then once that had dried I glued gold stars here and there over the tree. (The stars are the kind of confetti you find strewn on tables at parties or, as happened to me, come in a birthday card and get scattered all over the carpet when you open the envelope!)
• Next I matted the tree topper onto a piece of Snow Green Background Card (old stash from Kanban), wrapped twine (more stash) around the two layers and then adhered it all to a Kraft card base measuring just 4" x 5¾" (yet more old stash). The twine is quite thick so I used dimensional sticky tape to stick the topper down, otherwise it would not have lain evenly and wouldn't have looked good at all.
• The final touch is the computer generated greeting which was printed and punched out with a 1¼" circle punch (Stampin' Up). The matting was created by punching another circle from the Snow Green card, cutting it in half and sticking them to the back of the greeting leaving a little edge showing. (Hope I've explained that clearly enough).

Goodness! It took longer to write up the steps than it did to make it - it really was a very quick make.

I feel that I should explain the old stash thing. After a sort out of all the stuff I have stashed away - I know, I do a lot of sorting out, sigh - it became clear, crystal clear, that I probably had enough to last me for life. It's embarrassing! So I'm digging deep and making a determined effort to use all that old stash up. I really don't need any more new cardstock or pretty patterned papers as they become available ... I will resist temptation. Really! I will!

I'd like to submit this card to the following challenges:

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge # 306 Vintage or Anything goes

CHNC challenge extra for November 2016

Take care folks and have a great evening.

Christmas Card - Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Evening Everyone,

I hope you've all had as good a day as I have. After a couple of hours doing the usual housework, boring!, I spent the afternoon playing with stencils, sprays, glitter paste, inks, etc. Messy but fun. Result is, a desk covered in stuff that will be the basis of a few Christmas cards and I have one completed to share.

It features a splattered background, a few stamped embellishments and a topper that was, I can hardly believe it, stamped some time last year and never used.

Here's how it was made.

• The topper ... Tim Holtz Santa's Letter stamped using a red distress ink - either Festive Berries or Fired Brick, too long ago for me to remember -  was matted on to black card.
• More black card was used to create the greeting. Before stamping I rubbed the black cardstock with a SU Embossing Buddy to prevent static. The stamp ... Santa Clause is Coming to Town, from a Simply Cards & Papercraft, Issue 155, set ... was stamped with VersaMark and embossed with Papermania's Seafoam White powder. The greeting was then die-cut with a die from X-Cut's Tags & Bookplates set. 
• To make the background a scrap of white card was sprayed and splattered with Lava Red Cosmic Shimmer Mist. When this was dry the topper was positioned on the upper left side of the backing piece. Gold jewelry cord was laced through the greeting and this was then wrapped around the backing and taped in place, making sure that the greeting was adhered to just cover the lower right of the topper. All was then adhered to a standard 5" square black card base, oriented to create a tent style card. 
• The little gift boxes, stamps are from the same set as the greeting, were stamped on to white card with Memento Tuxedo Black and then fussy cut before sticking to the left corner using dimensional squares. 
• Finally, two gold enamel dots were added to the top right corner. 

I should add that there's an awful lot of dimensional sticky tape and squares on this card so it is in the 'to be hand delivered' category!

I'd like to submit this card to the following challenges:

CHNC challenge 305: anything goes as long as it's Christmas

CHNC challenge extra for November 2016

That's me for this evening ... it's almost bedtime already ... but I feel like I'm on a Christmas card making roll so hopefully I'll have a few more to share soon. 

Take care and have a fabulous Tuesday.

Monday Card Class and What I Got Up To When My Mojo Deserted Me

Hi Everyone

I hope you are all well and, if you are here in the UK, ready to enjoy the Indian summer that's been forecast.  My apologies for being such a bad blogger since Wednesday ... my mojo had gone AWOL so I had no cards to write about, no projects on the go ... nothing, until today.  I'd missed a couple of weeks at the card class, due to Alan and I both being poorly, but I was able to go back today. Evelyn, our noble leader and Stampin' Up demonstrator, brought along two card kits that used different techniques in the making.

To make this card I used a Bigshot for the first time ... it's not unlike the Cuttlebug to operate. We inked the beautiful Hydrangea stamp in two colours ... a technique I've only tried once before ... stamped it three times in my case because I messed up the first time :( ... and then cut out the flowers and decoupaged them.

I also got to play with a waterbrush for the first time when I drew out the ink in the flower, and liked it ... I usually use a fine paintbrush but I may have to invest in a waterbrush now.

The second was a buckle card. As you can see there's a tab that comes across from the inside and slips through a slot on the front to 'buckle' the front and back together.

Once Evelyn walked me through how to make it, I really liked this card ... it's a bit different. I think it's a great card to send a male friend who is not too well at the moment - I think he'd like the closure.

As mentioned before, I hadn't done anything creative to speak of for several days and I was beginning to get a bit desperate. Oh, I'd taken out some paper, put it away again, taken out some card, put it away again, taken out some stamps and put them away again ... you get the picture ... nothing was happening at all, my creative enthusiasm was well and truly dimmed. So yesterday, I decided that taking some action was better than no action at all. I emptied the stamps out of the  'catfood box' on my desk and catalogued them, first stamping them on to A5 sheets of paper then stamping them on to scraps of card, trying out different coloured inks and sometimes different textured card. Here's the result.

These should be handy if I want to make a quick card in the future - plenty to choose from.

Later whilst watching Downton Abbey ... I'm addicted ... I raided my bead box and made quite a few pins ... my wee stash had got down to two blue pins.

Aren't they pretty ... they will look great pushed into bows and flower embellishments. Most of the beads come from old costume jewellery but a few were begged and borrowed from my jewellery making sister, Margaret. Must pay her bead collection a visit again soon :)  While I was making them I discovered that a piece of thick sponge is ideal for leaving the pins in while the glue sets.

Just a wee reminder that I have an exciting giveaway, donated by  My Memories, of a copy of My Memories Suite Digital Scrapbooking software.  It ends tomorrow, so if you would like the opportunity to try out this fabulous software to make anything from digital scrapbook layouts to a hybrid form of cardmaking then please be sure to check out the details here.

Ah, that's better, I feel as though I'm getting back into the swing of things.  I've a Christmas card or two to make ... I've fallen behind ... and there's a mini mountain of snippets to attack ... so better get cracking. Now, where's my cup of tea ...

Take care all and happy crafting,

Thank You - A Matching Set

Hi Everyone,

Hope you are all having a great day so far. I joined a local Stampin' Up class today and had a thoroughly good time making this great wee project.

Evelyn, our SU demonstrator, did a great job providing the kits, vital pieces of equipment, e.g. punches, trimmers, etc., and explaining every step clearly making the putting together easy and fun.

Materials used:
All Stampin' Up products: Cardstock: Melon Mambo, Very Vanilla; DP: Sweet & Sour Speciality; Stamps: Just Believe Set, So Happy For You; Stampin' Write Markers - olive, orange & pink; Various punches; ribbon; brads

The class was two hours of fun and I really appreciated being with other crafters, learning new skills, e.g. colouring stamps with several colours using markers instead of using an ink pad, and, best of all, listening to the crack : ) You can see more of Evelyn's projects on her blog, Evy's Crafty Creations.

It's tea time so I'm off - I'm just gasping for a cuppa.

Happy Crafting,