ATCs

I've been taking part in an ongoing ATC exchange for the past year or so which I've really enjoyed snd it's been decided we'll continue with this so I'm really looking forward to trying different techniques in the new year.





And I've been trying stitched ATCs as well. I've just taken part in a Christmas themed exchange. These are my attempts.

It's been too long again....

but my crafting has continued. The problem with stitching a birth sampler is that it's ongoing without any real progress, apart from the alphabet appearing, and let's face it you don't really want to see pics of blue letters again and again and again!! LOL I've created some cards recently though one for a new baby


and a few Christmas cards




And as quickly as I arrive I leave because I have to go and wrap some pressies. I love Christmas :)

I'm organising an anytheme RR

And this month I've had the pleasure of stitching Margaret Sherry's alphabet for Steph. They are so quick and easy to do, and I really enjoyed them. They don't have to be sent out for another few weeks so I might get the chance to stitch another one before then.




Back on with my WTP birth sampler. Here's where I'm up to at the moment.


Thanks for looking!!

Blog Candy!

At Jen's stampin spot blog Leave 1 comment on her post for a chance to win! Thanks Jen!

Tag you're it!

At Tilda and Friends ATC Challenge it's tag time :) Mine's pretty simple really. I used a Dovecraft tag and a Christmas Tilda. She's coloured with Pro Markers for the skin and hair and Whispers for the clothes and wreath. The hollyberries are highlighted with Sakura glaze pens and her pompom on her hat and fur around her shoes is Sakura souffle in white. The gold ribbon on the wreath is coloured with Sakura metallics. Her wings and the background of the tag have added bling with Stickles gold.



Thanks for looking!!

Sketch Saturday #21

My first time entering on Sketch Saturday and I've stuck to the basic sketch LOL but I think the tag is an added feature :) The tag and bottle top greeting are Dovecraft. The paper was a gift so I have no knowledge of who it's by. The snowflake bling is from my stash :)



Thanks for looking!

Rainbow Lady Challenge 35 - Ribbons

I've followed the Rainbow Lady Challenge for a few weeks but this is my first entry. It's all about ribbons. I've used recycled ribbon (off a gift box) and some ribbon flowers on my card. The papers are Anna Griffin and I got the chance to use my new Martha Stewart punch :) This is going to my Mum who's been ill for a couple of days but is getting better.



Thanks for looking!

Arty Girlz Challenge #56 - Numbers

I've created an ATC for the Arty Girlz challenge this week. The backing calendar and photo are free vintage images from morning share and I think have really made this ATC! The stick ons are from my stash.


Thanks for looking!

Susie's Sketch #4

Susie's Sketch!! blog is fairly new and I thought I would give it a go as I've never used charms on my cards before. The papers are Anna Griffin's English Garden Palette. I have no idea where the charm is from, I've had it in my stash for ages, I think I originally bought it for my cross stitch. The ribbon is from my stash and one that I found by chance in an antique/craft showroom a couple of years ago and have never used. I am really pleased with this card for my first go at using a charm and using ribbon this way :) Even if the top fold of the ribbon on the bow goes the wrong way LOL

Blog Candy!

Poppet is celebrating her fabulous new blog, it really does look gorgeous, with some blog candy Poppet's Place You have until the 31st October :)

Blogovesary candy on Natty's card and crafting fun Not only a fantastic blog but a very generous candy offer. Happy blogoversary :) closing today so be quick!

Jill shows her gorgeous cards on her blog and in celebration of reaching 10,000 hits she's giving away some fab blog candy :)

I made a friend very happy :)

My friend has seen some of the ATCs I've made but still wasn't exactly sure what they are. So I wrote an e-mail (well an essay!) explaining with links to various ports of info that I thought she would find useful. She loved it and felt she had a much better understanding of what an ATC was afterwards. I thought she deserved one of her own though. Now I know she would have liked a 'weird' arty one, and maybe she'll get one of those later ;) but I thought one on friendship using my lovely Tilda stamps would be a good start so I got to work. She's coloured with ProMarkers for the skin and hair with Sakura pigment brushes for her top and Whispers for the rest. The backing paper,tag and buttons came from Creative Park which I only recently discovered but love to death!

And because my friend really appreciates it when you make something for her I decided to make her a 'matching' card which also inculdes a little bit of recycling with the wooden heart. It came wrapped around some lovely tea towels as a gift last Christmas!

My friend loved them both and I also included the little easel so she can display her piece of 'art' :) I'm sure I'll make her a more unusual one soon :)



Thanks for looking!!

Brothers are best

Part of my brother's pressie will be this, framed of course :) It's by Heart in Hand though I changed the colours completely to work with what I have in my stitchy stash. The fabric hasn't come out as golden yellow as it is in real life. This really has a wild west colour feel to it :) The colours used are as follows: blue outline The Gentle Art Blue Jay, red of the star - Weeks Dye Works Louisiana Hot Sauce, the swirl in the star - The Gentle Art Deadwood and Crescent Colours Chocolate Cream Pie, the words The Gentle Art Maple Syrup, little squares Kate's Kloths Bluebell



It took a few nights to stitch and I really enjoyed it. I'm working on a couple of RR squares now :)

Thanks for looking!!

Two challenges in one go :)

My first time entering A spoon full of sugar blog challenge and ABC challenge blog M is for Male and I manage to get both with my brother's birthday card :)



It's coloured with Pro Markers and Whispers with paper and gems from my stash.

ETA my brother loved it, but didn't think he looks 'as fat as the boy on the front' he did admit that he looked a bit like him though :)

Tilda and Friends ATC Challenge

It's a special challenge on Tilda and Friends this week! As well as entering the challenge Shary is offering us all the chance to send our ATCs to her for a swap! I love swapping ATCs and have a lovely album which I keep all my received ATCs in :) This is an exciting swap! I wonder who will end up with mine and whose I'll get??!! :-D


Mine is coloured in Pro Markers and Sakura pigment brushes. The backing paper and flowers are from Creative Park which I have only just discovered, and it is fantastic!

Thanks for looking!

Look at my lovely stash :)

How wonderful is this?!! Thanks to a marvellous friend who bought it for me, I have 2 brand new scrapbook albums and all this crafty stuff :)

Pass the Penguin!!!

Pass the Penguin on, please!

Blog Candy!

Check out Donalda's blog by the 17th October for a chance to win a lovely Whiff of Joy stamp! So kind of you Donalda :)

Masking Tape Technique

I've never tried it before but gave it a go over the weekend and as well as my red creation for Arty Girlz I attempted this:

Not too sure about it to be honest, it wasn't what I planned but it's 'interesting'

Arty Girlz Challenge #54 - Red

I've been trying new things this weekend and thought I'd give it a go for the Arty Girlz Challenge. I backed my card in masking tape then covered it with red ink before cutting a couple of cards up (recycling!!) and adding the logo 'What becomes of the broken hearted?' one of my favourite sing along songs :)

Friday Sketchers

Those wonderful people at Friday Sketchers have a fantastic sketch this week and one that I'll definately use again even though I'm not happy with my attempt at this one :) and what makes it worse is that it's for a grown man and looks like it's for a child LOL but he's a big kid at heart and they are expecting the pitter patter of tiny feet any time now so maybe it'll get him in a child like mood? LOL

More Blog Candy!

Help Marlene celebrate her special day by commenting and linking back to her blog by 6pm Wednesday 6th October :)

Blog Candy

Not from me, unfortunately, I'm still getting the hang of this blogging lark, LOL but from dollie dewdrop take a look at her blog, there's some fantastic work on there! Be quick this closes on October 9th!

And you've only got a day or so left to try and grab Beth's candy on her little card blog this closes at midnight on October 5th!

The urge to challenge!! (2)

At The Magniolia Challenge Blog it's use a sketch. Again, I'm not happy with my creation. I'm pretty new to this type of card making and though I absolutely love it, my stash does not have the necessary bling to make them look 'professional' but I really don't mind the constant shopping that is needed to bring my stash up to standard :)

Anyway, here she is! Coloured with Promarkers and Whispers. I couldn't tell you where the papers are from as I had them given to me by a friend. But the borders in the upper corners are K & Co and the daisies are from a wired string I bought ages ago, I cut them up for use here :)

The urge to challenge!!

I've tried to join in the challenges over the past few weeks but for some reason or other it just hasn't worked out, so I REALLY thought hard this week and I'm going to try and join in as many as possible. Here's the first one :)

At Tilda and Friends ATC Challenge It's a wrap this week. They want you to wrap anything around your ATC that takes your fancy! My theme is food and I want everyone to eat cake :)

Another Magnolia

She's coloured with promarkers and sakura pens. I chalked the background around her and this was my first attempt at trying to co-ordinate papers, which is hard when you don't actually have any co-ordinating papers :) But my friend loved it and that's all that matters!

Thanks for looking!

A silver Christmas

I'm pretty pleased with this one, it just seemed to flow from start to finish :) Self explanitory really, all silver, and I couldn't tell you where the papers come from because they were either given to me or I bought them so long ago I don't know where they're from!



Thanks for looking!

It's been too long but I was trying something new...

This is my very, very first Magnolia card.

What I used
paper - no idea, it was given to me by a friend
Edwin - pro markers, Sakura pigma paint pens
embellishments - from my stash



This is the 2nd one I've ever made. Not as good as any of the ones I've seen on blogs around, but I am missing some of the most important stash ellements! Prima flowers being the most important :)

What I used

Same as above!



I really am trying with my limited resources :) Same as above for how I made it

Now, the one below doesn't match entirely but it's got my first bow on it! and I'm trying out adding buttons. And I stitched around the stamp with some varigated thread. What I used is the same as before :)



If anyone can help me out on the next question please leave a comment and the answer :) The white highlights I see on some Magnolia cards, how are they made? You know the ones on shoes or hair?

I've really enjoyed making these and am hoping for some lovely co-ordinating papers and Prima flowers in the next couple of weeks as I have a birthday coming up :)

Thanks for looking :)

Some Christmas cards

I'm getting into stamping, but don't have that many stamps or inks so I'm learning bit by bit. I had a go at embossing onto a card, but didn't know what to do about a backer so I did it straight onto the card, hmmmm, not sure, I like the over all effect though. It's holly embossed in red and gold with a merry christmas ribbon down the side and gold christmas trees .


Then I tried something I've been thinking of for a while. I've had one of those 10m ribbons used for wrapping presents. I love the colour of it, being made of a dull paper. I stuck this all over the card, then embossed gold holly onto green card before finishing with a topper. I added Merry Christmas on the same green card and attached with stars.

September's ATC

It has the title of 'In the garden' The backing paper has flowers and a leaf design. I stamped and embossed a 'rose' in red and smaller 'roses' in silver which ended up looking like shimmering rain. I added a leaf and rain drop gems. I quite like it, but I'm not sure about it....

ATCs galore

I've been terrible over the past few months with not getting my ATC exchanges out early enough. That's all going to change now seeing as I'm (hopefully) going to have an extra day a week to keep on top of things!




In May it was 'anytheme' and I chose to make 'tea for friends' and sent an extra one 'harmony' as I was late in sending. These went missing in the post :(

So I created 2 more for Julie one was butterflies and flowers and the extra was wise words.



Then July had the theme of Fairies so I used green and white (flower print) hand made paper as the backing with the idea that it would look like grass. The fairy is a silver peel off on hand made paper with foam pad backed flowers. On the white flowers printed on the green paper I used 'snow' glitter. I also made a buttons extra because I was late in sending (again!)




Then back on track for August with Tracy's holidays ATC. I used bronze backing paper (to represent a sun tan), a patchwork of vintage holiday pics and postcards then a sunbathing vintage lady on top. I'm not completely happy with it but I think that's because I wanted it to be bigger LOL


I'm doing really well in keeping my crafting diary. I think I've got the enthusiasm to keep it going and it'll be a good thing in the long run :)