CD Sunday Plus Challenge #127 - Hosted by Meg

 Good morning and welcome to my blog

Today see's the start of a new challenge over at CD Sunday Challenge Plus

Today I am sharing another Calendar I created, this time using my Faye Whittaker cd-rom by Joanna Sheen. 

I decoupaged the image and layered it onto some co-ordinating card.  I embossed another piece of the card using a Crafters Companion embossing folder.

This Calendar I made for a close friends mum, who has been a fan of Faye Whittaker's for a long time.

Thanks for visiting.

Jo xx

Yummy! and an Award

I have made a start on my drawer calendars for 2013, these are always very popular.  In the drawer is a post-it pad and a pencil.

Decoupage from Forever Friends cd-rom, printed onto super smooth decoupage paper.

I printed a backing paper onto white card and added a toning card from Papermill.

I used a Martha Stewart border punch.

Eyelets and button on the drawer are from my stash.

Calendar attached to co-ordinating card to complete the design.

My calendar is for the following challenges:

Bearly Mine Challenges - Anything But A Card

J & C Creations - Something A Little Bit Different

The Cutie Pie Challenge - No Flowers

Ooh La La Challenge - Teddy Bear Antics

I got a lovely surprise yesterday, a blog award from my lovely blogging friend Sonia, the Diamond Blog Award.  Thank you so much Sonia for thinking of me.  Big hugs.

Time Flies

Good Afternoon

As soon as I looked at this stamp set from Sheena Douglass I thought it was perfect for a calendar, so I made one!  This is going to sit on my craft desk (once I've cleared a space for it lol).

I stamped the main image onto watercolour paper, and coloured using Lyra's.  I think those dandelion clocks were made for flowersofting, so how could I not?  It doesn't show up as well on the photo, but in real life it looks great.

This is actually plan B.  Plan A had to be abandoned after a mishap with some glue, fortunately, the main image could be saved!

Thanks for having a look.  If you've time, please leave me a comment, I love to read them.

Jo x

Tea and Cake Anyone?

Good Afternoon

Another dull, grey day here mean't I needed cheering up!!  So today I decided to use brighter colours, and two of my favourtie things, to come up with this thank you calendar for my friend.  We love to share tea and cake together and she's one of those people that you always feel better after talking to.

I've seen some lovely shaped cards on blogs just recently, made using some of the XL dies that are available.  I don't have any of these dies, or the machine that can cut them lol, but it reminded me about my layering templates from Stamps Away, that I'd tidied up before Christmas.  So then I was on a mission to find them, which eventually I did.  Incidentally, from my experience, and reading those of others, it makes me think we'd all be much happier not tidying our crafty goodies away.  Since my last tidy up I've had my large acrylic block, 2 bone folders and a craft magazine go missing.  And they're just the things I can remember!!!!

Anyway, I cut the base card out of cream cardstock, and then cut the same shape out of pink cardstock, but slightly smaller, then smaller still for the dotty backing paper.  I stamped out all the images using a stamp set from Dimension Fourth, and then coloured in using brushmarkers.  A bit of jiggery-pokery was required to shaped the pink cardstock that the calendar sits on and again for the sentiment, but I think it worked out ok in the end.  I do enjoy colouring the images from this stamp set, I feel that 'anything goes' with them.

I do hope you like it.

My body is not letting me do much again today, so I'm going to spend the rest of the afternoon making up some house mouse cards, another guaranteed way to bring a smile.

Thanks for visiting.

Jo x

SWALK Calendar

Good Afternoon

The card I was planning on posting yesterday, which took me hours to do, I very cleverly forgot to photograph before it went to my customer!!!  I've had another increase in my medication and I feel even more 'out of it' than usual.  I'm hoping that the effects will lessen some when my body gets used to the higher dose.  So no post yesterday!

I am still making my thank you card calendars, I just can't seem to craft at a decent speed at the moment!!  I am thoroughly enjoying making them though, so I suppose that's what counts.

This one is bigger than the others I've made.  It's for my mum and dad and I wanted to used the Grandma and Grandad images from the SWALK range, these images really make me smile, and I know they'll make mum and dad smile too.

I die cut a couple of ovals onto some white card, stamped with Versafine ink and coloured in using Lyra Aquacolours.  I added some colour to the edges of the ovals using cut and dry foam and hydrangea big n juicy inkpad.  The backing paper is printed from the SWALK 2 cd-rom.  I punched both edges of some silver paper with an x-cut border punch and placed the calendar tab over this.  I felt it was lacking something, and drawing inspiration from a top that a friend was wearing, I ran some running stitches along some organza ribbon using invisible thread then roughly gathered it up.  It proved a bit of a challenge attaching it to the card, but I cracked it in the end using a combination of double-sided tape and collall glue gel.

I think that the temptation is going to be very great this weekend.  Both Joanna Sheen and Sheena Douglass are on Create & Craft over the weekend and I love their products.

Enjoy the rest of your day.

Jo x

More Calendars a Christening card and a Birthday card!!!

Good Morning

Here are some more of the Thank You Calendars I've made.  Still a few more to do!!!

As you can see I'm loving my new Big Shot and dies and am putting them to good use!

Last week, I was asked to make a Christening Card.  To start with I had a complete mental block, but once I got going I was ok.  I decided to use the Deco Art embossing board from the glitter girls.  I really love the effects achieved by using these boards, but I do find them quite tricky to use, I think I need more practice!

I embossed the whole design of the cross and swirls onto Centura Pearl cardstock.  I then embossed just the cross onto sillver paper, cut this out, and applied over the first cross using 1mm foam pads.  I then embossed the inner cross onto white glitter card which I again applied using foam pads.  I ran silver peel offs all around the edge of the Centura card, and applied pearls in the centre of each of the swirls.  This was matted onto pink pearlescent cardstock to which I applied silver corner peel-offs,

The flowers in the centre of the cross were from my stash.  I applied a large 'blob' of Collall Glue gel to a square of acetate into which I put a few white feathers.  I added some mulberry leaves, and then 'arranged' a number of mulberry flowers.  I left this for a good few hours for the glue to harden, then trimmed away the excess acetate before applying the arrangement to the cross using Collall Glue gel once again.  I'm not very good when it comes to flower arranging but was pleased with how this turned out!  To finish off I added a couple of white roses to the edges of the card.

I had been asked to personalise the card, so printed the name and date onto centura pearl paper, which I matted onto silver card and applied to the card using foam pads.

I was very pleased with how this card turned out, and my customer was delighted with it.

Finally, hubby asked me to make a 'simple' birthday card for a friend of his.  He has always been a keen bowler, and I remembered having some Paper Nation decoupage papers stashed away.  I am very fond of the Paper Nation images, and they are lovely to work with.  So in no time at all the card was ready.

Thanks for sticking with me through this long post!  I hope you have a good day.

Jo x

Lili Of The Valley Challenge 79

Good Afternoon

I've not posted for a few days.  I've not been at my best, my pain has been particularly bad, even with all my painkillers, and this has been causing my blood pressure to be too high again.  I'm hoping it will settle to a more manageable level again very soon.

I thought I'd have another go at the Lili of the Valley challenge.  I decided to incorporate the sketch into some of my 'Thank You Calendars' that I'm still working my way through. 

I used one of the cute squares that I'd got for Christmas (this is one of my favourite images). The backing paper I printed from one of my craft cd's onto Centura Peal paper.  The circular mat is made using a Marianne Die in a co-ordinating cardstock from PaperMill.  The mat across the centre I chose to pick out the colour of her hair and the stripes on her socks!!  I punched the edges with a Martha Stewart border punch.  The corners and vertical mat are made from cream pearlescent cardstock.  I don't have a corner die, so cut out a decorative square and then cut it in half diagonally.  Then finally, I cut out a couple of swirls/flourishes using a Marianne die, I have become addicted to these swirls!!!!

Full details of the Lili of the Valley Challenge can be found here 

Thanks for calling in today.  Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.

Jo x

Thank You Cards

Hello

It's been very quiet here today.  Everyone is back at school, college and work, so it's just me and Murphy once again.  I've found it really difficult to get on with anything today, and it seems Murphy has been feeling the effects too.  I couldn't find him anywhere this morning.  I did eventually and he was quite well camouflaged!!!!

I have been getting on with my thank you cards.  I couldn't decide what to do at first and noticed some of those little calendars still sat on my craft table.  So this got me thinking.  Also, a lot of people I send cards to say they don't like throwing them away, so this got me thinking too.  So I decided to make a batch of easel cards with a little calendar as the stopper.  This way, if people want to keep them longer, they can do.  They are very like the desk calendars I was making before Christmas, but without the drawer, so a lot quicker to make.  I did enjoy making the desk calendars, but didn't really want to make another batch of them.

These are the first 3 that I've made.  

All the papers I've used are from Making Cards Magazine.  All the other card, ribbons and gems are from my stash.  I'm also putting my Martha Stewart punches to good use!!  I'd love to know what you think of them.

Jo x