acetate bowed card

Always nice to have a weekend away and when it involves some lovely family it's even better.
In this case one of my dear sisters-in-law and her husband are celebrating 40 years of wedded bliss.
Unbeknown to them however a surprise party has been organised and we will be there to wish them all the best.
Of course a card is required and a special one at that. Special occasions require special cards.
I wanted to do something different but my husband's favourite is the bowed card. Of course, as it is his sister I agreed.

I had some gorgeous black and gold card by Crafter's Companion that I hadn't had chance to use for a while and decided one of these would be a perfect base.
I used a 'Romantic Couple' die from Robert Addams for the background scene, in front of a circle in silver mirror card.

The front of the card I decorated with paper flowers and foliage and then added a little glitter.

A '40' in gold mirror card and a stamped Happy Anniversary finished it off.

I decided on the gold leaf patterned acetate for the bowed effect instead of plain and some gold ribbon to tie the sides together over the acetate. Others could tie far better bows but overall I'm really pleased with this.

Decided on a bag to put it in and a couple of tags with their initial on to finish it off.

I do hope they like it.
Another couple of bowed cards I have made, this time for weddings

.

Others I have made for friends birthdays

Thanks for stopping by,
Karen

craft club party

What's the best way to while away a couple of hours whilst at work? Have a party with your craft club members that's what.
Food and non-alcoholic drink galore. Fabulous. A crafty gift swap and a craft swap of all those unloved craft items we all have. Either used and moved on or never loved in the first place!!!
We were asked to design a name badge and mine was one of four that won a wee prize.
Hope you like it.

We also received a little goody bag with goodies included. A very useful linen bag, a fineliner pen which will come in very handy, (also great for Zentangle), a colouring book, some wooden hearts, an owl charm, some very useful snips and an MDF stand.
I decided to decorate the stand to give it to the organiser as a thank you. I simply covered with some lovely floral paper, added some roses and punched flowers and a lovely sized Thank you die from Card Making Magic, which can only be purchased exclusively from Craft Stash

And of course I had to make a little bag to gift it in.

This one is courtesy of Mixed Up Crafts although I used ribbon instead of card for handles. And the mistake which I can live with is I fastened the ribbon on upside down. Duh! When you lift the handles up they cover over the fastener but hey ho.
As well as winning chocolates for my badge I also won a pass the parcel, which I so wanted someone else to win instead. I felt a tad greedy winning two things and tried to pass it on to no avail. Anyway I am the owner of a make it up yourself little bag. Make-up, pens, clutch bag, the choice is mine really but I am leaving that little project for another day, maybe when the nights draw in. I will show you (and surprise myself with) how that turns out later in the year.

We're very lucky to have a gym and swimming pool where I work (if you like that sort of thing) and a little cafeteria. It is open to certain external groups as well as staff. In the cafeteria today, as we were finishing off, were some ladies who run a group for disadvantaged families and once a month use the pool followed by a light lunch provided by the gentleman who runs the cafeteria.
A short talk later with our club organiser and I am doing a craft session on the 22nd of August for these ladies. Another crafty colleague was called upon to bake some of her rather delicious buns. Now what to get them to make I wonder. It will be different and something to write about in my little blog.
Hope you like these little makes today and come back again to see how I get on with the group.
Thanks for stopping by
Karen

Workshop

Remember I said I'm a member of a craft club at work? Well myself and another crafty lady were chosen to attend the summer festival at Warwick university. Amongst footballers, squash players, tennis players, anglers, runners and other sporty types we did our bit with a group of other like minded card makers.
Not having a clue what to expect we arrived with some basic (very basic) crafty tools and were left to do our thing with some pretty card. Christmas seemed to be the theme of the day but not exclusively as I'd taken some birthday type stamps with me.
I chose some card and along with my own stamps, a bit of bling  and imagination I managed to pull some cards together.
This one is as simple as the sentiment.

You can't really see the sentiment on this topper very well but it was an afterthought anyway. I was more interested in the poinsettia and holly leaves weaving in and out of the gold ribbon.

I chose to make this card as an Easel card. I particularly liked the punched out JOY and of course the little hedgehog with his holly berries.

I spent some time mingling with my fellow crafters and promoted the benefits of having a craft club at work. My colleague even brought along some newsletters of ours and they were well received.

There were some stunning creations, my favourite being a rather huge peacock with the coloured card feathers attached to the top of a card rather than on the card. So wish I'd taken some pics of other crafters makes. With their permission of course.
For the wreathe on this card I drew around the inner and outer sides of a ring of double sided tape, cut it out and then wrapped it in ribbon and decorated it with coloured beads. I love how it turned out.

Anyway, by the time we stopped for the day (the quarter final of the World Cup which of course England won was beckoning) I had five cards to take away. The last of which was a birthday card with these really cute teddies and a floating balloon.

I do hope you like them
Thank you for stopping by

Hot hot hot

Well isn't everyone hot just lately. This spell is particularly prolonged that any spare time I have I just want to sleep.
My little crafty space is like an oven so sitting there for any great length of time is a no-no.
So, I punched myself some circles and flowers using the Stampin' Up! pansy punch and along with my snips, wet glue and a couple of inks I found myself a cool spot in the lounge and set about making myself some embellishments to use in my crafting when the air cools a little.

This first flower has been going around for a lifetime so you probably have done this yourself at some point. And they are so pretty. Just in case this is new to you, this is how I made mine:
I punched three, 5 petal pansy punch flowers.

Flower 1 - make a snip between two petals to the centre of the flower (see picture)

Flower 2 - make a snip between two petals to the centre of the flower and repeat at the petal next to it so you cut this single petal off. You should now have four petals and one petal. (see picture)

Flower 3 - make a snip between two petals to the centre of the flower and repeat at the next but one petal so you cut of 2 petals. You should now have three petals and 2 petals. (see picture)

Take flower 1 and join the petals together where they were cut. This will make the petals curve in. (see picture)

Take flower 2 and do the same with the four petals. The single petal will join to itself and is a bit tricky. I use a cocktail stick. (see picture)

Take flower 3 and

do the same to these two sections. (see picture)

Now it's time to join these petals together.
Take flower 1 and add a little drop of glue to the centre.
Take the four petal section, snip and discard a small section off the base and insert the petals to the centre of flower 1, aligning it so the petals are slightly off. Add a drop of glue to the centre.
Take the three petal section, snip and discard a small section off the base and insert the petals to the centre of the forming flower.
Continue until you have joined up all the pieces. Your resulting flower should have a passing resemblance to a rose. (See picture.)

You can add the rose to the circle with some die cut leaves, which I will do when it's cool enough to stay in my crafty space for more than a few minutes!!!

You can leave the petals as they are, curl them, ink them or even add a bit of glitter. (see picture) Also very pretty with an added glaze. I use Ranger's Glossy Accents if doing this.

These are perfect for keeping for that very special card for that very special occasion. They are also ideal for decorating gift bags and boxes.

I'll come back to these again another day and show you how I used them.


TOP TIP - If you don't have the pansy punch a suitable die shape will do. Also this is a really simple flower shape and can be easily drawn and cut out. I used to draw round a 2p coin five times in a circle and then cut that out.

Hope you enjoyed this and thank you for stopping by.

Oh bubbles

This so represents my crafting journey. A friend showed me a picture of her 'go to' card when short for time. It represents anything from birthday to thank you and much more. The stamp captivated me. It's simplicity and charm was so lovely I just knew I had to have one. And that is what my crafting journey has been like. If I see it, I like it, I have to have it. I need it. How many of us crafters have felt that 'need'.
Of late I've tried to stop myself from doing that and keeping to my style but flowers are my passion and this was so different that I tootled off to the internet and bought a couple.

I purchased the stamps from The Stamp Hut (another great on-line craft store) and the Card Candi you can get from most craft retailers. I had mine in my stash for a while, and I've been lucky enough to live close to the Craftwork Cards Garforth factory shop.

These stamps are both by Woodware and are their bubbles range. Bubble Bloom 'Felicity' includes the sentiment 'a little something just for you'; and Mini Bubble Blooms - Annie includes the sentiment Sparkle on your birthday.

I have copied the stamp but not my friend's card and hope you like it.
I'm in love with bubbles! It is so quick to make I can see why she uses it to run them up when she needs something quickly.

Woodware - Bubble Bloom 'Felicity'

Woodware - Mini Bubble Blooms - Annie

It may not be my 'go to' card but it will certainly get some usage in the weeks to come. Different colours, card candi, gems, coloured inks or a bit of Zentangle and one stamp can look so different.

Hope you like them as much as I do.
Thank you for stopping by
Whilst searching for the link for Craftwork Cards I read the unfortunate news that they have gone into voluntary liquidation last month. So sad after 30 years. So important to support our local businesses. I do wish them well.

Something different

My best friend Luciele, who by the way introduced to me to this crazy world of card making, and myself decided to add another string to our bow with some 3D creativity. A trip to IKEA and several box frames later and we had the frames and all that was left was the imagination.
A week later and Luce (my name for her, amongst others!!!) has completed all her boxes and I've done a magnificent One. These things take some consideration you know.

Anyway this was quite fun and a pleasant diversion from card making, though and something tells me we've not quite seen the last of this little venture. 😉
Welcome to my little one, from two angles of course! I used an image and sentiment from the Stampin' Up! stamp set Beautiful You.

And of course not to mention the numerous ones created by my bestie.

You may recognise this image from my Decoupage card. Now you know where I got it from.

 A little westie dog in pyramage

 I do like this sentiment and it displays so well too. Love how she's added little flowers around it.

 And this is a narrower frame but still a box frame and here we have that lovely sentiment again.

 And finally another one of Luce's lovely sentiments. You may remember I borrowed these earlier and went on to make some cards with some of them. Hmm, they may just make their way into one of these lovely frames.

I had fun making mine and I'm looking forward to making some more. I know Luce enjoyed making hers since she went back for more 😊With a craft fair in November in time for Christmas you never know, this time next year we'll be millionaires!!!

Hope you like them as much as we liked making them.
Thank you for stopping by.

Decoupage

I have seen some beautiful decoupage cards over the years although it was not something that I particularly excelled at.

Then my friend gave me a decoupage sheet of a beautiful cameo of a lady in a hat. It was so pretty I just had to give it a go.
Scissors in hand I started to snip. I made a few mistakes but when layered together I felt you couldn't tell.
I decided to keep with the monochrome effect.

I trimmed it up with some little pearl beads and thought I'd put one to reflect an earring.
I was really pleased with the end result. I have made others since as in my grandson's Rock On card but I always look at this and think 'how lovely'.

Hope you like it as much as I do.

Thank you for stopping by

Die Cutting Essentials 36

I love to browse the craft magazines in the supermarket. If something catches my eye I just can't resist buying it.

My latest purchase was Die Cutting Essentials issue 36. The freebie, and who doesn't love one of those? is a selection of dies called Underwater Friends.

The goldfish bowl die is a pretty decent size and so I immediately thought shaker card and threw it in my shopping trolley.
And why don't those things ever go where you want them to? You'd think they'd have a streamlined model by now wouldn't you? Anyway, shaker card.

Took a few attempts and it didn't quite go as planned but I'm still pretty chuffed with how it turned out.

My latest learning curve was the use of wax paper to build your shaker foam. Thanks to Sam at Mixed Up Crafts for that, it makes it so much easier.
Interestingly Sam uses the dust from her dust buddy to brush around the inside edges of the foam to prevent shaker contents from sticking.
TOP TIP I have found talcum powder works just as well too. Ooo my first top tip 😊. Here's hoping it's not my last.

I die cut all my pieces out first. Most of my sequins are purple, courtesy of a work colleague with a purple passion. I do have a few silver ones though and thought that would break up the colour and also reflect moving water. That's what I thought anyway, before they went walkabout!!

I think the card's colouring is appealing to young children. My husband liked it anyway so I'll say no more about that 😉

I do hope you like the finished product.
Thanks for stopping by.
Karen

Joy of still working

Hi again
One of the joys of still having to go to work, (OK the only joy!) albeit for three days a week is that I am a member of a work craft club. We have knitters, crocheters, quilters, card makers and umpteen new skills being shared on a regular basis.

One of the ladies recently raised £1000 for the Yorkshire air ambulance through her sale of cards to friends and colleagues. What a magnificent achievement. Together we raise funds  every September for McMillan through the sale of cards, tea bag pouches alongside the obligatory cake and recently for the Haven breast cancer charity.

These are a fabulous group of very talented ladies and I am very proud to be a part of them.

Recently I held a class, with another member, for new card makers, making cards for a dog charity. This particular charity is very dear to our treasurer and she supports it throughout the year.

Here are just a handful of these cards, before they go on sale, just to show how terrific these ladies are. This was enormous fun and I am so looking forward to the next one which will be shaped cards.

My photography skills are not so good but aren't they lovely? And especially for new ladies learning what to do.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you call back again as I'm bound to share some more of our crafty antics.

Verse Cards

Having stamped all those verses earlier, I couldn't wait to craft up a storm with them.

Into the first craft mix I added my new love, the Stampin' Up! Flower Shop stamps and Pansy punch. They are so pretty and versatile. So glad I managed to get them before they left for good.

I kept this simple and liked it. It shows off the flowers AND the verse.

For the next I used the last of some Stampin' Up! DSP from a kit I had. Very pretty but also busy so didn't need much else on it.

I used another verse on the inside using the same DSP.

Can't wait to use more of these verses. They were a joy to use and in a quick clear out I also found I have several pretty cool ones of my own!!!

Hope you like them and thank you for stopping by.

Stamping Verses

I spent some time with my best friend the other day and she was showing me some amazing verse stamps she has accumulated in her collection. Although she has been crafting for many years she has only recently got into stamping and has used them to make some amazing centrepieces to her cards. As she is away this weekend celebrating her birthday with her husband I have been trusted with them. Yeah. So guess who's been having a play.

I thought I would make up several stamped verses and then consider how I would use them later.

I've stamped quite a few and die cut or punched them out ready to use on a card or project.

Some are simply inked and some are heat embossed. I am loving my new cocoa coloured embossing powder and I have just the card in mind for it. Doesn't show up very well in the picture.

I'm quite pleased with them. I've certainly stamped more than I need. I thought I could stamp several out now and store them for later use to avoid borrowing the stamps again. Not how I usually craft my cards but needs must as they say.

Some are inspiring me to make a certain type of card and some haven't quite hit the spot yet. But, as my dear late mum would have said "They're not eating anything" and indeed they are not, so I shall return to these at a later date.

Meanwhile I am off to craft up a storm with a few of them.

Thanks for stopping by