Enforced break from cardmaking!

Stage 2 of our bedroom redecoration is underway! The electrician was here all day to sort out the very dodgy wiring in our bedroom and to install some new sockets. Now that is done I can get on with the painting. Of course it means that all of the 'stuff' from our room has to be stored somewhere while I wield my paintbrush and its all in my craft room. I can just about get to my desk so if the withdrawal symptons get too bad I can probably stamp and colour a few images but its also my sons first birthday in just under 2 weeks so I have lots of planning and baking to do in between working and decorating.

I did make a couple of cards over the weekend; one for Claire's son Daniel and one for my little boy. I won't post a picture of Daniel's card as I don't want to spoil the surprise but I will post a picture of Thomas' card once it is finished.

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Friday Sketchers/Cute Card Thursday

I've managed to combine two challenges with this card. This image of Max is so cute; I've coloured him with Prisma pencils and he's mounted on sticky fixers. I used my DCWV Christmas papers and embossed the metallic card centre strip with the Cuttlebug. The base paper actually had quite a few more stars along the top but I had to cut them off to make the paper fit the base card so I added a few more punched stars instead.

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I've been tagged!

Actually I've been tagged twice, I just forgot that Chris tagged me a few weeks ago ... oops. Thanks Michele for tagging me! So here are 7 random bits of info about me:

1. I prefer X Factor to Strictly Come Dancing
2. The toilet paper ALWAYS has to come over the top of the roll. I will change it around wherever I am if its wrong!!
3. I'm quite a good cook, baking cakes is my speciality
4. I'm in the middle of decorating our bedroom; its only taking about 6 months!
5. I was advised to give up art and take another O level - apparently I wasn't creative!
6. I love to see my son's cloth nappies drying in the sunshine on the washing line
7. Tonight for my tea I'm having pizza, salad and creme brulee

Will post again later with a card!

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Whiff of Joy - autumn colours

This card is for the latest WOJ challenge to use autumn colours and I also used Katherina's sketch #27 for the layout. Gill very kindly sent me a few stamped WOJ images with my recent prize and I've coloured Melinda with Prisma pencils. All the card is Bazzil and I stamped the green background card with a Hero Arts leaf stamp using Versamark. The papers are from a DCWV Far East matstack and the leaf is a Quickutz die. I've had the fibre in my stash for a while but I think it is Basic Grey. These colours are a bit out of my comfort zone but I'm pretty happy with the way its turned out.

I must ask Santa to bring me a light for my desk. There are only wall lights in the spare room that I use for crafting and my colouring during the dark evenings is not brilliant - poor Melinda has a bit of green tinge on her foot!!

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Sketch Saturday

I've wanted this Sarah Kay stamp for ages so when I realised that Sir Stampalot accepted Paypal I was online in a shot to order it!! And I was saving this Basic Grey paper until I got a Sarah Kay stamp as I thought it would suit the style of stamp so well. I've coloured her with Prisma pencils and added ribbon, beads, charm and flowers from my stash.

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Friday Sketchers and an accordian card

Two cards to show you today. The first is an accordian card which I started to make weeks ago but have only just finished! I found the instructions for this card on the Split Coast Stampers website and its actually very easy to make. I used an old cereal box for the front and back covers and Bazzil card for the accordian bit. All the papers are Basic Grey. Tilda is coloured with Prisma pencils and then mounted on pink and burgandy bazzil card. The die cut sunflower is a Quickutz die and I used my circle nestabilities to cut the aperture and frame. Fluffles is also coloured is Prisma pencils and the flowers are Prima. The third page is for the greeting and then the pocket on the final page is for the gift.

My second card is for this weeks Friday Sketchers challenge. It's a lovely sketch and I have kept my card very simple. The papers are DCWV and the card is all bazzil. I've mounted my funky snowgirl a little differently because I didn't have enough of the pink card left! The snowflakes are cut using my new Sissix die.

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Tilda & Co Challenge

I originally started this card for an earlier Tilda challenge which was to include some metal in the card. But I didn't like how the card looked so I rescued the ribbon & charm, threw the rest in the bin and started again! I started with the ribbon (which was a freebie) and built the card around that. The DP has been in my drawer for absolutely ages but I think its SEI. I used three different shades of Bazzil card and embossed the background and circle pieces with my Cuttlebug. Tilda is coloured with distress inks.

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A Spoon Full of Sugar

My lovely WOJ prize stamp arrived today so I HAD to make a card with it this evening! I used the sketch for this weeks Spoon Full of Sugar challenge which suited my new stamp perfectly. I've used distress inks and water colours to colour Melinda and added some diamond stickles to her wings. The DP's are Basic Grey as are the pink brads, the photo corners are a Quickutz die and the flowers are a mixture from my stash. I'm always a bit scared about stamping a sentiment directly onto a card in case it smudges but luckily this time all was OK!!

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I won ....

last weeks Sketch Saturday challenge - yipee!!! I'm so excited, I won a lovely WOJ stamp. I've been wanting to order a couple of these for ages but funds are a bit short at the moment so I'm absolutely thrilled to win one. Can't wait to receive it now!!

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Friday Sketchers

I had this image already stamped and coloured before I saw this weeks sketch so it didn't take too long to put this card together. I coloured this lovely Spiral Whisper stamp with Prisma pencils and then used 'fluffy up' stuff to add dimension to the snow and lots and lots of stickles to give Santa's beard some bling! The DP's are Papermania and the star is a Quickutz die.

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I've made this card for the Spiral Whisper challenge (sketch) and this weeks Cute Card Thursday Challenge (buttons & bows). I just love the SW image! I would love some funky wellington boots like Milly's! I've coloured here with Prisma pencils - I think she has been out in the cold wind for a while as her cheeks are quite rosy!! The DP is Crate Paper, everything else is from my stash.

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An untraditional Christmas!

My new Spiral Whisper stamps arrived this morning so I've made a card for the Spoon Full of Sugar challenge:- pink and green. Unusual colours for a Christmas card but I'm really pleased with how this has turned out. I've used Prisma pencils to colour and embossed the background with my Cuttlebug. The snowflakes are punched from a pink shimmer paper which is more pink IRL!

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Sketch Saturday

This is my card for this weeks Sketch Saturday challenge. I coloured Amelia with Prisma pencils and the papers I have used are Basic Grey. I edged the pink tag with Indigo ink which I also used for the sentiment. The flowers are punched and have a small pink gem in the centre. I'm not sure if I like this card or not! I'm not sure what it is - maybe the blue is too dark?

And I've been tagged! Thanks Chris! It's a bit late on a Saturday night to respond right now but I'll get onto it tomorrow!

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My first award!

Wow, I've received my first blog award - thank you Tara. Tara makes some really lovely cards so do pop over to her blog and take a look. I'd like to pass this on to five other people whose blogs I love to visit and whose work I admire:

Chris
Aija
Debby4000
Jacqui
Lyn

I did a bit of online shopping today and bought some Spiral Whisper stamps so I'm looking forward to them arriving. I was half way through making a card yesterday but couldn't get to grips with the sketch I was using. Might try and put the picture onto a card using the Sketch Saturday sketch later.

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Papertake Challenge

I'm having a few crafting problems at the moment! Firstly, the card I ordered 2 1/2 weeks ago still hasn't arrived. Plus the double-sided tape I bought last week doesn't stick properly which means by the following morning my cards are in pieces again! I bought some horrible thick stuff from our local stationers which will do for now but I need some nice, slim, sticky, easy to tear tape. Recommendations please!

This card is for this weeks Papertake challenge. It was nice to make a slightly smaller card for this challenge and I kept it simple by using just one patterened paper (Basic Grey). Tilda is coloured with Prisma pencils which I love more and more everytime I use them. I cut the circles with my Nestabilities and then ran the pink one through the Cuttlebug. Lace, ribbon and charm are from my stash. The only thing I'm not entirely happy with is the sentiment which I stamped with burgandy ink but its not that clear.

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More candy!

Marlene has some fab candy up for grabs to celebrate her imminent 40th birthday. Her blog is inspirational so make sure you have a good look at her cards. Have a great day Marlene.

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