Christmas Kisses ….

Theses cards all measure 3.5 inches x 3.5 inches and are made using white linen effect card blanks

A couple of weeks ago I received the most wonderful parcel of Michaels goodies out of the blue from Lizzie.  She is a follower and had thought of me when she was recently in the US …. I was totally overwhelmed by her kindness, thought and generosity.  THANK YOU SO MUCH LIZZIE!  I have to admit my mojo is really not what it used to be and I am struggling ….. but your lovely gift has given me a gentle kick up the backside to think about getting going again.

Amongst all the amazing bits were these glittery self adhesive lips and were my very favourite …. …. as soon I I saw them I knew exactly what I was going to do with them!

The Christmas ones, on first appearance, may look simple …. but putting the writing in just the right position so the card looked balanced took several attempts!

Felt Heart Decorations

During the year I have been really sorting out the contents of my craft cupboards and drawers, trying to use as much stuff up as possible.  I must have had these sewn felt hearts for well over three years.

I bought several boxes of them from an Ikea sale and think I paid about 50p for a box of twelve, but never knew quite what to do with them when I got them home.

But, then I had an Ulrika moment when I “re-found”  these Prima “Say It In Studs” self adhesive jewel stickers.  As I had several packets of the same designs and colour ways I was able to put the same design on each side of the heart, and no sewing …. or messing with glue, they were all done in five minutes.

I also found some leftover bows for these four hearts, adding a flat backed gem in the centre.

As you know I don’t usually give cards to my work colleagues at Christmas,  preferring to give them a small decoration for their tree which will hopefully stay with them a lot longer than a card, and that is what I intend to do with these.

Meeting Marc …. In Real Life!

Well, you’ve probably guessed by now that I have been away for a few days in London, my main reason for going was to met Marc, who you all know from this blog, in “person” and in “real life”,  with the added bonus of a trip to the Olympics as a wonderful surprise from my sister, Jan.

Now, I don’t have a picture of me and Marc, so you’ll make do with a picture of me and Alistair Campbell instead, who I am afraid I accosted at Olympic Park!  He has been my “guilty” pin up pleasure for years … and when I saw him walk past, eating his Magnum, incognito, I knew that if I didn’t do something, I would always regret it, so I chased after him ….. what am I like?  All I can say is that I swooned like there was no tomorrow,  he was even more gorgeous in real life than his pictures and on TV  (and very tall and slim, and beautifully dressed) and he was also polite, lovely and kind ………. I am an even bigger "fan" now …. you can’t tell by the picture but I was just like a jelly!!!

…. Anyway back to Marc …..  we were both a little nervous about this first meeting even though we text, email and phone regularly ….. and it was so silly because as soon as I walked into the pub and saw him sat sitting there waiting, we instantly "loved" each other even more than we did before …. and for the rest of the day we never stopped talking crafts and monkey’s and laughing …..

After a cheeky shandy Marc took me on a guided tour of Portobello Road and in some of the vintage clothes shops … OMG, OMG, OMG!  There and then I was determined that the diet HAD to start that second (well, after our evening meal at least!) …. as I wanted ALL the clothes! Marc could look at all the stitching and bead work and say when and how they were made, there is nothing he doesn’t know about fashion and design …. but unfortunately for me vintage rarely comes in a large!! So I am now shedding the pounds with vengeance and then Marc and his friend Stephane (below, who is equally lovely and so fascinating to look at and listen to) are going to take me shopping for part of my vintage Las Vegas wardrobe …… a la Gok Wan.

While we were in one shop I spied an old school satchel but was a little apprehensive as to what they might want for it …. knowing that London prices can be a bit steep …. but when the girl said £6 and Marc beat her down to £5 it was mine …. Marc bought it for me …. what is he like?

The stitching was coming undone in places and I've since fiddled with it some more, as the picture shows, but, it’s nothing I can’t fix.  I was thrilled because I had been eyeing up satchels in all the shops but the prices were just silly for reproductions.  This is the real thing ….. it just needs a bit of TLC, and a good clean … I could alter it …. but it is, what it is ….. and after a little thought I think it should stay exactly as it was meant.

Marc also took me to see other shops that blew my mind, including a jewellery shop that was so crammed with over the top jewels that I must have sounded like a stuck record ….it was a shop stacked to the ceiling with objects of desire!
Then Marc took me Stephane’s home for a little light lunch …. I have always wanted to see inside one of those huge typical white London type houses ……

…. and again …. all I can say is OMG, I was so not disappointed  and then reflected on how very different it was from my own humble dwelling in Wolverhampton ….. it was like another world …. but a world I could very comfortably fit into!!!!!!! LOL …. but practically you have to think of all the housework …. I’d have to have a vacuum cleaner on each floor and would have to no longer be such a stranger to Mr Sheen!

Marc also gave me some lovely presents …..

He knows I have a thing about skulls (??) and thought this stunning pink and very heavy skull money box was very me …. we both think should be embellished with a copious amount of  flat backed gems …. so watch this space ….

There was a new mug and coaster for my desk at work, when I go back in September, filled quails eggs …. I’m not going to eat them …. they are too beautiful …. but have put them in a nest I already had in my craft room.

…. and a solar powered waving Queen …. which is now sitting on my kitchen windowsill…..waving ..... so funny!!!  What can I say?

We ended a perfect day with a wonderful meal in a lovely Italian restaurant, with Marc, Stephane and myself and then joined by Rick, Marc’s partner and my sister Jan, fresh from a shift as a Games Maker at the Olympic Park. 

On meeting The Boys:- Monkey, Darrell, Vinnie and Nigel for the first time Rick’s face lit up and he said that it was like meeting Bagpuss or someone from Poggles Wood! I know I keep saying it, but it really was a wonderful day, and I am afraid tears were shed when it was time to say goodbye …… I always knew how special Marc was …. but he’s even more special and precious to me now, as too are Rick and Stephane Life has been so sad of late …. and I have another hard weekend ahead of me soon, but life is for living ……and I know there will be many more happy visits to come.

Santa’s Magic Key Gift Tags

Can you believe I made these in the first week of January this year?

I’ve used children’s wooden dominoes that I bought from e-bay and the small keys were from a couple of charm bracelets I found in a sale a couple of years ago for about £1 a go which I knew would come in useful one day.

The keys varied in size, so I paired them with suitably sized dominoes.

A bit of my own handwriting, a touch of faux stitching on the front and back and a smattering of stars …. and they were done!

Liquorice Card

This card made using an A5 hand cut white linen effect blank.

Aghhh as I took the picture of this card, I spotted a flipping mistake, bum  ….. but it was soon put right!!

The card was for one of my sisters friends and the brief was, amongst other things …. “Linda likes to eat big liquorice cables in bed ……. is a photographer ….. who specialises in taking  informal  and relaxed wedding photos” At first I  didn’t intend to make any connection between liquorice and weddings pictures  until I stumbled upon Bertie Bassetts wedding on Goggle …… it was manna from heaven!!

I’ve added Ranger Glossy Accents to the Catherine wheels on the card and to the large liquorice cables I’ve scattered around in the bedroom picture!

I love making cards for my sister as they really make me think!

40th Birthday Card For A Vicar

I have a lovely old gentleman who asks me to make him a “Special” card every now and again, and they are always a challenge!!

The only brief I had was Father Joe, 40 and Team Vicar, but knowing my gentleman has a good sense of humour I decided to throw caution to the wind and go with what came into my mind first …….. and then “pray” that I got tone right”

I use Publisher to put the card design together, I have a basic template, but depending on the wording and theme it tends to change with each card. I try to get the wording right first and then it’s positioning, followed by finding suitable free images which in this case it wasn’t that easy!

Then comes more fiddle-farting to get the images to fit ….. a card like this can take up to two hours to get it just right …. before any cutting and sticking gets done. Once I am happy with the whole thing I save it all as a JPEG and then insert it in size a little smaller that A5 onto an A4 sheet (Landscape), then copy, paste and crop parts from it to make the simple decoupage layers (I hope that makes sense) until it looks like the sheet above.

Now I ready to put the card together, making an A5 card blank, mat and layering the front on silver then cutting out the decoupage layers, which I stick down with adhesive foam pads.

Nothing too fancy …. I

Finally a few stars, micro glitter and the odd splodge of Ranger Glossy Accents add the final touches  in texture and extra dimension.
I just hope I am not struck down for it!!!

Cards With An Autumnal Feeling

These cards measures 5ins x 5ins and are made using ivory linen effect card.

I’ve used a pack of K & Co adhesive dimensional stickers, sent to me from Dianne in Florida on these cards, they have a lovely muted Autumnal feel about them,  which is probably why I’ve wait until September to put them in my staffroom box.

K & Co stuff is always so beautifully packaged, which is why I have been able to  use almost everything included in the pack for the squares, backing and corners on the first card.

I have kept the second card much simpler, using scraps of Kraft card as a backing to the embellishments.

A Very Less Is More Wedding Card

This card is A5 in size and is made using ivory linen effect card.

A friend asked if I could take elements from a wedding invitation she had received and make a card incorporating the, now I love the less is more effect but the invitation to be honest was a lot less and no more!

All that was on it was about ten inches of gold organza ribbon and one lone pearlised gold heart, both of which I prised off very gently.

Putting it together I’ve used Papyrus font for the text, which I’ve cut out and then mat and layered on gold and ivory card using Nestablities label dies, adding just a couple of metal dragonfly charms and gold coloured flat backed gems.  I await her reaction!

Sewing Themed Card

This card measures 5ins x 5ins and is the sort of card I would love to get.

I’ve covered the front of the card with a dressmaking themed paper from my Papermania A5 Bookprint paper pack. I’ve then added another paper that I thought looked  “retro” (and reminded me of my summer school uniform from way back when!).  The other bits and pieces include a length of tape measure type ribbon, tiny red ric rac braid, a Craftwork Cards circle sentiment and butterflies from a pack of K & Co. 3D embellishments that Dianne in Florida sent me from Michaels.

Awful Cupcake Card …. Acceptable Cupcake Card!

The cards in this post measure 5ins x 5ins and are made using a white linen effect hand cut card blank.
I made this card first………

…. but when I started to blog it and looked at the picture properly I realised it was total pants, everything was wrong with it, what was I thinking? So I went back to the drawing board, got my Nestabilities out and started again. I don’t use my BigShot enough, it’s on a shelf with other things piled on top, and I’m just too lazy to get it down to use it!!  

However, I now realise that it should be moved permanently to the table adjoining  my  craft desk because using a scalloped square die cut has completely transformed the card.

The cupcake was from a pack of six from The Range.  I’m always attracted to small cute stickers, but often, in the clear light of day they are a devil to use, mainly due to their size and being quite hard to match up to use with other embellishments. It’s a lesson I should have learned by now!

Bind It All Birthday Book

I don’t make many of these little Bind It All books because they make me use an awful lot of brain power plus a lot of time to put together, this one over six hours, not including a box.

However this was for a very special friend of my sister and so it was a pleasure.  A book usually starts off with a long list of things about the person …so that I have plenty of scope and themes to work on  (though I don’t use everything) and, if I am lucky, a few pictures too.

I think of it as a bit like writing a story and gradually it all comes together.

….. and I try make it as funny as I can …. it can be a bit tricky, but as I have met Chris myself this was a doddle as she has a very similar sense of humour to me…… daft!

I’ll let the rest of the pictures tell the story …….

I tell you what,  my brain really ached when I had finished!