made by alison

New Baby cards

2012-01-17T03:16:00.001-08:00

For Papercraft Inspirations, I was asked to make some cards featuring these really cute baby images. For the first time in years, I used coloured pencils, and I was really impressed by the pretty, soft colouring. Ribbons and lace were the only thing I could think of to go with babies, so I raided my boxes for pretty bits and found a Fiskars punch that created slots for ribbon in a strip of card. One blue and one pink - just right for a baby boy and girl!

Patchwork cards

2011-12-21T02:42:00.000-08:00

For the latest 'Papercraft Inspirations' I road-tested these cute patchwork designs. They're a great way to use papers from a matching collection, either paper or digital. I decided to print off some papers from one of my favourite CDs, Funky Hand’s Funky Seasons, to get a toning selection. The heart uses Summer Fun, the baby’s snugglesuit is Spring Walk and the house is Frozen Lake.

It’s surprising easy to cut the shapes by eye, even if you need a particular angle to fill in a space – just place the paper over the gap and cut by eye. Or, you can stick a larger piece on and (carefully!) trim round with a craft knife. If you miss any bits, colour with felt pen – or, even better, start off with a patterned background so any gaps won’t be so obvious. Ideally, there shouldn’t be any overlap, as the faux stitching needs a flat surface to look realistic. I used a black pen for the heart, but as my other two pieces used softer colours I ‘stitched’ using a brown pen which I think looks better.

I created topper pieces on the computer, with a border and greeting, then added the patchwork pieces to these. With the basic layout saved, I could change the colours and sizes quickly, so these designs would be good to make in quantity. Christmas may be nearly over, but a lot of ‘Thank You’ cards will be needed afterwards! To finish off my cards, I added some tiny yellow buttons to the baby card. For the house card, I trimmed a section off to make the roof, then cut a narrow trip of card with scalloped scissors to make the gingerbread edging before re-assembling them all. I also made a fir tree shape from the same papers, and cut a shaped trunk, to go alongside the house.

Glittered parcels

2011-12-13T00:34:00.000-08:00

This was the latest project I was asked to do for 'PaperCraft Inspirations' mag. The original project used stamps and embossing powders but I couldn't find my embossing stuff so I used glitter instead to decorate the little parcels and baubles. I love glitter!

The bauble card used a circle template and glue pen to draw lots of squiggles that were covered in glitter to make the ornament shape.

Folded triangle Christmas card

2011-12-13T00:30:00.001-08:00

This is a very clever card from Papercraft Inspirations, which uses a single sheet to cut a triangle which is then creased and folded into an interlocking star.

Unfolded, you can see a picture and greeting inside.

Christmas angels

2011-10-13T01:49:00.000-07:00

My latest creations for Papercraft Inspirations magazine. The stamps are by Lili of the Valley and are just adorable!

The papers are actually meant for summer birthdays, but the eight-ppinted petal shapes looked a bit like snowflakes, I thought, and I love the pretty pastel shades which went so well with the images.

The gift tag is particularly pretty, in very pale pink and blue, and would make a lovely tag for a winter wedding.

Pretty dresses

2011-08-31T00:37:00.000-07:00

These are the latest cards I have featured in 'Papercraft Inspirations'. They're downloads from the website http://papercraftinspirations.themakingspot.com/. The pink one is decorated with flower stamps, gems, glitter, patterned paper. There's narrow ribbon and a flower at the waist.

The second one has a silvery bodice (Bazzill bling cardstock) and the skirt is covered with opalescent sequins of various sizes and shapes.The photo doesn't do it justice! The sequins were attached with Pebeo Crystal Touch in pale pink.

Apple cards

2011-07-28T01:05:00.000-07:00

This was the fourth set of cards I made as one of Papercraft Inspirations magazine testers. I love paper piecing - it's such an easy yet striking way to create images. These apple cards use a packet of Christmas papers but the red and green checks look great for fruit.

The tiny buttons used as seeds came from a big packet I got in Poundland. The letters spelling 'apple' are from my big stash of leftover letters that I separate into little boxes - it was a bit of a bore to do initially but it's great for making up ransom-style titles.

The red heart button on the other card is from Doodlebug and the stamped letters are a tiny set by Studio g.

Fishy tales

2011-06-23T02:42:00.000-07:00

For my third challenge, I had to make some fishy cards. The directions called for Fimo, and I did make one fish with Fimo, but I found the templates could work perfectly well with card too, and that didn't require any baking time. For fun, I photographed the card under a tree - the dappled light makes it look as if the fishes really are under water!

Flower card

2011-06-23T02:38:00.000-07:00

This was my second challenge as Papercraft Inspirations tester, following the instructions for a card using stamps. I chanegd the colour scheme to a pretty fresh spring-like combination. The green paper is plain card stamped with leaves in two shades. The flower was stamped on lilac card with purple ink, and cut and shaped. I stitched the background white panel onto the card instead of using faux stitching, as I really like the extra texture which proper stitching gives.

Papercraft Inspirations Magazine

2011-06-23T02:33:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to be chosen a while ago as one of the Papercraft Inspirations testers, getting to try new projects before they're featured in the magazine! It's been great fun, and a real privilege to see what's been designed for the magazine before it's published. My first make was a gem encrusted super-yacht card. It's paper pieced from the patterns in the May issue of magazine, but I changed the nautical colour scheme to an evening one of purple, grey and orange. As well as the wire on the waves that the instructions showed me how to add, I sprinkled the sky with stars and hung a garland of fairy-lights (tiny gems) on the ship.

Beaded card

2011-03-10T02:24:00.000-08:00

I love stitching, so I actually like sewing on my cards - I know a lot of people prefer glue but I like the action of sewing as well as the certainty that nothing's going to come off! So I stitched some beads along the bottom of this card in between the swags of the paper strip behind, to look like trimming. The clear beads catch the light and sparkle, looking really pretty. The image may be vintage but it's lovely bright spring-like colours, which I enjoy!

Papercraft Inspirations Scallop-edge scissors

2011-02-22T06:46:00.000-08:00

Just received a pair of scallop-edged scissors with my latest issue of Papercraft Inspirations magazine, and tried them out on a pack of Docraft papers. I often cut or tear a strip to go at the bottom of a landscape card, but I haven't tried a decorative edge like this before. The middle strip was rather similar in colour to the wider one, so I edged the inner strip with brown pen. A few flowers and a greeting finished it off - oh, and a glitter strip and gems. I do like my bling!

Crafty card

2010-09-30T05:18:00.000-07:00

This one uses some die-cut shapes piled up in what's called Pyramage - like decoupage but not cut out neatly around the individual shapes, which makes it MUCH easier! I liked the fresh colour scheme, and the ribbons are something I usually add to all my cards. It's just too thick to go through the standard letter post so I needed to pay extra to send it!

Football card

2010-07-21T00:07:00.000-07:00

Made for a competition that asked 'What does the World Cup mean to you'. Frankly, not a lot, but I enjoy seeing children playing their knock-about games in the park, and just having fun. So my card shows an abandoned picnic table and football boots, with bunting across a blue summer sky. The boots are buttons and the football is a stamp from http://www.kirstenlappingdesigns.com/

Easter card

2010-06-22T00:25:00.001-07:00

An Easter card, made with the same rabbit stamp I used in an earlier post, but with the addition of purple and yellow as well as prange and green - a very Eastery colour palette! I like using ribbons and buttons, but I insist that my buttons are stitched properly - I don't like to see them glued on, without thread through the holes. I cheat slightly though by seweing the holes before I stick them down, though, so I don't need to sew through two layers of ribon and two layers of card.

Yet another cardigan!

2010-05-06T00:11:00.000-07:00

This is the seventh (eighth?) cardigan I've knitted using the Devan pattern on www.knitty.com. I love the way this fine wool knits up into stripes and patterns all by itself, and the pattern is really a very simple one - it's the colour of the wool that makes it exciting. If you want to see all the different colours you can buy, look for Opal or Regia on www.getknitted.co.uk.

Sheep Seasons!

2010-03-30T07:24:00.001-07:00

This was made for a competition

which wanted a card showing all four seasons. The sheep stamp is a Fiskars one, and I added seasonal scenery for each little picture, with lots of glitter and gems.

Spring bunny

2010-03-04T00:42:00.000-08:00

This was a stamp that came as part of the January Do-craft goody bag. I like colouring in stamps, but I don't think I managed to get the colours here as intense as I wanted. The rabbit is matted onto green and orange papermania papers, and I added some gems as I usually do!

Pantomime card

2010-01-06T10:51:00.001-08:00

This was made for a competition that asked for cards on a patomime theme. I have some lovely stamps from http://www.kirstenlappingdesigns.com/, and one of the princess ones looks like she is fleeing. So I used it and the shoe on cushion stamp from the same set, added a See-Ds clock (really a pcoket watch, but I trimmed it) and patterned paper to suggest a carpet and wallpaper background.

Glittered birthday card

2009-12-16T00:01:00.000-08:00

This was for a competition, using Papermania products. The pink scalloped circle was handcut, as I don't have a die that shape. The presents were stsmped and coloured, and the swirls in the background are double-sided sticky shapes covered in lots of different colours of glitter - I like glitter!

Winning card

2009-11-17T00:23:00.000-08:00

I've just heard that this card won a third prize in the X-cut section of Origin Publishing's Cardmaker of the Year contest. I won the title of Cardmaker of the Year two years ago, so it's good to find the magic still lingers!

Glitter tree

2009-09-23T23:56:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again - time to make Christmas cards! The tree was traced from a template, part of a set included with the latest issue of Simply Cards and Papercraft. I love filling in shapes with glue and covering them with glitter, so I used lots of blue and greens here. I added a peel-off greeting coloured green with marker pens, and some blue and purple sequins in the corner. I love making Christmas cards!

Visiting Hallmark

2009-08-11T06:52:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to be one of the winners recently in a DOCrafts Creativity competition to create a Forever Friends card. Our prize was a visit to the Hallmark Studio in Yorkshire, and it was brilliant! We saw all round the Creative section, had a play with DoCrafts Forever Friends products, and came away with stacks of goodies. My favourite bit of the visit was the big notice in the foyer welcoming us! I made a very quick and simple layout for my scrapbook when I got back, using some of the stickers placed on white card and cut around to make die-cuts.

Funky Hand Challenge

2009-08-05T03:41:00.000-07:00

This was made following a sketch on the new Funky Hand Challenge blog. In the end I didn't add a sentiment as I liked the card better without one, but I've followed the sketch apart from that. The pink, lime and orange papers are from my favourite CD of printable paper designs, Funky Seasons. I added some gem centres, coloured with Sharpie pens - a great way to get matching colours from a pack of clear gems!

Happy 360th birthday Fiskars

2009-07-29T02:36:00.000-07:00

This card was made to help celebrate the 360th birthday of Fiskars, the scissors and tool company. I have a pair of Fiskars (then Wilkinson's) scissors which I've had for over 20 years and they are still the best ones I own. I used some Funkyhand.com paper for the background, and cut the cupcake from a scrapbook catalogue - the bits I needed were so tiny I could use the sample squares printed in the catalogue!

Mermaid card

2009-07-22T06:10:00.001-07:00

I found some Lili of the Valley mermaid images I had stamped a while ago, and decided to make them into cards. I had cut round the shapes rather roughly and this one didn't have enough white space at the top to cut into a neat square - so I used a plate to draw a shallow arch at the top of the image, and cut it out as you see here. I was really rather pleased with the effect - it's amazing how being stuck with something that isn't quite right brings out a creative idea!

Birdy card - and an exciting website!

2009-07-13T04:38:00.001-07:00

I made this card with some free papers and embellishments that came with the latest issue of 'Cardmaking and Papercraft' magazine. All the colours are so bright and cheerful, and the kit had everything except the pink ribbon on the right, and the greeting. I often pop over to the blog at www.heroarts.com - they're launching their new website this week and there's lots of fun and freebies to be had. Go and take a look - the colours of the cards are so inspiring!

Fimo

2009-06-09T00:22:00.000-07:00

The panel on this card was made with some Fimo I'd had for ages and thought I really must try to do something with. I wanted something simple, so I rolled it out thinly and pressed a Cuttlebug embossing die onto the surface. It made a very fine, clear impression, and I trimmed round it before poking holes in the corners with a cocktail stick and baking it. Some printable paper from funkyhand.com, and I'd completed a simple but striking card.

Birthday Card for the Queen

2009-05-05T02:51:00.000-07:00

This was made for a competition, which asked for a birthday card to mark the 83rd birthday of Her Majesty the Queen. I based mine on an embroidered book cover stitched by the first Queen Elizabeth when she was a girl. It was worked in stumpwork, with metallic threads - I used foam pads and glitter!

Christening card

2009-03-30T23:58:00.000-07:00

Next month is the baptism of a friend's little girl, so I wanted to make a special card for the occasion. I had the idea of a string of bunting spelling out Miranda's name, and originally thought the bunnies could hold it in their mouths. This would have made for a very low-level card, though! So I cut some birds freehand and strung the bunting from their beaks, and added a cut-out pram and grass. The letters were printed out onto different shades of coloured card, snipped into triangles, and stuck along a length of thread with seed beads in between.

Rainbow cupcake

2009-03-24T03:14:00.000-07:00

This was made for a competition which asked for a card with a rainbow. I used up some of my stash of ribbon making a striped background, and added a cupcake on foam pads, onto which I'd added several rainbow gems. The white background makes it look fresh and pretty.

Sour Cream pouch

2009-02-18T07:19:00.001-08:00

Over on http://www.pinkpetticoat.blogspot.com/ there was a challenge to make a 'sour cream carton' using Pink Petticoat papers, and decorate it. This ended up being much brighter than I had planned, and the pale pink heart paper is a bit lost under the paper-pieces trees and owls! I wanted a design that would make use of the twisting sides of the pouch, and went for the tree because they fill the upper part of the sides as they widen. I added a cheerful greeting printed out from the computer. The owl and tree pattersn are from the latest issue of Creativity magazine.

You are a Princess

2009-02-08T23:32:00.000-08:00

This card uses some of the latest stamps from http://www.kirstenlappingdesigns.com/. Both the castle and the girl come from the 'Princesses' set, as do the small words on the ribbon. The background paper came in a pack from a pound shop - it's so pretty I wish I could remember which one! The buttons which spell 'Princess' were part of the prize from Craftime, and I thought they'd go beatutifully with these images. I added some sequin flowers and gem butterfly to the watercoloured images, and tied it all together with a ribbon.

Pink Petticoat challenge

2009-01-27T02:59:00.000-08:00

This card was made for a challange over on Pink Petticoat. We were to dress up our backgrounds, but I don't know if it's very visible here! I printed out two Pink Petticoat papers and added red glitter dots to the lower spotty paper. The ribbon is a freebie from www.shabbyprincess.com and the flowers is a freebie from Pink Petticoat - I 'painted' them with PVA and sprinkled coloured glitters over the flowers, leaves and vase. I doodled a black and white check frame for the image, to match the ribbon, and coloured the peel-off black to contrast with the paper.

Folded shirt-dress

2009-01-19T07:50:00.000-08:00

This was created for a competition that asked for a card with folded paper. I had included the instructions for a folded shirt in my scrapbooking book I folded the shirt and added a 'pleated skirt' from concertina folded paper. I added a pearl necklace and ribbon belt, matted it and rubbed down a greeting.

Irish buttons

2009-01-15T05:34:00.000-08:00

This was made for a competition which asked for a card showing your New Year resolution. I have a friend in Ireland who lost her husband last year, and I hope I can see her some time this year, so I chose to make an ornage and green 'Irish' card. These Irish-themed buttons are one of the many sets I won when my card was picked as the first prize winner in the Craftime category of the Cardmaking and Ppaercraft Cardmaker of the Year competition. I have a tin box full of them now, so I'm not short of inspiration! The background paper is a Papermania one, which clever combines orange with a hint of green, and I always like adding ribbon to my cards.

Fairy Wishes

2009-01-06T02:36:00.000-08:00

This was my entry for a competition asking for fairy or dragon cards. The fairy is actually a princess from the Princesses stamp set by www.kirstenlappingdesigns.com. The wings are made from the butterfly from the same set, stamped and embossed onto vellum. Both the princess and the wings have been glittered with Kirsten's very fine purple glitter. The greeting is from a set of Anita's peel-offs - most were 'good luck' but I thought this made the perfect greeting from a fairy. I colured it green, and the stars purple, with peel-off pens, and mounted everything on a background of paper remnants.

Hedgehog Love

2008-12-22T08:02:00.000-08:00

I was sent a couple of free sheets of HOTP papers after getting a letter in a magazine, and as I hate wasting anything I decided to use them to make some cards. I already had the stamped images from Penny Black, so I watercoloured them and matted them. I cut a piece of the blue bubble or pink flower paper to cover a little more than half the card and stuck it down. I cut round the bubbles, and cut the pink paper straight but edged it with a border sticker. Not very exciting but hey, it's two more cards in stock!

Lion card

2008-12-04T00:01:00.000-08:00

This was made for the competition on http://www.pinkpetticoat.blogspot.com/, which challenged readers to use Pink Petticoat stash. I don't expect it will win, as it's so emphatically NOT PINK, but I like bright colours and the orange and blue made a cheerful change from the Christmas shades that surround us now. The lion is from Pink Petticoat and the background stripe paper was a download from Crafts Beautiful. The orange strip of card was punched with Fiskars ribbon slot punch and I threaded a tiny remnant of orange gingham ribbon through. It was actually so short I had to cut it in half, so it doesn't stretch behind the picture, but it looks as if it does and that's the main thing!

Snow card

2008-11-24T05:50:00.000-08:00

This was created in response to a challenge on Papertake weekly. It was for something made on the theme of snow and with all the cards I'm making for Christmas, that's what it had to be. I used bits and pieces from the pound shop for the snowman and snowballs, and doodled a line round the background to finish. It took just a few minutes - I need to find more designs this quick to make!

Card for Jasper

2008-11-13T09:31:00.000-08:00

This first birthday card is based on the sketch at www.papertakeweekly.blogspot.com. I rotated it and replaced the image with the letters of the birthday boy's name. The paper is all from the Cold Snap collection by http://www.funkyhand.com/. I'm pleased with the way it's turned out!

Papertake Challenge

2008-11-05T07:07:00.000-08:00

The challenge on Papertake was to create a card with something glittery or sparkly. They suggested fireworks but at this time of the year I'm always busy with Christmas cards so I made a sparlky tree topper for my card. The tree is cut from a Kleenex tissue box! - lovely glittery card - and the embellishments are sewn on, including the lovely red gem bow that came in a pack from a pound shop!

Limited Supplies card

2008-11-04T04:48:00.000-08:00

This was the result of a challenge from the This Thursday site. Participants were asked to surf through five sites then take inspiration from where they ended up, and after some totally random clicks I ended up at http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=45 and the 'limited supplies' board. I had just bought a kit from the pound shop (for one pound sterling!) which had some card blanks, small squares of card, and various little embellishments, so I thought I'd use that to make a birthday card for a four year-old whose birthday is next week. I ended up cheating, as I added some glitter and doodling, but the card blank, papers and tiny candle flames (I don't know if they come out in the photo) are all from the kit. It was fun putting it together and challenging my imagination - although four simple candles are not exactly difficult to cut out!

'Throw a curve'

2008-10-29T07:05:00.000-07:00

This uses downloads from http://www.pinkpetticoat.co.uk/ to create a card for the This Thursday challenge. Crafters were asked to 'throw a curve' and as I tend to use straight lines for quickness it was quite an adventure for me! I cut away the front edge of the card and doodled a black and white border on white card, which I cut out and stuck on. I added a Christmas tree made from my own template, with beaded trim and gem flowers. The inside of the card is lined in another Pink Petticoat paper.

1950s layout

2008-10-23T01:39:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of my mother as a girl in a very posh frock. She told me the original was a turquoise shade so I altered it in Photoshop to tint the dress. The papers are from the EK Success 'Life' range, which I though toned very well.

New baby card

2008-10-14T00:39:00.000-07:00

This is a Hampton Art Stamps image, no 1223, 'A Star is Born', which I was sent as a freebie a while back. I kept to a rainbow pastel palette as I wanted a card suitable for either sex, and used gold embossing powder for a touch of sparkle. The watercolouring was actually done with felt pens and a waterbrush, and I added little touches of gold and pale green glitter so as not to overwhelm the delicate image. A quick rummage through my button jar produced the pastel and star buttons, and a similar rummage through my ribbon jar got me the sheer purple and green gingham ribbons. I added some Christmas jingle bells I bought in Lakeland a few years ago just to make it a bit more fun.

Scrap Christmas cards

2008-10-08T03:05:00.001-07:00

As I'm reluctant to throw anything out, I find Christmas is an excellent time to use up all my little bits of paper I thought might come in handy. Long thin strips, trimmed from larger sheets, make up the background to this card, and a tiny tree cut from silver Bazzill Bling is decorated with some little gems. None of the material is specifically for Christmas, but it comes together to make quite a funky card.

Rainbow Christmas

2008-10-02T03:20:00.000-07:00

This is the time of year when I really step up production of my Christmas cards - I send out over 200 each year, so many of them are done quite quickly. This is a great design for mass production, as the stamping is done in just one colour at a time, and the pieces can be cut and arranged quite quickly. I love rainbows and I always like finding ways to incorporate them into my crafting even at Christmas. This stamp from Kirsten Lapping Designs (http://www.kirstenlappingdesigns.com/) has been stamped in seven colours of ink onto seven shades of card to make a rainbow, on a black card base. I singled out one of the little trees on the green line to be glittered, to give the design a focus - I love glitter too, and it's a necessity at Christmas!

Cute Little Penguin

2008-09-03T05:49:00.000-07:00

This card features in the latest 'Simply Cards and Papercraft' Readers' Gallery. The papers were free with a previous issue, and the cute penguin stamp is, I think, Creative Imaginations. He's holding a glittery ice lolly and wearing Bermuda shorts, and I stuck on google eyes for a bit of fun - he'd make a sweet Christmas card too!

Baby card

2008-08-28T00:37:00.000-07:00

This was made for a competition to create a stamped card. It's not a particularly complex design, but I think the fresh colours are pretty and I addede a few tiny sequins for a subtle glimmer, as well as Fiskars flower brads in the corners of the panel. And it was picked as one of the winners!

Bronze Christmas

2008-08-18T00:53:00.000-07:00

This started off with a new Cuttlebug die, which I cut and embossed in orange card since it was what I had around at the time. I always like making Christmas cards with non-traditional colours, so I used the bauble as the basis for a bronze autumnal colour scheme. I brushed a (too dark!) brown inkpad over the bauble. The debossed areas of the bauble were filled with PVA glue and sprinkled with fine glitter, then matted on dark brown paper and ribbon tied through the hole at the top. Brown check paper covered the card and the bauble was matted on top of it.

Wise Men

2008-08-11T06:11:00.000-07:00

This is another Kirsten Lapping Designs stamp, but quite different in style. I liked it because it gave me a chance to mix lots of colourful paints over the background, letting them bleed into each other before they dried. When the paint was half-dry I added a sketchy outline of a couple of pyramids into the corner to give some depth. I then stamped the wise men in black in the foreground, and made it into a simple card with a couple of strips of peach framing the image. It's a starker style than my usual but I did rather like it.

Christmas card

2008-08-07T06:34:00.000-07:00

Another Christmas card - so far I've made 56, so I'm well on track! This one uses a tree stamp from Kirsten Lapping Designs, which I stamped onto several different scraps of green paper and layered up. The greeting is another one of Kirsten's but I cut and ink each word separately to make a feature of it. A bit of bling and that was another card finished!

Paddington

2008-07-21T06:23:00.000-07:00

This was made with the latest free stamp from 'Quick Cards Made easy'. I didn't see to have any suitable embellishments so I fell back on a favourite technique of using my carefully-hoarded bits of paper to make a background. This looks interesting, without detracting from the image itself.

Santa's coming

2008-07-15T03:20:00.000-07:00

Another Christmas card, this time using some new stamps which I've been sent by Kirsten Lapping Designs. I was asked to make up some samples, of which this is one. The stamps are just about to be launched and once I have more details I'll post them. I used various colours of marker on the big Santa image, and matted it onto card covered with patterned papers. There's some 'snow' (actually tint glitter stars) from the same company, stuck around the chimney pot with PVA. The greeting is part of yet another stamp from Kirsten Lapping Designs and I added some ribbon as a finishing touch. I liked this image as I thought it was such a fun, cheery one for Christmas, especially to send to children.

Christmas card

2008-07-10T00:18:00.000-07:00

This was made using some free papers from one of the cardmaking magazines and a tiny tree cut using a template from Cranberry Cards - I'd won a set of them in a competition. I always like to add a bit of sparkle to my cards so there's a little heart bead stitched to the top of the tree. The background is made up using oddments of paper and the foam snowman and snowflake came from a poundshop kit. I need about 200 cards for Christmas each year so I'll be churning them out from now on!

Surf's Up

2008-07-09T05:52:00.000-07:00

This card was made for the 'Simply Cards and Papercraft' competition in issue 46, which wanted a colourful card for teenagers. As soon as I saw the stamp I thought it would be perfect, and I've just heard it was picked as one of the winners! The sandals were embellished with Kuretake flower brads and gems - I just love adding some sparkle to my cards.

'Cardmaking and Papercraft'

2008-07-07T01:03:00.000-07:00

These are some of the cards I made for the latest issues of 'Cardmaking and Papercraft' due out this week. I was asked to make 5 cards on the theme of good luck and congratulations, so I chose some digital images from http://www.pinkpetticoat.com/, with lavish use of glitter and ribbon. The flying pig is a bit tongue in cheek! I really enjoyed making them as I love bright colours, although I don't think they've photographed as well in the magazine.

Christmas card - and tag!

2008-07-02T04:15:00.000-07:00

This is another Christmas card I made, mainly to use up what I already had (stamped image and text, textured card, printed paper). I covered the front of the card in glue, stuck the stamped card down across the centre, and cut the other bits to fit. It looked a bit bland orginally, but it has ended up being one of my recent favourites because I 'm so pleased with the way the thin lines of brown card tie it all together. Definitely a layout I'll use again.

I've just been tagged on another blog (http://artypartyni.blogspot.com/2008/06/ive-been-tagged.html - I haven't worked out how to do links yet!) and been asked some questions:

WHAT WAS HAPPENING 10 YEARS AGO? - I was probably doing a lot of sneezing! the hay fever season is in full swing and although I don't suffer so much nowadays I had a dreadful time when I was younger.

NAME 5 THINGS TO DO TODAY:Eat breakfast, morning snack, lunch, dinner and supper. That pretty much covers every day, actually...

SNACKS I ENJOY: Ooh, hard one - pretty much anything sweet or savoury. Maybe crisps - or chocolate - or something with nuts? ... do I have to make my mind up now?

THINGS I WOULD DO IF I WERE A MILLIONAIRE: I'd try not to let it spoil me (but I'd be open to the experience...)

PLACES I HAVE LIVED: Actually, some people have been known to opine that I live in a world of my own.

I'm supposed to pass this on to five other people but I've no idea how to do that! - I'm amazed I even managed to put a link to Kath's blog in. There should have been a question on WHAT IS THE NEXT THING YOU ARE GOING TO DO? as that would mean I could put 'learn to work more features of this wee blog of mine'! So I will try to work out how to tag even one other person, and I will feel a great sense of fulfilment!

Cuttlebug Birthday card

2008-06-24T00:29:00.001-07:00

This was the first thing I made with the Cuttlebug die-cutting machine. The background uses card embossed with bubbles, in four bright colours. The cake 'stamp' uses one of the dies that came with the Cuttlebug. The 'stamp' shape is first cut them placed in an embossing folder and run through the machine. I layered them up with foam pads and added a stamped greeting on an un-embossed 'stamp'. A really simple card which would probably benefit from a bit of chalking and of course some glitter - must try that next time!

Baby Boy card

2008-06-18T07:01:00.000-07:00

This uses the cutting and embossing shapes that come with the Cuttlebug. I embossed the pram in three shades of blue card, then sanded them to reveal the white core. I cut and layered them with foam pads and mounted the image on a square of blue check paper I've had for years - it was one of the first papers I bought when I started scrapping back in 1999! The pram wheels are buttons, to give it a bit of texture and dimension. The small card measures about 4 inches square and was made from an oddment of Bazzill. Quite a simple little card, but I liked it.

Baby Girl card

2008-06-17T02:45:00.000-07:00

This uses some of the cute stamps from the small Fiskars stamp press. I’d been sent a roll of pink ‘broderie anglais’ style paper ribbon from Paper Cellar as a prize and realised I’d better use it when I discovered it bleaching in the sun! The tag used the ‘twanger’ eyelet setter from Fiskars too, which is such a handy tool - nothing to lose off the edge of the table! I love how wee bits of things that I’ve saved for ages can make such pretty cards.

Hot Off The Press

2008-06-04T00:56:00.000-07:00

This is made with the HOTP Citrus paper pack and embellishments which I won as part of the 'Cardmaker of the Year'. I love bright colours so the citrus pack was my favourite. There are punch-out shapes to match so it's easy to combine elements to make quick and pretty cards.

'Star of the Week'

2008-06-03T00:35:00.000-07:00

This is a little beach scene card which saw me being picked as 'Star of the Week' on http://www.fiskarettes.co.uk/. I used one of the new 6-inch punches with orange paper to create the mat, then layered torn paper to make the sea. I added some eyelets from the 'Nature' set and two punched shapes from the Teeny Tiny punch set.

Shabby Princess

2008-06-02T03:58:00.000-07:00

The shabby princess website has some lovely papers for digital scrapping, but that doesn't mean they can't be printed out and used for ordinary card-making. This is from the 'Urban Kiwi' set of free papers, using one of my favourite shades of green plus black and cream. I added some gems but otherwise kept it pretty simple.

Good Luck

2008-05-29T07:26:00.000-07:00

This was made with some of the Paper Cellar products I won in the 'Cardmaker of the Year' competition. The paper is Provocraft's Rob and Bob collection - quite a funky colour combination, which I liked because it was so unusual. The cat sticker went on fine but when the lettering peeled off the backing some of the little silver hemispheres popped off. I managed to find them all and stuck them back on with a tiny dab of Pebeo Touch (it's great for gems because unlike PVA it remains plastic even when dry so things don't sheer off).

Sizzix butterfly

2008-05-26T02:43:00.000-07:00

Although the Sizzix Sidekick is so handy for cutting shapes, it's difficult to make an image bigger than about two inches square - but now the four-part butterfly cutter is available I'm enjoying making these large and colourful creatures for my cards and layouts. This uses background paper from PaperCellar and various oranges and purple from my stash. The butterfly is stunning as it is but I must try adding glitter and gems to make it really eye-catching.

Box frame

2008-05-19T07:30:00.000-07:00

I was going to make a card for a new baby girl but realised that all the foam pads I was using meant it would probably fall over if the recipient tried to stand it on a shelf! So I found a pretty box frame for £3 in Klick and made a boxed picture instead, with stamped and die-cut cakes - and, of course, lots of embellishments.

Father's Day card

2008-05-12T02:09:00.001-07:00

Papercraft Essentials, Issue 28, had a competition to design a Father's Day card, which I entered - and won! This uses Hot Off The Press Papers from Crafts Beautiful along with my favourite gems and foam pads - and of course a picture of a beatiful baby to make a very special father's Day card.

Dots and Checks

2008-04-28T02:25:00.001-07:00

This card uses some free papers from 'Cardmaking and Papercraft'. I doodled some flowers in black ink around the centre circles cut from the paper pack, and added clear buttons which I glittered with Jones Tones extra fine glitter before sewing on. A length of white ribbon with tiny black dots was the finishing touch.

Pink Petticoat 'lots of dots'

2008-04-23T04:42:00.001-07:00

This is a card I made for a competition over on http://www.pinkpetticoat.co.uk/. The theme was 'lots of dots' so I used two shades ofpolka dot paper and added some pink crystals. The sheep is one of the downloads avaliable for sale on the site and I used watercolour to tint the image and clear glitter to cover the sheep. The black and white printable ribbon, and the printable black and white polka dot ribbon, came from http://www.shabbyprincess.com/. I added an orange brad to the centre of the flower and doodled a chequered border to the motif.

Waterbaby layout

2008-04-15T04:36:00.000-07:00

This layout uses printable Hot Of the Press papers from http://www.crafts-beautiful.com/. The papers include the printed ribbon and journalling tag, so all I had to add was the title. I'd found some sparkly words/titles but none of them were terribly helpful - I found a 'babe' and realised if I bought 'sexy' I'd get a 'y' for baby but would then be left with some fairly useless letters. Then I realised I could buy the longest word, 'fairytale', get the 'ater' letters and cut up the rest for a large 'W'. I'm really pleased with the effect, like water droplets scattered across the bottom of the layout. I knew I'd never be able to line then up straight so I went for a staggered look!

'National Cardmaker of the Year 2007'

2008-04-14T07:12:00.000-07:00

So excited - the latest issue of 'Cardmaking and Papercraft' is out with a feature on me and some of my designs after winning this contest. I like the ones they picked - the rainbow cake is one of my favourites and I was really pleased with the way the ice-cream sundae turned out. I used lots of different handmade papers and chalked the edges of the glass to make it look frosty. Now all I have to do is unpack the parcels which have arrived and decide what to play with first!