November's Rudolph Day - Special Delivery

Hello Everyone,

As I missed last month's Rudolph Day, over on A Scraps of Life, I was determined not to miss this month's too, especially because it's the last one for the year.

Once again the topper has been recycled from a card received on a previous Christmas ... could have been last year, could have been several Christmases ago. I've teamed it up with a leftover scrap of patterned paper and a piece of white embossed card - Hero Arts 'Dots'. It's a simple design with just a few dew drops and a bow of red and white twine to embellish it - perfect for a little child, I think.

I'm also submitting this card to Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge #465 where anything goes as long as it's Christmas.

That's it for Rudolph Day 2019. Looking forward to starting all over again in 2020.

Take care everyone,

Christmas Card Club - Card 24/2019 - Forest Scene

Morning Everyone,

It's not like me, I know, but I'm actually early-ish with my offering for the Christmas Card Club today. The theme, Forest Scene (with lots of snow & glitter) was chosen this time by the lovely Kate, aka Culliesocks. 

And what could be more on theme than this topper which I've recycled/upcycled from a card received last Christmas. It's been layered on to a background made up from scraps of patterned paper left over from previous years. I have a ton of old papers just waiting to be used up. The snowflakes were punched, using an EK Success punch, from scraps of pale blue velum and an embossed paper - manufacturer long forgotten. It's not obvious in the photo but the topper got the Crystal Stickles treatment - lots of it - so looks very sparkly in real life. White enamel dots were the only other embellishment.

We are down to one last challenge for the Christmas Card Club this year. I still can hardly believe it - I'm definitely not feeling ready for Christmas yet. I hope you will pop over to see what my teammates have created for today's theme. You'll find a list of their names and links on my right sidebar - as always they are so much more creative than I will ever be.

WOYWW 537

Morning Everyone

It's What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday again and I'm late. What's new? Only because I've been busy doing nothing more exciting than my domestic goddess tasks. But enough of the excuses, I'm here now and this is what's on my desk this morning.

Question: how many green ink pads have I got in my stash? Answer: the eight in this shot? No, there's more - at the last count it's eleven! You'd never guess that green is my favourite colour. The autumnal background was made for a challenge. Sorry, can't show the finished project yet - it's still a secret. But, talking of autumn, here's another card I made this week.

The topper was made from a bit of promotional mail received from our local garden centre I thought too nice to toss. It's layered on to dark brown card and the base is a square kraft card base. Course garden twine seemed an appropriate embellishment and the little wooden leaf perfect for the season.

And now, the book bit.

This week I've been enjoying the second installment of Shaun Bythwell's tales from what must be Scotland's most famous bookshop, The Bookshop in Wigtown. 'Confessions of a Bookseller' follows on from 'The Diary of a Bookseller' (soon to be a major TV series). I enjoyed both books very much. Apart from Mr Bythwell himself my favourite character is his neurotic Italian temp assistant, 'Granny'.  It's only a week or so the Wigtown Book Festival which we plan to go to, and we will be sure to pop into The Bookshop while we are there. A mile of bookshelves - unmissable!

And ... finally ...

me this morning ...

Illustration by Louise Braithwaite

... because I am a ...

... and now, I think I need one of these ...

Enough! Time for lunch. But before I go, I just want to apologise to everyone I didn't visit last week. Life, as usual, got in the way and I simply ran out of time. Today, I promise, I will do much better. Thank you to you all for your visits and your comments, they are very much appreciated.

Have a wonderful day.

Two Cards to Add to the Christmas Count

Hello Everyone ...

... and happy Saturday to you all. Just a couple more Christmas cards to share.

The topper for this one is recycled from a card received several Christmases ago. I've matted it on to several layers of cardstock and decorated it with a recycled greeting and toning enamel dots.

Sorry for how lopsided this one looks - blame the cameraman (woman)! The silver topper was embossed with a folder that was a gift with an issue of Creativity Magazine a very long time ago. The tree was decorated with gems in pinks and purples and then matted on to purple cardstock. The base card is covered in a patterned paper from a Kate Knight Christmas collection paper stack. The greeting on this card is also recycled.

Two quick and easy cards. My favourite has got to be the one with the birds because it's almost identical to the sight I can see from my windows most days in winter. When they fluff their feathers up to keep warm they just look so very cute.

Take care everyone and I hope you are enjoying the weekend so far.

A Christmas Delivery

Hello Everyone,

I hope you have all had a happy Saturday and are enjoying the weekend. I'm concentrating on making as many Christmas cards as I can in the shortest time possible at the moment. If I had spread it out better throughout the year, I wouldn't be in such a spin - my own fault entirely.

Happily, this card couldn't have been quicker to make. I'd embossed the background months ago during an embossing session ... an attempt to use up the mountain of scrap card that I had accumulated. My thinking then was that it would save time one day, and so it has. The folder used is Let it Snow' from Crafts-Too.

 A piece of leftover red polka-dot patterned paper too made the ideal mat to layer the background on.

The topper is an image that was fussy cut and upcycled from a lovely card received one past Christmas.

The centre of the embossed snowflakes are embellished with red Stickles to give the card a wee bit of sparkle.

Given that I'm in cardmaking mode now, I think I'll be sharing a few more in the days and weeks ahead. So many cards to make, so little time!

January Rudolph Day Cards

Morning Everyone,

If you've read my previous post you'll know why I'm so late posting these cards for January's Rudolph Day challenge over at Scrappy Mo's Rudolph Days Challenge. I know we are only allowed to submit one for Mo's challenge so it will be the first one but I'm adding two other cards to this post because I like them.

This first one was made using some pretty dies from The Works and stamps from the Winter Woodland stamp set that came with a Craft Beautiful magazine.

The toppers on these two cards are upcycled from cards received two Christmases ago - if I like something I keep it!

For this one I've used a selection of papers from the 6x6 paper Memory Box collection Spiceberry layered on some much treasured light green card - Di from Pixie's Crafty Workshop sent me many moons ago and believe me it's used sparingly.

This last one has such a fun topper - love Rudolph's nose. I think the background paper is from a very old Docrafts Papermania pack and the red card used for layering is from the scrap box mountain.

That's it for this month. The EM is recuperating nicely so all being well, I'll be posting earlier for the February challenge - maybe even on the 25th!

Saturday Smiles - Grinning Kitten Card

Hello Everyone,

I recycled this image of a grinning kitten from a commercially produced card I received a couple of years ago. I'm a sucker for kittens anyway but this one really makes me smile. It's been teamed up with papers from a very old patterned paper pack and brown card that's so ancient I can't remember where it came from.

To make the card I did the following:

• I cut a 12" sheet of brown cardstock in half and folded it to create a 6" square card base
• one sheet of the patterned paper, from the 6x6 paper Memory Box collection Spiceberry, trimmed to 1/8" smaller than the card, was adhered to the card front
• two scraps from the same paper pad was trimmed down and also adhered to the card front to create the panel behind the topper
• the image of the grinning kitten was trimmed down and then I attached a small length of wine red ribbon on the bottom right corner. The faux bow was created by knotting a scrap round the ribbon. 

I will be submitting this card to the following challenge:

Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper January 2018 - A challenge that is always about using Patterned Papers

Like the last snippet card I made, link here,  this card is made from winter themed paper but I don't think it's obviously a Christmas one. It's a card, I think, that would suit any one of quite a few occasions and, for sure, the eventual recipient will be cheered up by that happy kitty.

Take care and have a great weekend.

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 449

Morning Everyone,

Another Wednesday another WOYWW and, as you can see, the desk is a shocker today.

For reasons of transparency - now there's a trendy term for today - I'm sharing the messiest shot as I continue to work my way through the STUFF! Right now I'm clearing out the drawers that, up to now, I've been stashing holiday ephemera. Intended to include in scrap layouts one day. Well, I don't scrap enough layouts to justify keeping two drawers full of this stuff. I need the space. It's got to go. Or, at least, most of it has and the EM has found room in his writing desk for the teeny weeny amount of very important stuff we couldn't bear to part with entirely. It's been decisions, decisions, decisions for days. I'm exhausted!

It's not all been sort out stuff. I've managed to make a few cards - see previous two posts - and a little sewing project.

Found this little felt kit during the sort out. Sweet, isn't it. I can't remember where it came from but I suspect it was a freebie with a magazine bought eons ago. It took less than half an hour to make. Easily made whilst watching an episode of Little Women - thoroughly enjoyed the whole series.

This card was just a bit of craft therapy when I got too fed-up filling black bags. The sweet little mouse topper is recycled from a card received several years ago. I've teamed it up with scraps of leftover card. The butterfly (Dovecraft's mini die, Layering Butterfly) was cut from the centre of the green layer ... the wee mouse is now hiding where it came from. I also got to use one of the dies from a set from The Works - this one features a heart design.

This week's audio book is Simon Dawson's Pigs In Clover read by Ben Allen. I'm missing Monty Don's dulcet tones but this book is very funny and I'm thoroughly enjoying listening to it too.












Well, that's me for the week. I hope you have a wonderful WOYWW and a happy crafty week ahead.

Butterflies and Roses - A Card for Nothing

Morning Everyone,

Apart from the white card base this card has cost me nothing to make. The topper is recycled from a birthday card received, oh maybe two or three years ago ... I find it nearly impossible to throw pretty cards away! I carefully trimmed round the image with scissors and then matted it on to a scrap of leftover orange card. The background paper is also leftover from quite a few years ago and the butterflies were die cut from the last snippets of the orange card.

As it's all old stash I couldn't possibly list the supplies used, though I do think the orange card is textured and  from Docrafts Papermania - it's one of my favourite brands of cardstock. And the butterflies were cut with the XCut Dinky Die that I've been using a lot recently.

Short and sweet today. I have a hair appointment early morning and then DH & I are spending the day with friends. The sky is blue and the sun is already shining so it looks like it's going to be the perfect autumn day.

I hope you all have a lovely day too.

Birthday Card - Loads of Fun

Hello Everyone,

Another scheduled post for you today. I'm still in the Highlands visiting lots of Scottish Castles so not around for What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday. Instead I'm sharing a card made for my little great-grandson who celebrates his second birthday this week.

I found the topper while I was sorting through some scrapbooking stickers and thought it would be just perfect for a little boy who is loads of fun to be with.

Supplies used and how I made the card:

- a pre-made white card base measuring 7" x 5" - landscape orientation
- dark brown cardstock for base layer. It's a piece recycled from a studio photo mount... similar to these pictured here: 

The photo is now in an album so it seemed a shame to waste a such a lovely source of free card.
- a piece of Kraft card I'd already embossed using the Hessian Textures Artist Collection folder (Crafter's Companion) cut to fit the brown card leaving a small margin on three sides only.
- the sticker from BoBunny, matted on to a snippet of yellow textured cardstock (Papermania). I trimmed the yellow card to just a tiny bit larger than the sticker to create the mat. 
- I found the letters already cut and ready in a bag that dates from a year or two ago - so long I don't remember cutting them. I think the die used was this one:

There's no maker's name on it - the only hint as to the font is the word 'Rome' in tiny print top left corner.
- the number two is from this big bag of fun foam numbers from Go Create Essentials (The Works). 

I think I have enough numbers to make cards for my great-grandchildren for many years to come.

Hope you are still having a wonderful week in my absence.

A Christmas Card

Good Morning,

Just a quick share this morning.

It's just a card made using a leftover scrap of patterned paper and a topper recycled from a card received last Christmas. I liked the festive images; pretty packages, baubles, candles and a wreath and thought they would make a good card topper.

I made the card by trimming the paper to just a smidgen smaller than the cream 4.½" square card base before gluing it on to the front. The topper was cut down to a good size to fit the card, matted on dark brown cardstock (from the scrap box) then mounted using sticky pads to add dimension. The only embellishments are the tiny red gems in each corner and the centre of the topper.

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

Hazel's CHNC - Challenge 333 - anything goes as long as it's Christmas themed
and CHNC challenge extra for May 2017 - again anything as long as it's Christmas

And that's it for today. It's raining. At last. (I can almost hear the garden sighing with pleasure.) So I've planned a day of crafting ... which probably means more sorting out in the craft room but I'm hoping to sneak in some real crafting too!

Hope you have a wonderful day - with maybe a little bit of crafting snuck in too.

Rudolph Day Cards - April

Hi Everyone,

It's Operation Craft Room Sort Out here, hence the absence of posts recently. It's surprising just how much time it is taking me to sort through all the shelves and drawers. I think I could be some time. Anyway, I decided to take a break today and make a few cards for this month's Rudolph Day Challenge over at ScrappyMo's where anything goes as long as it's Christmas themed.

Here are the cards I made.

I had a good rummage through the scrap box to make the first two cards and the topper on the second is one of many pieces of scrap card I embossed recently. The toppers on the last two are recycled from cards received last Christmas that I thought far to nice to throw away.

I'm submitting the second card to Pixie's Snippet's Playground - snippets of paper patterned paper and green cardstock used.

Well, that's my day off over and it will be back to Operation Sort Out tomorrow. Sigh. I'll be back ... eventually!

Have a great week.

Rudolph Day Cards

Hello Everyone,

Here we are starting the 2017 Rudolph Day Challenge, hosted by our lovely ScrappyMo over on Scraps of Life.  The whole idea of this challenge is to make Christmas cards/projects throughout the year thereby taking the pressure away from finding time to make them at the last minute - like I did last year! That being so here's my entry for January.

The beautiful illustration of Christmas Roses is recycled from a card received in 2016. All I did to make the card was trim the image to size, mat it on to satin finished gold card and then adhere it to a white card base measuring 5¾"x 4". Next, I stamped a greeting from the Christmas Visitors set, from Sheena Douglass' A Little Bit Festive collection, on a scrap of white card using Tim Holtz Tumbled Glass distress ink, trimmed it down to size and matted it on to the gold card, and then adhered it to the top left corner of the card with dimensional adhesive pads. The final touch is the three aqua coloured dew drops.

As you can see there's not much to making a recycled card. Often the image says it all, as is the case with the following three cards.

I can't resist images of kittens and this one was no exception. All I did was trim the image down to size, mat it on to red card and add two groups of red dew drops. The greeting was already on the image, as was the silver sequins you can just about see in the photo.

The same was true of this image too, greeting and glitter already done for me. I simply cut it to size and adhered it to a black 5" square card base and then added a group of silver enamel dots, from Simple Stories' The Story of Us collection, to the top right and bottom left corners.

Finally, this beautiful scene of a shepherd bringing in the sheep. This image also had the greeting already printed on it so, like the previous card, I trimmed it to size, adhered it to the black card base, and added a group of black enamel dots, Echo Park's Petticoats & Pinstripes collection, to the top left and bottom right corners.

So there we are, four Christmas cards made in absolutely no time and all recycling favourite illustrations from Christmas 2016. I've deliberately kept them as flat as possible to help save on postage - always a consideration for us pensioners, as I suspect it is for everyone in these expensive times!

Hope you are all enjoying a wonderful weekend wherever you are.

Cardmaking - Pond Skaters and Winter Lighthouse

Hello Everyone

I hope you are having a great Saturday. It began cold and bright this morning but now, 3pm as I'm writing, we have just had a shower of hailstones! The first of the year. Just the weather to stay indoors and craft.

Every year we receive many lovely cards that are just too nice to throw away so I save them. Result - I have a drawer full of old but beautiful cards! Occasionally, for fun, I go through the drawer and pull out a couple to recycle into new cards. Today I have two of them to share.

This scene of skaters on the frozen pond brought back happy memories from my childhood. There was a pond in the park near where I lived in Edinburgh that occasionally froze over. When it did it always brought the skaters out for a bit of fun.

To make it, I trimmed the front down and matted it on to a piece of aqua cardstock before adhering it to a Kraft card base. The only embellishment is the turquoise and white baker's twine.

The second one I liked because it is a beautiful depiction of a lighthouse on a wintry night,it's light beaming to warn sailors and keep them safe.

To make it, all I did was trim the topper down to fit a white card base leaving a margin showing all round. I then wrapped a piece of red ribbon around the topper and tied a knot. I had a rummage in a little stock of greetings I keep tucked away and found one that was just the right shade of red - how lucky was that!

I'm submitting my cards to the following challenges:

CHNC challenge 308 - cute or anything goes as long as it's Christmas - I think the first card is cute :)
CHNC challenge extra for November 2016 - anything goes as long as it's Christmas

Upcycled Birthday Card

Afternoon to you all.

Still catching up on makes not shared yet, this card is one for Pixie's Snippets Playground - Week 211.

I kept the original, shop bought, get well card received last year because the image of the flowers in a dazzling yellow vase cheered a sick me up back then ... just looking the bright sunny colours were a pick-me-up ... so with the horrible weather and dark winter's days we've been having I thought it might cheer you up too.

What I used and did to make it:

• a white card blank measuring 4" x 6"
• the upcylced card front, trimmed to form a topper, was matted and layered on to snippets of orange  (Papermania Textured) and yellow (very, very old Create & Craft cardstock printed with a linen look pattern)  
• another panel, large enough to cover the card front, was made with two more of the, admittedly large, orange and yellow scraps of cardstock
•  after positioning the topper, a yellow polka-dot die-cut flower (The Works) and amber dew drops were used to embellish the card.

Of course, this was a really quick and easy card to make ... I admit it's quite some time since I made a time-consuming and complex card.

Oops! Just realised the time. Pointless will have started so I'm off now but will be back later.

Take care and have a lovely evening,