Tree Lined

I created a twisted easel card for this weeks class card at the shop.

The card featured these little folded trees.

I couldn't find a template for them anywhere on the net but had seen a similar tree crop up every now and then on various blogs.

So I set to and devised a way of making them out of a semi-circle.

Once I managed to figure it out, there was no stopping me and I made a whole forest of little folded trees.

Here is a variation I created for one of my christmas cards.

I must say it seems a little weird creating a tree out of paper, it is normally the other way around !

I used basic brown cardstock, embossed it through the cuttlebug, inked with white and added a little bow to the top and pearls for baubles.

All papers are by Carta Bella

Sentiment and background stamp are by Stampendous.

I must apologise for the unearthly cast of light on my photos, the weather here in Lincolnshire has been rather misty and dull, great news for Neil, he is quieter at work as all the ships he is responsible for documenting cannot sail, and lovely as a backdrop for spooky halloween scenarios but not conducive to great photo taking !

Bikes and bearings

This card I made for my cousin Phil, who is just a couple of years younger than me, he is mad about bikes - always has been.

I used Bo Bunny papers, Bazzill cardstock, the motorbike stamp is Inkadinkadoo, the sentiment and cogs stamps are by Stampin' Up, the paper cogs were cut using a Nellie Snellen die and the metal cogs are by Tim Holtz.

Happy birthday cuz xxx

Happy birthday Beryl

I made this card for my dear friend Beryl

I love Beryl to bits, she truly is one of a kind, so thoughtful and gentle, a real lady.

I made a 5x7 inch easel and used Mariposa papers

Stamps and punches are by Stampin' Up

I heat embossed the birdcage to give it a shabby chic feel and I know Beryl appreciates beautiful gardens, flowers and nature so I tried to incorporate that into the design.

I hope you have had a wonderful day my sweet friend xxx

TV debut

I wasn't going to blog this evening as I don't have anything crafty photographed and ready to blog.

But I felt I needed to say a massive THANKYOU to my wednesday morning ladies.

I was approached by the local telly, ie channel 7 to be part of a christmas crafting feature they are conducting locally, I think all us local craft shops have been involved.

 When I took the initial call I was only half listening ( naughty me) and when I was asked if they could come and speak with me, I said yes, anyone who knows me knows that the N......O..... word fails to exist in my vocabulary !

Anyhow, I thought I was just being involved in a local business initiative and had no idea about any cameras etc, we arranged to meet last wednesday and then the full enormity of what I had agreed to hit me, thank God it wasn't Sky News or the BBC !

Of course, even being fully aware, I still failed to get that pesky N......O.......word out of my mouth.

It took me a week to pluck up the courage to break the news to dad, who threatened all week to wear the Borat mankini for the interviews to teach me a lesson.

Well, today was the day.

They came, they filmed and they laughed !

My wednesday ladies did what they do best, they made the whole experience an absolute hoot, the crew were treated to plenty of belly laughs, everyone co-operated fully with the filming and made my job so much easier and we all actually managed to get our cards finished.

Fortunately dad behaved himself and kept to his regular attire ( more than can be said for our Dawn)

The short film will be edited, cut and whatever else they do, and then I will be sent a copy to share with you all.  I will try and embed it here on my blog once I have it, and it will be aired on channel 7 in the not too distant future.

So, thankyou to the two very lovely guys from Channel 7

Thankyou to dad for behaving

But most of all thankyou to my wonderful wednesday morning ladies

Love you all xxx

Girlies and gifts

I have just completed painted these cute little Molly Bloom girls, ready to adorn the banner from the gorgeous kit out at the moment

I painted them in distress inks and kept the colours simple as I wanted to match them to the papers in the kit, I am still adding bits and bobs to the banner ( as you do) but as soon as it is finished I will share it here.

This next little project is not mine, it was a gift from my lovely friend Linda, Linda is our local Stampin' Up demo and a very good friend. She made myself and the other girls in our tuesday afternoon group these as thankyou gifts, lots of tags and ties for our Christmas gift giving, she made all the boxes too and presented them in a gift bag, how sweet. 

We all know how pressed for time she is at the moment so we appreciated them all the more.

Thankyou so much Linda, you have inspired me to make more of an effort to get my own Christmas projects started !

You can find more of Linda's stunning work HERE on her own blog

Photo scavenger hunt

Another couple of pages for my photo scavenger hunt journal

Number 10 - A horse

And number 13 - A library

In both cases the page backgrounds were created with neocolours and inks, with stencils used to create the designs around the edges/corners

I have been using up my scrap papers and note pages to add the details and the journalling for each page.

I am hoping to finish up the photo taking part of the challenge when we return to the Lakes in a couple of weeks time, yes you heard right, we are taking the kids back - camping - just as we start to experience frost in the mornings ! Thermals are at the ready and I have already stocked up on hot chocolate, extra blankets and woolly socks !!!

Purple patch

As promised yesterday, another christmas card completed, I now have a grand total of two made for this year.

I used a Marianne image and chose the colours to complement the winter scene, although I love traditional colours mostly,  I do quite like to use an unexpected colour combo every once in a while.

And although I would love to stay and natter I have a strong urge to scrapbook, and trust me that hasn't happened for a while, so I am going to grab hold of that mojo before the pesky little thing disappears into thin air !

Brave

I had plans to share a christmas card this evening but alas, by the time I had done my chores at home, spent the daily two hours at the gym and completed the Tesco's shop I ran out of daylight to photograph it ( note to self  - make the most of the morning sunshine before the day runs away with me)

So, one thing I did have already on my hard drive was a couple more pages in my 'Wreck this journal' which I had completed yesterday

I had to poke holes in the right hand page with my pencil, and, as I sat pondering what to  do with the rest of the page, I had a lightbulb moment and decided it looked like something had been shot through the page. As my drawing skills aren't quite up to the uber cool Clint Eastwood, I settled on Merida from Brave.

Background was created with Gesso and blue acrylic paint, I added red cardstock behind the holes to make them stand out more and Merida was coloured in Polychromos pencils.

I am working on my 'crack the spine' page next, but I will be back tomorrow with a christmas card.

Wreck This

A little while ago whilst perusing tumblr I stumbled across the concept of "Wreck This' journals.

The little black books created by Keri Smith grabbed my attention straight off.

I am a book lover and take great care of my books, wrecking one - on purpose seemed so wrong !

Here are my first two completed pages

And how the pages were before

I bought and started my journal in the Lake District earlier in the year, I bought all the kids one too and we spent a couple of evenings before coming home sat around the fire working in our books.

One of the pages tells us to crack the spine and another to take it into the shower with you, I took it outside in a rain shower and my journal is suitably wrinkled and torn as a result.

Already I am in love with my tatty little book.

Over on the RWS shop site we have a couple of upcoming saturday workshops, you can check them out HERE

Anything goes

Last months theme over on the RWS ATC swap was Anything goes and we could choose our own colours this month too

Of course I had to choose pink and I love to use hearts in my work

The background was a punched heart used as a mask, distress inks in Aged Mahogany, Victorian Velvet and Spun Sugar were applied with a shaving brush and then the quote was stamped in black Memento ink

I used a Stampin' Up die through my Cuttlebug for the butterflies, some simple white pearls finished the little cards.

And I have ideas running through my head for the next two months swaps, so I need to get them made before them pesky little thoughts vanish into thin air.

That is if I can put down The Hunger Games, I have just started book one of the trilogy and am enthralled. When Pat told me the premis of the film I didn't think it would be my cup of tea and certainly didn't think I would be hooked, but I trusted her recommendation and am glad I did, it's a thought provoking scenario and the story moves at a page turning pace, very easy to read and become immersed in, so, thankyou Pat (hope you are enjoying your internet xxx)

A  couple more thankyou's also today, both for flowers, thankyou to both Margaret and Dawn who surprised me on tuesday and wednesday with lovely bouquets, the house smells lovely, thankyou so much ladies.

And finally a big thankyou to Jay, who made me cry tonight, he has just started his own blog and said some lovely things, thankyou sweetheart, you are a diamond xxx

Angels

Another page from my scavenger hunt journal

This time I had to find a person dressed as an angel or a statue. I couldn't when a real live one passed us in Keswick's town centre. 

The background of the pages was created with neocolours blended with white acrylic paint, with stencilling and some drawn details to finish the design.

And the original photo, such a sweet girl, very obliging. I just wished I had asked her why she was dressed as an angel !