New Baby

So another fortnight has flew by and it's time for another challenge at the Alphabet Challenge Blog!

It's a special week this week as we are introducing some new DT members, so I'm not a newbie anymore! lol!
It's also the week we complete another round of the alphabet which means we're up to Z and the challenge for this week is...

Z for Zoo Animals!

When I first saw the challenge I thought it was gonna be hard to find an appropriate image - until I looked through my stamps and then I was spoilt for choice!

So here's what I did...

I used a Pink Petticoat image called Baby Elephant which I coloured with my promarkers (Cerise, Pink Carnation, Baby Pink, Carmine, Yellow, Buttercup, Grass, Leaf Green and blender pen)

I made a centre step card and the papers I used are Echo Park; Country Drive.  I edged it with tattered rose distress ink.

The "Bundle of joy" sentiment is also Pink Petticoat printed onto safmat and then framed with some Hodgepodge Hardware from Stampin' Up!.  The rest of the sentiments are computer generated and punched out with Stampin' Up! punches.

I used some pink adhesive pearls from Wild Orchid Crafts on the front and on the inside along with some other elements from the front.

That's it.  Why don't you head over to the Alphabet Challenge Blog to see what the rest of the DT have done - including all the new team members!

I'd like to enter my card in the following challenges:

Bling It On; New beginnings
By The Cute & Girly; New beginnings
Charisma Cardz: Pretty in pink
Creative Inspirations; Anything goes
Digi Doodle Shop; Anything goes
Dream Valley Challenges; Animals
Simon Says; Anything goes
Totally Gorjuss; Welcome
Whimsey Stamps; Pearls or bling

Thanks for looking and for all your lovely comments!  Also a big hello to all my new followers!

 

WOYWW 138

Wednesday again!  These weeks are moving by too quickly and the year will be gone before we know it.

I'm a bit earlier this week than I should be cos I've taken a couple of days off work to see if some R&R will help me get rid of this (insert swear word here) cold!  It doesn't seem to want to go away and just when I think it's not as bad as it was my nose starts running, my head is buzzing and I can't hear again!  I suppose it doesn't help that I can't sleep.

Anyway, onto the desk...

As you can see, I've been playing a bit with Photoshop Elements which I loaded onto the computer yesterday (see the lovely frame around my picture? - that took about an hour and a half to learn how to do, I think it wasn't working right the first time I tried.)  There's so much to learn about on it and I've been googling bits and pieces.  I think that will just have to be work in progress.  Any hints or tips gratefully recieved!

I have also managed to make a couple of cards - the one I shared last night that you can see here and the one peeking out from underneath is my DT card for Friday.

And I've also been re-watching the 3rd series of True Blood, cos the 4th series starts next week on FX and my wonderful memory needs a refresher on what happened in the last series.  I got Sky installed last week so I will be able to watch it in my own house now - I was going to my brothers before and then couldn't go sometimes and ended up missing most of the series - hence buying it on blu-ray.

So that's it.  I'm gonna head over to Julia's place now to see more workdesks from around the globe.

Thanks for looking and for your lovely comments!
 

1st Wedding Anniversary

I've still got a horrible cold - my "m"'s still sound like "b"'s!  I think it's starting to get a bit better though, so hopefully it won't last too much longer.

I managed to get my photoshop loaded onto my computer today.  There's not a big lot of instructions with it on how to use it so I thinks it's gonna take a while to get to know how to use it properly.

I was asked to make a card for a 1st wedding anniversary, so I thought I'd go with a paper/printed theme as the traditional present for a 1st anniversary is paper.

Here's my card

I used my favourite "couple" image again - it's called "You & Me Baby" from Tiddly Inks.  I coloured it with copics and prismacolour pencils.  (colours: Skin; E13,21,11,02,00, R20.  Clothes; YG97,95,93, B16,14,12, RV13,11,10.  Hair; E49,44,43,41,55,37,35,33. 0)

I made it into an easel card and the papers are Basic Grey "Out of print".  The sentiments are computer generated using a font that looks a bit like a typewriter font.

I made the flowers using Spellbinders Dahlia dies and for the larger one I cut a heart (also Spellbinders) and sprayed it with water and squished it up and flattened it out again to distress it.  I also cut squares of some left over cross stitching fabric and held it all together with a brad which I then covered with a button threaded with some bakers twine.

I gave a piece of white paper the same treatment as the heart after I used the note-book punch along the top.  Everything was distressed with Tes Dye distress ink.

I'm entering this in the following challenges:

Sketch Saturday; Sketch
CRAFT Challenge; Use numbers
Craft Your Days Away; Distressing
Cupcake Craft Challenges; All you need is love
Delightful Challenges: Distressed
Fab & Funky Challenges; Bingo - Top line
Oldie But A Goodie; Have a heart (my stamp is more than 6 months old)
Stamp With Fun; Cute vintage
Stamp, Scrap & Doodle Saturdays; Have a heart
Totally Papercrafts; Make your own flowers
Basic Grey Challenges; Favourite things - the stamp, copics, dies, everything really!

Thanks for looking and for your lovely comments!

WOYWW 137

It's time for another What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday (in fact, it's almost past time for it, again!).  So lets see all the busy/messy/tidy/lovely workdesks all over the world at Julia's place.

I tidied my desk up today as I had to take some "proper" work home and needed space for it so my desk is actually tidy at the moment - 2012 looks like it could be the year of the tidy desk!  (It probably won't last for long!)
I was glad to get home today as I'm a little poorly :(  I'd gotd a sduffed node and a sore head and generady feelind a bid icky :'(

My post from last week seemed to appeal to those of you with an obsession for markers (like me!)  My (non-crafty) friends and family think I'm mad that I think so much of my markers but I know you all share those feelings.
So, I thought I'd show my markers again! :)  That always cheers me up!

Ahhh, that's better!

I was asked by a fellow Northern Irelander where I got my markers as they are not freely available here.  I have to admit that my extremely generous mummy and daddy got most of them for me for various birthday/Christmas presents.  I have added a few to my collection myself and I had to buy them over the internet.  And you're right, they are so expensive, but so worth it!

Oops, a bit over-exposed there...
I also have to thank my lovely aunt who brought my copic stands over to me from America.  They're also hard to get here and 3 times more expensive than they are in the states!  So I got my 3 from America for the price of 1 here.

Not forgetting my beloved pro-markers.  I've had these bad boys from before I got my copics and although I lost them to my brother for a while, I managed to claim them back and they're back in use again.  I coloured stickers with each marker before sticking it to the flat lid of each pen to easily show their colours, then I put an elastic band around each colour group - that leaves it so handy to pick which ones I want to use.

And last but not least..

I've got some Tria markers and Flex markers stored in tins behind the other markers.

Maybe next week my desk will be back to it's usual mess.

For now though, I think I'll have a lemsip and go to my nice warm bed.  Sniff sniff

Thanks for looking and for all your lovely comments
 

Hello Kitty

For my niece's birthday I bought her a few presents and they were all Hello Kitty themed.  So I thought I'd stick with the theme for her card.  I'm not even sure if she likes Hello Kitty, she's maybe being forced into it! lol

Here's what I did...

I googled the image and coloured it with my pro-markers.  These sorts of images are so easy to colour as there is no shading and no blending!

I've had the paper forever and it's Princess Sky by Kraft Kuts.  I used a swiss dots embossing folder on a panel of craft card and lined between the dots with a white gel pen.  I also added some faux stitching to the "3" with the gel pen to correspond with the ribbon.  I made the name with my sizzlets alphabet dies.  I had just recently got some cute wee Hello Kitty charms so I was able to use one of them too!

The inside used the same paper, ribbon and dies by Spellbinder and the "3" is by Die-namics.  The sentiment stamp is by Wild Rose Studio.

I'd like to enter this in the following challenges:

Charisma Cardz Challenges; Happy 3rd Birthday
CRAFT Challenges; Celebrations
Crafty Catz; Use something new - New charm and new image
Crafty Creations Challenges; Use something new - charm & image
I Love Pro-markers; Cute & Cuddly
Joanna Sheen Challenge Blog; Celebrations
Papertake Weekly; Die cute special
The ABC Challenge Blog; H for Happy Birthday
Paperplay Challenges; In stitches - on ribbon and on "3"

Thanks for looking and for all your lovely comments!

 

Thanks A Bunch!

We're already a fortnight (give or take a day!) into 2012, can you believe it?!
It'll not be long til it's Christmas! lol!  Just kidding!

But another fortnight means another challenge at the Alphabet Challenge Blog.  We're up to Y now and the challenge this time is...

Y for You can choose!

So basically, anything goes.  Here's what I did:

It's a wee thank you card.  I just adore that wee LOTV stamp and I think she's perfect for a thank you card.  I coloured her with Copics and prismacolour pencils and paper pieced her dress.

The papers are Prima "Alla-Prima Collection".  The seam binding is from The Ribbon Girl and the lace butterfly is from Wild Orchid Crafts.  I added a pearl design which I split up to go further on the card and added a few swarovski's.

The inside used the rest of the pearl design and some more of the designer paper.

So why don't you join us this fortnight at The Alphabet Challenge Blog.

I'd like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Creative Inspirations; Swirls & pearls
Cupcake Craft Challenges; Something new (Lace butterfly and stamp)
Diva's By Design; Thanks
Moving Along With The Times; Spots and/or stripes
My Mums Craft Shop; Here come the girls
One Stop Craft Challenge; Bingo - Lace, die cuts, paper piecing
Papertake Weekly; Die Cute special
Scrappy Frogs; Lace
Simon Says Challenge; Spots and/or Stripes
Sweet Stampin Challenge Blog; Spots & dots
Lili's Little Fairies challenge; favourite LOTV stamp

Thanks for looking!

 

WOYWW & A New Home

I may just make this on time - by the skin of my teeth!
I'm back to saying that I can't believe another week has passed!  Time is starting to fly again.  I suppose it's because I went back to work on Monday after my lovely Christmas holidays and I was trying to get back into a routine before I went back.  I don't know why but I always get my routine way off when I'm on holidays - I usually end up sitting up all night and sleeping all day.  It's not good.
But anyway, at the rate I'm typing this post I'll be back on my holiday routine and I'll have to find a blog that does "What's on your workdesk....Thursday"!  (This, of course, is meant for Julia's "What's on your workdesk Wednesday")
So the desk is a little tidier than last week as I still haven't made a card in 2012.  It's that old excuse of trying to get other things done before I start new ones.

I've moved the laptop back to it's spot so I do actually have somewhere to do some work - should the notion grab me.  I just have a couple of bits of jewellery I was repairing and a cuppa to keep me company.

My other desk looks a little more different though...

I've now got my new printer in situ, but it hasn't been installed yet and that's the printhead thingy sitting on top waiting to be plugged in.  I've also moved my beloved markers out into the open.  They used to be where the printer is now but I much prefer them where they are now.  Where I can see them.  And hopefully one day, use them!

I have used them, though this card is one I made ages ago and I thought it was about time I blogged about it.
It was for my cousin who had just moved house.

The image is by the lovely Spyder and I coloured it with copics (I think, it was a while back so I'm not totally sure now)  I think the paper is a Stampin' Up! one, but again, I'm not totally sure.

I used an MS punch and some ribbon from my stash and made the ribbon flowers by twisting and sticking ribbon onto a circle of card.  I finished off the centre with a wee diamante flower from my stash.  The sentiment was computer generated.

The sentiment on the inside is from Waltzing Mouse as are the wee shamrocks stamps.  I just cut the image and inside randomly with my knife and metal ruler.  I added another flower to the inside which helped to stop the card from falling over as the front was quite heavy.

So I'd like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Anything Goes; Anything Goes
Bling It On; New beginnings
By The Cute & Girly; New beginnings
CES Challenges; Anything Goes
Colour Create; Red, cream & sage green
Craft Your Days Away; New beginnings
Crafty Boots; New beginnings
Crafty Catz; A new beginning
Crafty Ribbons; New beginnings
Cupcake Craft Challenges; Something new
Diva's By Design; New beginnings
Dream Valley Challenges; Anything goes
Oh la la Challenges; New beginnings

Thanks for looking!
 

WOYWW 135

One of my resolutions to myself was to be a bit more active on my blog this year (although I think I made the same resolution last year!) and a good way of doing that (apart from making more cards obviously!) was to take part in a lot of the fun weekly things that people do on their blogs.  One of which being WOYWW (aka What's on you workdesk Wednesday).  I did take part a few times last year but as most of my year was taken up with wedding stuff my desk was never really very interesting so I didn't bother.  So my last ever wedding is officially over and I now plan to be a little more creative (I hope) and I might have a few more interesting things on my desk.

As I'm still on holiday from work (woohoo!) I have completely lost track of what day it is and was surprised to see other people taking part in woyww!  Good start huh?!
My desk is also a little sad looking as I haven't actually made anything yet in 2012 so there's still remants of wedding stuff and Christmas stuff and a few things that I have to get onto the computer.  I am working on it, but having nothing that you need to do doesn't half make you lazy!

Anyway, here's my desk which seriously needs a good tidy up and sort out

See, nothing the slightest bit interesting!
You can see a CD that I want to add to my itunes, and I got photoshop elements for my birthday just before Christmas so I need to get that onto the computer along with software for my phone and my new camera.  And then there's just general mess - you really don't want to see the rest of the room!

So if you want to take part, or just have a nosey at other people's mess then head over to Julia's blog and take it from there.
Hopefully by next week I'll have made something!

Thanks for looking!
 

My Favourites

I've seen a few people showcasing their top 5 cards from 2011 so I thought I'd have a go too.
It's been a hard decision to cut it down to 5 as there were some cards that I love for sentimental reasons, some cos they were fun to make and some that just turned out better than I expected!
So I went (mostly) for the better than expected ones!

They're in no particular order, so starting with this one

This was the card I made for my best friends 30th birthday.  The rock theme was because I had gotten her tickets to a rock concert (which we had an absolute blast at and took a week to recover from!) and the "turned out better than expected" part is that this was the first card I used prismacolour pencils on in addition to copics.
The original posting can be found here.

This is the card I made for my da for Fathers Day.  I had to make sure to put a hammer charm on it as he had blamed me on losing his "good hammer" years ago and we had recently discovered that it wasn't me who lost it after all!  This was the first (and as far as I can remember, the only) time I've made a centre step card (I'll have to remedy that!)
The original posting can be found here.

I was asked to make a card by a colleague of my sister, for her sons 18th, and she wanted it to be sexy.  I emailed a link to Kenny K's site to show her this image and was black-listed from their work emails!  The images were deemed to be a little too risqué!  Thankfully all honour has been restored and I can email my sister again.
You can see the original posting here.

This one was for another friend's 30th birthday, this time a friend from the MAC forum.  I loved the summery colours on this - I think that paper pad would have to be listed as one of my favourites.
You can see the original posting here.

Last of all is one I was asked to make for another colleague of my sister (or possibly the same colleague!) I think little girls are the easiest audience for cards like these so I went all out with bright colours and texture and shapes.  I was really pleased with the result and nearly didn't want to give it away even though I don't actually know any Kasies!  I was told that the little girl loved it and kept it up long after her birthday was over, so that made it OK!
You can see the original posting here.

So if you want to see more people's top 5's (and why would you not?!) head over to Debby's blog and then take part.

Thanks for looking!
 

Photo Overload Alert!

Happy New Year everyone!  I hope you all brought 2012 in with a bang!

On the MAC forum we had a Christmas card swap so I had 8 cards to make.  These are my last Christmas cards as I just didn't have time to make any more.
I decided to do the cards the same, but different!  I thought that stamping and colouring would take too long so I decided to do somthing similar that I did on a card last year and cut 3 different sized circles 8 times and build snowmen out of them!  It still took bliming ages!

I used 2 different snowflake embossing folders on the circles and then coated the middle sized circle with glossy accents and a sprinkling of glamour dust so as you could still see the embossing under the glossy accents.  I cut eight squares and small rectangles (longer than the squares) out of black card, coated them in glossy accents and black glitter.  Once all was dry I assembled into snowmen and added the glitter hat, two black swarovski's for eyes and a carrot nose made out of orange card.  I coloured 8 toothpicks with my burnt sienna promarker and stuck to the back of the snowman with glue and covered it with another die-cut circle to both hide the toothpick and for stability.

I cut 8 doo-hickey fences and attched them with short lengths of card to the front panel of the easel card to hold the front up.  When the card is closed the fence lies flat.

The sentiment is from Waltzing Mouse stamps and cut out with a spellbinders fancy tag.  The snow flurry behind the snowman is a memory box die.

Everything is distressed with various distress inks and my clear stardust pen and glamour dust have been extensively used too.  The papers are from Crate Paper's Snowy Day Collection, Prima's North Country Collection, DCWV's Rose Tinted Christmas multi stack and Kaiser Craft's Christmas Carnival Collection.

I'd like to enter these in the following challenges:

Craft Your Days Away; Snowmen
Crafts And Me Challenges; Anything goes
Creative Card Crew; Snow Day
Diva's By Design; Merry Christmas
Dream Valley Challenges; Christmas
I Love Promarkers; Anything goes - I admit that my use of promarkers here was very limited so if you think I haven't used enough then please remove me from the draw. x
My Mum's Craft Shop; Anything goes
One Stop Craft Challenge; Winter Wishes
Paperplay Challenges; Christmas
Papertake Weekly; Anything goes
The Poodles Parlour; Song Titles - "Let it Snow" or "The Snowman"
Saturday Challenge; Anything goes
Simon Says; Anything goes
The Pink Elephant; Anything goes
Top Tip Tuesday; Anything goes
ABC Christmas Challenge; Z is for zingy colours
Christmas Cards All Year Round; Non traditional colours

Phew, that's quite a list!
Thanks for stopping by!