Trees for Christmas Card Club

Good morning and I hope this finds you well. I had the pleasure of choosing the theme for this challenge and my choice was trees. This could have been Christmas trees, trees in the forest, etc so I'm looking forward to seeing what the other girls in our little club have made.

Card #1

 

Recipe

5" x &7" white base card

kraft cardstock 

stamp, dies, e/f - Winter's Tale Crafter's Companion

The brick embossing folder came in a set together with the window die, Christmas tree stamp and another tree stamp. The pine leaves were a separate die set but all from the same range. I bought them early this year when they were on sale but haven't used them until now.  I put a piece of  transparency film behind the die  to make it look glass.  The tree was stamped onto a scrap piece of card stock which I thought looked like wallpaper.

Card #2

Recipe

4" x 6" base card

Knban topper

unknown sentiment stamp

silver glitter card - Hobbycraft

Very simple card made with a glittered Kanban topper which I found in the back of a drawer.  There were four different ones on an A4 sheet.  It's difficult to see on the picture but the angel is holding her hand out to a white dove.

Card #3 

Recipe
5" x 7" base card
e/f - Sue Wilson
sentiment die - Sue Wilson
Snowflake tree die - Britannia die
pearlescent card - Crafter's Companion

Another simple card with just a few pearls added. 

Well that's it from me today.

Take care and enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Male Theme at MAWTT

Good morning and I hope everybody is well and enjoying this superb weather.  I have no problem with the sun (well, that's not true because I burn very easily) but my major problem is no rain for the past six weeks!  Does the world not know that my water supply comes from a well and we are running short!! Help! And to cap it all the immersion heater blew up the other day and so we are unable to heat the water except by boiling kettles.  Luckily the new one is on order and should be here in a couple of days then John will get to work fixing it. It's great being married to a man who can do all this work and so never have to worry about tradesmen.

Anyway, now to my card for this months challenge at MAWTT,; the theme chosen by  Jackie is to make your project male themed. I never have enough male cards in my stash so this is good for me..

My Card

 Recipe

7" x 5" black base card - Rymans card

topper, backing paper and gold cogs - Kanban

gold mirri card - Crafter's Companion

I was rooting around in my drawers (as you do) and I found some ancient stash which was perfect for putting together this very quick steam punk male card. I'm sorry the picture is so dark.  The sun was so bright it was really difficult to get a decent picture.

Why not pop across to the blog and see what my the rest of my team mates have come up with?

That's all from me for now.

Take care.

OSAAT Challenge # 253 No Square or Rectangular Cards.

Hello to all my friends and fellow bloggers.

**Please scroll down if you are looking for my 

Christmas Card Club card. **

 I'm here today to share my DT card for OSAAT.  As you can see the challenge is not to make a square or rectangular card. I am using Lady Pirate from Ike's Art which you can find here at Stitchy Bears Digi Outlet.

My Card

Recipe

Black card - Rymans

Backing papers - Kanban "Rope Stripe" and "Shells on Driftwood"

Centre stepper base card die - Presscut

Skull and crossbones - cut from some backing paper

Map - freebie digi  printed on parchment

Jute ribbon - Hobbycraft

Shells - from stash

Pearls -  The Hobby House

Promarkers to colour

I used the Presscut die so that I could make the card base black and it seems to work well with the papers.  Quite a fun card I think.  I love the Lady Pirate and since I didn't want to cover too much of the designer paper I decided to fussy cut.  I attached the shells with hot glue and I did wonder if they would be too heavy but they are fine.  The card has been standing up for a couple of days, they are still firmly attached  and the card hasn't buckled.

I hope you decide to join us in  our challenge.  This is what one lucky person could win - 5 digi images and a paper pack.

Well that's all from me for today.  Hope everybody is well.

Take care.

Entered into:
Pink Gem Female Birthday
Seize The Day - Anything Goes

Lets-color-linky-party

pde linky party anything goes
Deep Ocean Challenge

Neat and Tidy Steam Punk

Hello everybody. Thanks for popping by today.  My title certainly seems to be a contradiction doesn't it?
Q:   How can steam punk be neat and tidy?  A:  When it is made by me! Lol!  As my older followers know (and by that I mean long term not old as in age!) I don't do steam punk.  I like my crafting to be quite neat - I even find shabby chic a bit out of my comfort zone.  However, I have had these Kanban toppers for a while and am steadily working through them.

My Card

click on image to enlarge picture

This card is for my sister whose husband will be 70 next week.  Unfortunately he had a small stroke a few weeks ago and is temporarily unable to drive.  His  post-stroke exhaustion meant he was not able to get out much, until their son hit on the idea of hiring one of those mobility scooters for a few weeks.   Now when they go out together to exercise their little dog poor Jeanie is shattered trying to keep up with him!  As for Mollie, their miniature Yorkie, she gets back home and zonks out!! My sister loved the idea of this image because it fit the situation so well.  Mind you, I wouldn't like this one roaring up behind me in the shopping precinct. Lol!

Sorry for the glare but the sun was hitting the gold mirri card no matter what I did to try and prevent it.  I'm not complaining about the sun - but I will try again later if it goes behind a cloud.

I made an easel card and put the verse underneath the base of the card.  The topper and cogs background card are from Kanban and the cogs are a mixture of some die cuts I already had and others cut from Papermania cog dies.

Well that's all from me today 

Sister

Good morning to you all. I have been busy over the last couple of days helping John outside.  We have some gravel beds which have got rather out of control over the last couple of years and they get quite a few weeds in, even with that black weed control fabric stuff.  I must admit that last year I didn't pay as much attention as I should have done either.  Anyway John decided to take up all the gravel, line the beds with concrete and replace the gravel.  It's amazing how much soil was in there.  Where on earth does it all come from? Whoops, sorry - no pun intended! Anyway, my job was to sieve all the gravel and replace it into the beds.  Pretty back breaking work I can tell you!  I'm not killing myself - I'm doing some, having a break, doing a bit more, having a longer break and so it goes on. Well there are other things to do with your life.  I've had to fit in a bit of blog hopping etc. Lol! His job is much harder than mine obviously because all the grouting on the patios needs redoing too. Well, he likes being busy!! Just as well - I always have a long list of stuff that needs doing!

I have another card which I made this week but cannot show just yet. Instead I am showing the birthday card  I made for my sister last year before I started my blog so it hasn't been shown.

My Card

Click on image to enlarge picture

This an A5 card  which I made from hammered card stock.  The pyramage topper is Kanban and I think the backing card is too, but I wouldn't swear to it.  The silk flowers were from my stash and fastened together with gemstone brads.  I made the sentiment panel removable so that it could be used as a bookmark.  The ribbon and blue pearls were also from my stash.  I still have some of these toppers left and I came across them when I was looking for something else - as you do!- and it reminded me about this card. 

They have been threatening us with rain over the past few days but so far nothing has materialised. And it is still quite warm too. I would like some rain overnight please - if the rain god is listening!

Take care and have a good day.

Love and hugs from Christine xx

Happy Birthday John

Hello everybody.  What a gorgeous day it was yesterday.  John and I did some much needed work in the garden.  We really need to keep on top of it otherwise it reverts to jungle quite easily!! With all the rain this year it has gone wild.

I am ashamed to say that this was an extremely quick card. Can you believe I almost forgot my husband's birthday?  It was only when Carole talked about Google Reader closing on July 1st that alarm bells started to ring.  Unfortunately I still had the last card to finish for Darren and get them off in the post to him (he lives in the North of England) and then my Christmas card for the CCC challenge.  Anyway, once we had finished in the garden and showered, eaten etc I then disappeared into my craft room and hoped he stayed out of the way for a while.  After all these male cards I think I've got over my aversion to them.  I don't think I'll be quite so nervous in the future.

My Card

Click on image to enlarge picture

I cut some Ivory Gold Dust card to 5" x 7" and matted it with black and more ivory.  I then ran a piece of the same card through Papermania Chronology-Clocks folder and matted it with black.  I've had this embossing folder for ages and it was still in it's packaging. I must say it is lovely and the embossing is very crisp.  I computer generated the sentiment which I have had in my mind for ages and decided this was a good time to use it. I found some Kanban Mackenzie - Time toppers which I used as the speedy option to follow through with the clock and time passing theme.  The black and white striped one is great but it was in the shape of a flower so I had to doctor it with SB Standard Circles dies and then added a small clock into the centre with foam pads.  It all looks quite flat but both the topper and the sentiment are attached with foam pads.  A few black pearls finished it off and hey presto - one extremely quick card which also looks quite elegant due to the colours - despite the cheeky message! I also carried the cheekiness inside with the message.  Hope his sense of humour is intact when he opens it!  I'd better give him a good breakfast first!

Hope you all have a good day, whatever you are doing.

Love and hugs from Christine xx

Time Together

Hello dear blog friends. First I would like to say thank you to everybody who left a comment on my post yesterday about my lovely parents. You are all very kind - although I knew that already!! Since I started blogging I cannot believe how many good friends and blog buddies I have made. It truly is a fantastic world and I am so glad that I managed to find my way here. Bloggers are all so helpful and so keen to share and pass on their own knowledge!!

Yesterday we checked the weather forecast, which wasn't good, but was said to be dry until around 1pm. We decided that we really ought to get out and have a good bike ride because the last week had just been impossible. We left around 8 am and planned a route that would be about 36 miles. The first 20 miles we rode into a head wind, which was very hard work - and tiring. In the end we cut it short by 2 miles because as we approached Stratford upon Avon we could see that there were huge black clouds, and it was also two miles on an extremely busy road, so we looped back. We much prefer country roads, because some car drivers just show no respect for cyclists and it can be quite hair raising.  I managed to get up all the hills this time but I must confess that by the time we got to the two finals ones, only about 1½ miles from home, I was very tired and really struggled. But I made it! Hurray! We had been home about half an hour when the heavens opened, so that was great timing. And for once the forecast was just about right.

My Card

Click on image to enlarge picture

This is my usual 6x6 card, matted with grey pearl and a grey striped card that I bought a couple of months ago at an Excalibur craft fair at the National Motorcycle Museum. These fairs are held every couple of months and are great if you live reasonably close. ( Free parking, only £2 entry (as a "senior) and not too busy so it is easy to get close to stall and see the demonstrations.) I used a Kanban stamp, "Florals", stamped in Versamark  onto grey pearl card and heat embossed with WOW opaque bright white embossing powder. I then die cut it with SB Labels 10. I cannot remember the last time I used this die. I think we get so focused on the new dies and we forget that the old ones still have their place. The sentiment is from a Dreamees set and again stamped, embossed and die cut as before. I just added some Craftwork Card Candi and some ribbon from my stash. I didn't have any grey, black and white were both too stark, and so I coloured it with Promarkers. Nice and easy.

Well that's it from me in a very wet Oxfordshire.

Love and hugs from Christine xx

Male 40th Birthday

Hi everybody. Well what a change in the weather today. It rained quite heavily in the night (best time in my book) but it is very overcast. Definitely no cycling today - give the old legs a rest. Not to mention the backside!

My Card

Click on image to enlarge picture

First of let me apologise for the appalling picture. My card was made in a great rush so that John could post it on his way to his GP appointment. I took the photos but didn't check them until it was too late. It is extremely dark and overcast here today but because of the mirri card I think using flash would probably have been worse. I used black card stock to form a 5x7 base card which I matted with gold mirri and then another layer of black. The topper is Kanban  - one of The Mechanical Marvels. The black and gold cogs are also Kanban. 

Hope you are all well and enjoying some sunshine.

Love and hugs from Christine xx

Enjoy The Little Things

Hi, just a quick post this morning. I had intended to post it yesterday evening and it just went completely out of my mind. I took the picture then I had a phone call - and forgot! Ah well here it is.

My Card

Click on image to enlarge picture

I stamped the Kanban image in black,  heat embossed with clear embossing powder and matted it onto black card. There doesn't appear to be a name on the stamp, or if there is I cannot find it. I have a feeling it is simply called Florals, but I'm probably wrong. By contrast I stamped the sentiment stamp from Our Daily Bread Designs in Versamark onto black card, heat embossed with WOW Opaque Bright White powder, and matted it onto white card. Because the background is quite striking I decided against adding embellishments - but I was tempted!

I hope you all have a good day. We are going to Dunstable to pick up something that John has bought so we will visit a National Trust property whilst we are out. May as well kill two birds with one stone.

Love and hugs from Christine xx

Celebrate The Journey

Good morning dear blog friends, sorry I've been MIA for a couple of days. John had hospital appointments both days and since it is quite a long round trip it takes quite a slice out of the day, especially when you factor in "waiting time". You can waste so much time at hospitals.

 When I was cataloguing my list of milestone birthdays I cannot believe that I didn't include my brother's 60th!  I'm not really sure about this card so I might make something different and keep this for one of the other birthdays that are coming up. Morgan has a terrific sense of humour so I also computer-generated a card for him from my sister and I, since Jeanie and I are both past the magic 60!

My Cards

Click on image to enlarge pictures

I folded cream leather cardstock to form an A5 card. The backing paper is Kanban, the stamp is  from the Docrafts magazine and the cogs are a combination of stamps and Kanban. I computer generated the sentiment onto Letraset  Safmat so that it looks as if it has been added directly to the card. I really love this medium!

Then comes the funny one, which I know he will really appreciate. I'll probably hear him laughing all the way down here from the North East! I used Greeting Card Factory Deluxe which I only ever seem to use now for inserts etc. However for something like this it is brilliant because you can really personalise things. 

Front

Inside

 Back

Well that's it from me. Hope you all have a good day - and hope the weather is good because we will probably visit an National Trust property if it is.

Love and  hugs from Christine xx

Entered into http://pennyblackatallsorts.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/march-challenge.html

http://sweetstampinchallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/males.html

Pastel Confection

Hello friends. Some time ago  I was wandering through blogland (as you do!) and I found myself on Christina's Card-Making-Magic site. My card today is my take on one of the cards that I saw. She really does have some fabulous stuff that would give anybody inspiration.

My Card

Click on image to enlarge picture

My card is A5 size and is ivory cardstock. It was matted with a pearlescent card which gives a shimmery pink or lavender effect, depending on what you put with it. I placed some pink floral card from Kanban on top of that. I used a Special Touch Mask from Creative Expressions to emboss another piece of the ivory card. Unfortunately there is no name on the packet but it is interlocking circles which gives a really nice effect.  SB Labels 20 was used to cut two apertures so that you can see the Kanban card through them. Various leaves were diecut from SB Foliage and sponged with pink ink whist still in the die and a rose from WOC was used in the middle.  I've never used the largest fern leaf before because it is so big, but since this is a large card it works well. For the first time I tried adding pearls with Cosmic Shimmer Pearl PVA - not with a great deal of success I'm afraid, but I'll just have to practice more.  I need to try to  repair the corner - I think I must have caught it with my arm before it dried, and didn't notice it till I looked at the photo.The pink spotted organza ribbon is from my stash. The corner die is Cheery Lynn Deco corners.

The picture is not good at all. No matter where I put it the light was always wrong. The lovely pearlescent card looks grey. Very weird!

Well that's it for today. Have a great day everybody.

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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Click on image to enlarge picture.

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

Time Traveller

Hello friends. Hope you are all well.

I'm not really into steam punk so I didn't want to invest in stamps and dies that I would get very little use from. However, when I saw these Kanban toppers I thought it might be a compromise.

Click on image to enlarge picture.

This is the easel card open



It was quite difficult to photograph because the light was reflecting off the gold.

The base card is black cardstock and I matted the backing paper with gold mirri card and the topper with black card. The sentiment is a Craftwork Cards circle sentiment.

I will probably add  "40" to this for my nephew's milestone birthday in a few weeks. He is travelling on business at the moment so it is quite apt. There are another two or three toppers so you can expect another couple of cards at some stage in the future.

Hope you all have a good day and fit in some crafting.

Christine xx

Thank you for visiting my blog and for all your comments. I appreciate each and everyone of them.