Bird Cage Tag Birthday Card

 
I’ve used a very simple bird cage stamp from the Happy Moments set from Stampin’ Up.

It’s quite a small stamp and I wasn’t too sure how to use it.  In the end I plumped for setting it on three punched tags, with  faux stitching round the edges and three small yellow flat backed gems for added decoration

I have also used a very thin natural coloured string to complete the design.

My Phone Charm

I don’t often make stuff for me ……

But I’ve had this gingerbread man  for a couple of years now, it was taken from a nursery ornament in the shape of a tree which had a gingerbread man hanging on each branch., I waited and waited until it was reduced in the shop and as soon as it was, I bought it and disassembled it just for the gingerbread men, (something I have a big thing about)

I threaded it onto a mobile phone lariat (from e-bay) and a silver jump ring – et voila!  I’m not sure how long it will last, as it’s bound to get snagged on something, but perhaps, as I love it so much, I will be more careful.

This may also explain to you why I am always on the look out for the perfect little gingerbread man cookie cutter, so I that can make my own version of this sort of charm.

Cadbury Birthday Chocolate Bar

I thought I would make a few of these birthday chocolate bars to keep in my desk at work, in case of an emergency!

I think I paid 39p for a pack of 6 small bars of chocolate, which was a brilliant bargain. Before covering the chocolate with a scrap of patterned paper  I folded and stuck down both ends of the wrapper so they didn’t stick out.  I’ve handwritten “Happy Birthday”, then added a few stickers from Paperchase and some small clear flat backed gems.

That’s it!

Thank You Card

 

The “Thank You” sentiment on this card is a download from the Quickutz Silhouette site where I have a monthly subscription.

 
The butterflies are made using my Martha Stewart Trio butterfly punch.

When I have searched for this punch on Google Images the ideas using it on other blogs are breathtaking.  Hopefully, when I have a little more time during the summer holidays I will be able to try a few out.

Workman’s Tea and Cookie Card

I never know what I am going to be asked to make next ….. but this one takes the biscuit!!

 
I have a lovely lady who always asks me to put her husband in all of the cards I make for him, and always in his dungarees!

This time she wanted him with a big cup of tea and cookies……

The images are a mixture of digi scrapbooking from http://www.scrappindoodles.com/ and clip art.

The man and his clothes are made Sizzix Bitty Body dies.

Not sure about this one!!!??

Quick Birthday Card

I was sorting out my drawers and came across some postcards from Paperchase that I had forgotten I had.

 

So I trimmed this one to make a 3.5 cm x 3.5cm square and then mat and layered it on silver. All I’ve done then is add some pink flat backed gems in various sizes to the centre of the flowers and at the end of the leaves.

Little Girl with Balloon Birthday Card

It’s about time I used up these little girl wooden embellishments, as I have had them for ages and in some ways they seem a bit dated now.

I’ve put her on a background of pink gingham and have added the ribbon in her hair and shoe laces for a bit of extra detail.

Hearts on Printed Words Birthday Card

I’ve used an ivory linen card for this design as it is subtler than white and then have mat and layered on gold.

The scalloped squares are punched out from the pages of an old weathered dictionary and the black faceted hearts are from Hobbycraft.

A card for someone who loves words or reading?

Pepper And Friends Decoupage Cards.

Decoupage isn’t really my thing …. but I got the pad for these cards at a reduced bargain price from The Range because it was slightly damaged.
 
On the first card I have added three small bee buttons, covering up the printed bees on the original.

On this Pepper card I have added a bow, googley eyes and a few tiny flat backed gems.

And these last two cards I have experimented with the background papers.

Though these are not my type of card, they soon disappeared and after using them and seeing how popular they are I do look more carefully at decoupage stacks now.

Carbooting Sunday

As you can see from my picture, this carboot is HUGE!

Lisa picked me up at half past seven to go to a carboot  about 15 minutes away from us.. We must be mad, Sundays were meant for lying in and tea and toast in bed! We were good girls and stuck to our plan of each walking  down one side of a row and then swopping over at the top, as we knew we would be looking at/for the same thing and didn’t want to spoil a good friendship by fighting in an unseemly fashion over some trifle that caught both our fancies!

I was really keen to go, as Lisa said that the last time she went she found some double sided, silver mirror card. I’d had some a few years back and it was brilliant, especially for making boxes etc. on my Silhouette …… but I never thought I’d find any more once it was used up.  I managed to get 3 packs of  50 sheets for £2 each, bargain!  The lady on the stall said she was trying to get some double sided gold, now that would be even brillianter!!!

I also managed to find this small pile of bracelets and necklaces to disassemble. I was particularly looking for ones that had attached beads (as below), because they will look like little charms on the bracelets I intend to make with them. I paid between 20p and 50p for each of them, but there is a NEXT necklace amongst them that  I think I will wear for a while before undoing

These baskets were our find of the morning, costing just £1 for 10. I was thinking Christmas, but Lisa was thinking way ahead of me to Easter.  They measure about 4ins square and will be ideal for putting all sorts of little things in. We got 30 each! What are we like?

This was a funny sort of purchase, but only cost 50p – it’s a huge bag of fuzzy felt dancing girls with lots of dancing clothes etc. ……. I’m thinking …… girlie cards?

I also managed to find Monkey a very fetching Christmas outfit!!!

Cyclo Cross Birthday Card

Another one of my newspaper cards today.  I have made a very simple decoupage layer to accentuate the rider.

A bit of clip art and a few hologram stars – quite simple …. but putting it all together must have taken me at least an hour and a half!

Train Birthday Card

I’ve used a whole mixture of elements on this card; the train is stamped with a bit of doodling added and backed with foam pads to give a 3D effect, plus a few odd stickers from Paperchase (the trees) and Matalan (the people and rabbit). I have doodled the track and the smoke, which again, I have stuck with foam pads for extra dimension.

The blue gingham paper is a digi download.  I love using gingham but can never find just the right colour, so I downloaded a couple of sets from Activity Village http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/free_printables.htm – now I am never without just what I want.

And finally the alphabet stickers are from the Papermania – Hampstead Range (beware when buying these, as when I bought them I found that there was no “W"’s” in any of the three sets I bought.!!!!

Poundland Shopping

Do you remember ages ago when I said I was looking for “the perfect gingerbread man” and that I’d found him in an IKEA children's baking set, but it cost about £7.99 and I didn’t really want the rest of the paraphernalia?

Well, they say ‘It comes to him what waits’  well I waited, and look what I found in Poundland today – for a pound (it should have been £5 originally)!

 

And the added bonus is the cute little castle!  I’ll admit that the gingerbread man could be a little plumper to be absolutely perfect, but he has rounded arms and legs which is the main thing I was looking for. It also came with a donkey and ogres head cutter too plus a recipe/scrapbook.

I want to cut the man out in brown fimo for card embellishments and (hopefully) key rings.  I may cut the castle out in pink fimo and embellish with jewels.  I will get back to you when I have completed my mission …… but RESULT!

Golfing Newspaper Card

I hope you don’t mind that I post so many of my newspaper cards, it’s just that I must make at least 2 a month. I wouldn't exactly say they were an easy option when I've been asked to make a personal card, but I as I tend to struggle with mens cards the format usually works well, especially when I have been given a few details about the person I am making the card for.
 

This is what my printed sheet looked like before I turned it into the card.

I have used Anita’s 3D gloss finish for a bit of extra dimension and texture.
It's funny that although I use the template so much no two cards are ever really the same.

A Daisy Card for Daisy

My apologies, these pictures have a definite tinge of blue to them, but the card itself is a really brilliant white! 

Making the card couldn’t have been more simpler – I have just cut the letters out using my Silhouette …..

…… and then added a bit of faux stitching in green and punched out daisies with yellow flat backed gem centres. The gems were a much appreciated present from one of my readers, THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Simple Christening Card

When I was asked to make this Christening card I decided to keep things very simple. Little girls are easier to make for, as I could have added a few flowers in the corners, but I just didn’t have any embellishments suitable for a boys Christening card.

I have machine stitched the mat and layering in blue, something I haven’t done for a while.  The blue gingham is wallpaper bought for 10p a roll in a sale ages ago, the white ribbon was from a carboot sale (I must have had a million yards for about £2, and finally the font used is 2Peas Messy Etchy downloaded from the Two Peas in a Bucket website.

Beaded Birthday Card

This was a nightmare card to photograph! I made it all in ivory linen card to start with but as I began to prepare this post it just looked sooooooo wrong!

 

All the pictures I took were pants, it didn’t matter how I framed a photo, the card looked awful, although in “real life” it was quite pretty.

I used an assortment of seed beads, pearls and stars to embellish the lettering, which I cut on my Sihouette.

Sometimes it is hard to know when to stop fiddling – but in the end I had to just fiddle some more, and think, it’s much better in black!