Birthday Wishes

Hello friends

This is a very poor imitation of a card made by Christina from  Card Making Magic. I have tried to put in a link but blogger is not co-operating at the moment. I shall try again later.

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I used ivory and lavender card stock and Spellbinders Venetian Accents and Motifs. The ribbon and gems are from my stash and the small rose is from Wild Orchid Crafts.

There is definitely something missing from this card but I can't quite put my finger on it.  (It all seems rather bland. Maybe it needs to be matted again onto lavender, or maybe the mask and sentiment die should be in lavender? That would probably work better. Anyway I'll have to re-think it because I'm not happy with it.

Have a good day everybody.

Love and hugs from Christine xx

Peace

Hello again. Well at long last the snow looks to be on its way out! It started to thaw yesterday thank goodness! It looks like I am going to be able to get out into the wide world again.

Here is my second  post with a sympathy card.  I'm sure most of you will agree that these are probably the most difficult cards any of us will ever have to make.

My Card

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This is a close up to show that by printing onto Safmat it looks as if it has been printed directly onto the cardstock

My friend was a jazz lover and a great musician. He played many instruments, even the organ in church at times. Because of this I wanted to fit music into the card somewhere but not be blatantly obvious about  it.

After die cutting the largest Floral Ovals die, whilst still in the die I stamped it with a music background stamp by Penny Black. I used Versamark watermark ink and heat embossed it with clear pearl powder. As you can see I used two different crosses from the Spellbinders Cross 2 set. I used M-Bossablities Dainty Dots folder on the background. I computer generated the sentiment by Thomas Moore and die cut it with Labels 18. For the inside I used a digi sentiment from the Endless Beginnings set by Clear Dollar Stamps.The dove is also from the same digi set. I used the pre-coloured png version and printed it onto Letraset Safmat and attached it to the inside.

This digi set was amazing value for money. It cost $2.50 and for that you get a total of 26 digi images -18 of them  sentiments and the other 6  doves. Half the set are jpg and the other half png. I don't know of any where else where you can get such value for money!

Well that's it for today. Have a good weekend everybody.

Love and hugs from Christine xx

I am entering this into http://creativemomentsbloggersnetwork.blogspot.co.uk/Challenge 9 Use Neutral Colours

With Sympathy

Hello friends

In the past two days I have heard of the death of two friends. This card is actually for an ex colleague, with whom I worked for about 20 years, whose wife sadly died yesterday. We met socially too so I do know his wife.

My Card

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This is a very simple card. I computer generated the sentiment and printed it  onto white cardstock. I matted the spray of lilies onto cream then green cardstock and mounted it next to the sentiment. I then matted this onto green cardstock and mounted  it onto a white card blank.

The second card I am struggling with because this is for a friend I have known all my life! I know his wife is devastated but also glad he is now pain free. I will show this later no doubt.

Fortunately the snow appears to be thawing at long last!! Let's hope we don't get more for a while yet.

I hope you all have a good day!

love and hugs from Christine xx

Relax

Hi blog friends

Well we are once again totally snowed in! Managed to dig ourselves out on Monday to go to the hospital, and whilst John was "otherwise occupied" I nipped to Sainsbury's to stock up on some fresh produce. Just as well - they didn't predict last night's huge snowfall!! Ah well, it could be worse. We've plenty of food and plenty of wood!!

My Card

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This is a very simple card using an LOTV topper diecut with Spellbinders Labels 16. The spotted paper was  from my bit box but I'm sure it is Papermania Capsule Collection. The felt buttons are from Hobbycraft and the sentiment is computer generated and diecut with Spellbinders Lacy Circles.

John has dug out a path to the wood store and another to the bird feeding station so my feathered friends can still visit the All Day Buffet and be assured of some grub!!

Well that's it for today. Keep warm and safe if you have the dreaded white stuff!!

Love and hugs from Christine xx

Sweet Friend

Good afternoon dear friends. Well they promised snow on Sunday and they have certainly delivered!!! Yesterday we dug out the snowdrifts from around the house and cars. We knew more snow was due but at least there us less to dig next time.

My Card

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My card today uses  two JustRite Stamps from the same set as my last card "Grand Sentiments". This time it was the Labels 8 frame and a different sentiment, both of which I stamped with Memento London Fog which I thought looked better with the lavender papers than stark black. The papers are from First Edition "Daydream". I only realised afterwards that the glue hadn't dried when I took the photograph and one of the Spellbinders Foliage leaves had slipped. (I have now corrected that.) The roses are  Wild Orchid Crafts and the ribbon and pearls are from my stash.

Well it has not stopped snowing since 9:30 this morning and it is getting pretty deep out there. I have just been out and freed a robin which had somehow managed to get into my fruit cage but couldn't get out again. I have really had a good look but cannot for the life of me see how he got in there in the first place! I hope he appreciates how wet and cold I got in freeing him because whilst I was already out there I also thought I should get rid of the snow off the poly tunnel because it was deep so obviously quite heavy and I didn't want it to get damaged..

Well that's it for today.  Hope everybody is warm and dry and most of all safe!

You Make Me Smile

Hello from a very snowy north Oxfordshire! The snow itself is a problem but even worse is the wind which is making  it drift. I think we won't be getting out of here for a day or two yet.  Fortunately the freezer and cupboards are pretty well stocked. Oh the joys of living in the country! I hope you are all coping, and if you need to go out please take care!!

Today I have made an easel card.

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I used Spellbinders Resplendent Rectangles and embellished with ribbon and pearls from my stash. The peach  and white backing paper is from First Edition "Summer Breeze" which I won from Paula Hollifield. It is very pretty and glittered.  The sentiment is from JustRite Stampers "Grand Sentiments".T he flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts. It is quite a simple but pretty card I think.

Well the only thing to do on days like these is keep warm and keep crafting I think!!

I will enter this into
http://sparklesforumchallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/challenge-40-die-cuts-flowers.html
http://perfectsentimentschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/psc62-encourage-me-wribbon.html

Gossiping Bunnies

Hello dear friends

Well fortunately we didn't get any more snow today but we'll just have to wait and see what the rest of the week brings.

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This stamp is one  of the very early ones I bought when I first started card making. In those days rubber stamps all came on wooden blocks and took up an awful lot of storage space. One day I spent some considerable time removing them all from the blocks by sticking them in the microwave which loosened the glue and then the rubber peeled away nicely - storage space solved! Unfortunately, I forgot to make a note of the names of the stamps or manufacturers in the initial stages so I now have quite a few stamps with no name. I have since learned!

Anyway it is such a sweet little image of these rabbits gossiping over the wall and hasn't seen ink for years so I decided to give it an outing. It is coloured with Promarkers and diecut with Spellbinders Standard Circles and Lacy Circles. Believe it or not the papers are Christmas papers from Papermania   from years ago - Contemporary Christmas - but they match quite well and don't look the least Christmas-sy.  The Prima flowers, ribbon and pearls have all been in my stash for quite some time. So my card is made entirely from old stock. I made a promise to myself at the end of last year that I would use as much old  stuff as I can. So this is definitely a result. I deliberately omitted a sentiment so that it can be used for any occasion.

Hope you all have a good day and enjoy a little crafting if possible.

Black and White

Good morning! I am scheduling this post for tomorrow and looking  out of the window onto a beautiful cold, crisp day. The sky is blue and the sun is shining. But the weatherman says that will change tomorrow because they have forecast snow. Ah well, it is winter after all.

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For my card today I have used stamps from Our Daily Bread Designs "Bird and Butterfly Labels" which is one of my favourites, and the sentiment is from the "Keep Climbing " set.  It is diecut with Spellbinders Labels 18. The backing papers are Dovecraft "Charcoal Prints". The pearls and butterfly are from my stash. I'm a bit unsure of this now because it seems a little busy. I  debated taking  off the stamped image and  putting on something different  and using the image on something else but in the end I left it. 

Well that's it for today. I hope you all enjoy your day and manage to do a little crafting.

Christine xx

Entering this card into
http://creativemomentsbloggersnetwork.blogspot.co.uk/monochrome/anythinggoes

 http://inkyimpressionschallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/challenge-92-add-sentiment.html

Simple Things

Hi friends.  Thanks for joining me today. Welcome to the weekend!

Well I have finally managed to actually finish a card at long last. I have started a few projects but somehow lost momentum part way through and abandoned them all. Hopefully now that I have managed to complete a card the "block" will go and I can get back to normal. I was starting to worry a  little because my mind was just coming up blank. I've heard of writers block so I think have just experienced the crafter's equivalent!

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The stamp I used today is from "The Blessings Collection" by Our Daily Bread Designs. I used Spellbinders Labels 11,  Memory Box "Elegant Scrollwork" and the backing paper is  "Spring Feast" by First Edition. The gorgeous lace might be recognised by Patricia because it was part of the gorgeous candy I won from her. Thank you!! Everything else was from my stash.

I got a few ODBD stamps as part of my Christmas gifts so they will be popping up over the next few weeks.

I hope you all have a good weekend.

Love and hugs from Christine xx

And The Winner Is ....

Wow! I looked again and realised I had 51 followers!!  As I said previously I didn't think for a moment I would have any followers so to now have 51 is amazing. I cannot thank you all enough for all your visits and wonderful comments. Blog land truly is brilliant and my blog buddies really have become such friends.

I have put together some candy - but don't get too excited - and John drew the name from the hat. Perhaps I should  have borrowed Sue P's pigeon to make the draw!!

Marie-Louise.

Please drop me an email Marie-Louise with your address so that I can get it off to you.

Well, I have managed to put a card together at last so I shall pop that onto another post. 

Love from Christine xx

Gift For The Bride

Hi

Still cannot find my mojo!

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When my nephew was married my sister was looking for something that her grandson could give to the bride. Poor Sébastien was feeling very left out - his dad was best man and his sister was bridesmaid! In his words  he was going to be "the most least important person there"!  We all had a good laugh at his phraseology.  Anyway she looked everywhere but couldn't find anything she really liked, or of a reasonable quality - most of the stuff in the shops seemed to be quite shoddy and she isn't in to technology and doesn't have a computer so wasn't able to go online. She was looking for something other than a horseshoe. So big sister saved the day!

 I bought a cheap wooden spoon and embellished  it. I wound white satin ribbon all round the handle and then added lace, ribbon, flowers and pearls all of which were in my stash, so it was a very cheap but very personal gift.  I decorated both sides and on the reverse put the names of the bridal couple and their wedding date. I computer generated the details onto Letraset Safmat so that when it was applied to the back of the spoon it looked as if it was actually on the spoon itself.  If you haven't tried Safmat it really is excellent.

Again I didn't photograph it but Jeanie did - maybe not not how I would have done it but it does give you an idea of what it was like and at least it was actually captured on film.  Séb then felt very special when he had his photograph taken handing it to the bride!  You've got to keep the children happy !!

I made a box for it and embellished it using Spellbinders Parisian Accents and lined it with batting or wadding or whatever it is called - anyway, it's the stuff you use for quilting. The sentiment was an LOTV stamp. I was actually quite pleased with how the spoon turned out since I really had no idea what I was going to do and just kept adding bits.

Have a good day everybody and hope you find time to fit in some crafting.

Love from Christine xx

Tag For A Friend

Good morning everybody.

First of all let me offer a very warm welcome to my new followers! I hope you enjoy what you see and that you come back for return visits. When I first started my blog in August I couldn't actually envisage anybody wanting to  follow it, so to now have 48 followers is really exciting. I think I might have to think about some candy!!

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I came across the flowers that I made using the Melt Powder and moulds that I got at the NEC and then started looking for some way I could use them. I found this card in my bit box and decided to make a tag with it because the flowers were a good match. I have quite a collection of rub-ons which were all the rage some time ago and thought this quote would  be a nice addition. There was also a flower on the page, which was a great match so that went on too. You will need to actually enlarge the image because what looks like a dirty smudge behind the sentiment is actually a musical stave. The ribbon loop looks very pink in the picture but in real life it is actually much more of a coral colour. The cream lace is from my stash.

Well that's it for today. I hope you all enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Love from Christine xx

The Sky Is The Limit

Hi blog friends.

I think the title of today's post is one that we should all think about when we are crafting - the sky is the limit, and the limit is the sky. We can do anything we want to do so let's just reach out!!

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The picture is not good I'm afraid. It just didn't really get light today and the flash is bouncing off the pearlescent card. Sorry about that.

The stamped image is from Our Daily Bread Designs "Bird and Butterfly Labels"set, which are designed to go with Spellbinders labels 18 and which I stamped with  an Anna Griffin green pigment ink. The sentiment is another ODBD stamp, this time from the "Keep Climbing" set.  I have used both these sets previously but not used either of these stamps. The butterflies are Marianne Creatables.  The backing papers, ribbon and the iridescent shimmer dots are all from my stash. I love the way these iridescent dots pick up whatever colours you are using and then become a perfect match.

Well, it's a very simple card but at least I have now got something finished!

Have a good day! Love from Christine x

Wedding Day

Hi Crafty Friends!

I have been playing around for the last few days but so far have not actually come up with a finished item.

Just in case you think  that I have left the country I decided  to post a card I made before I started my blog. I have a few cards that I made when my nephew was married so I will slip one in every now and again.

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The card is 8x8. The backing paper is from a HOTP wedding pad that I have had for a few years and which has some lovely designs in very subtle shades of pink, green and grey. I used a large LOTV diecut topper for the main image and an LOTV stamp for the sentiment, die cut with Spellbinders lacy circles. The ribbon and lace was from the Ribbon Box if I remember correctly. The pearls and  little silver heart charm were from my stash.  For the box I used  a slightly smaller  diecut topper and a different LOTV sentiment.

The pictures are not very good but I forgot to photograph them before sending them to my sister so she very kindly took some pics of these and the others that I will be showing later. Thanks Jeanie!!

Well I hope that my mojo will soon make a return appearance! Until then, I hope you all have a great  and productive day.

Love and hugs from Christine xx

21st Birthday

Happy New Year everybody!!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year and enjoyed the break. I am looking forward to seeing lots  more inspiration from everybody!

I had intended to do no crafting over the holiday but then realised that my niece would be celebrating her 21st birthday on January 6th. Since I was going up to the north east to spend a few days with my family I  decided it made sense to make her card so that I could leave it, together with her gift, with her parents.  Probably a safer option than trusting jewellery in the post!

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I used a Kanban topper and sentiment label and lined the card both inside and out with contrasting Kanban card stock. I made the front a short fall so the the inside was partially visible. I computer generated the sentiment and die cut it using Spellbinders Resplendent Rectangles . I really love these dies! I then just added a few teal coloured pearls from my stash. The lighting is not good I'm afraid because the card stock is a beautiful rich teal and that doesn't come over at all.

Well, that's it for today. here's hoping I can get back into the discipline of crafting again. I've been having a wonderful time off, but to be honest I will actually be glad to get back to normality again - or what passes for normality in the Harrop household!!

Looking forward to seeing all your wonderful creatons in 2013!

With love from Christine xx