A Scrapjourney

So I dutifully got some Avery Elle stamps ready for this challenge and then they did a new release with Caryn's Dear Santa Cat and I knew I simply had to have her, the cat not Caryn. There is a die to go with the stamps but its out of stock at Simon Says Stamp but I didn't actually use them for this card just fussy cut.

It was the last bank holiday here in the UK and out at my sisters and a BBQ I was suddenly running out of time for my card. My originally thought was to make my own background but noticed the Doodlebug Polar Pals had nice background sheet so I decided to use that with the Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangles and backed it with a bit of purple card so I could use the purple dotty paper that was in the paper pack, to paper piece her bow and hat.

I used the Avery Elle Sweet Scallop and the large Stitched Rectangle fits even with a backing mat. I had to used the sentiment that came with stamp and so it would stand out I used Versamark with some White embossing powder.

All that left was some snowflakes and keeping the CAS type card I used the small ones from Simon Stitched Snowflakes but with some fun foam although not bright white but white enough to stand out.

Tomorrow is officially the first day of Stamptember so make sure you check out the Simon Says Stamp Blog and Store for amazing new stamps and inspiration. I'm even tempted to stay up tonight so I can see whats new.

Ok I hope I got this right but Everybody Art Challenge is back from our Summer Break and we are starting with an easy challenge of Butterflies.

I've used the Saturated Canary Baby Butterfly and I've just noticed I have used a white pen to dot my dots in her wings so I will have to re-photo her and replace the picture once the light is decent to photo.

I added some butterflies using a Kars punch that I've had for ages but its a favourite. The hearts are Memory Box and I saw on another blog have they had overlapped but when I put it on the card its a bit too long so that why its at an angle.

The papers are Doodlebug and the sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp.

Do pop over and check out the team.

Can you believe this little chap is four now, here he is with his Dad my nephew. The photo had to be scrapped look at their matching shirts.

The papers I've had for a while and this is the third layout I made with them so I only had bits of the nice papers left but I think it worked OK. Some of the strips are the back of the company name but when there's a ruler, fab words perfect for the pic they have to be used.

The stars are MFT and if you look in real life you will see they have faux stitches round them.

Off to spend the day with my Sister the other halves are cleaning carpets, so I got all my colouring gear together so I should get quite a bit done.

Now I know not to photo my cards first thing in the morning, there wasn't anything I could do about the shadow.

Now the Penny Black image is a cling stamp called Purr-fect Message and I've used the Echo Park Happy Summer. The sketch is last weeks Sketch Saturday.

I used the floral oval to give me the shape across the top, It did think of using a circle die but I didn't have a fancy one big enough but the oval worked a treat.

I decided to used the Hydrangea dies from Simon Says Stamp and thats a Stitched Snowflake die for the centre. Now that I photo the card I'm not sure I should have used white but hey ho its done now.

Naughty me didn't make a card but had a bit of a sort out of my Scrapbooking paper, cut some into 6inches for cards and put some in a pizza box hopefully the retreat I go to in October will have swop box. There was a lot paper to sort out.

I have found out why I don't like making two things at the same time. I'm quite a loose crocheter so I drop down a hook size for a neater finish. I managed to make his tail, flippers and his hat in a different size hook so I had to unpick them and start again.

Along with unpicking nearly every Blizzard Snowflake Granny Square at least twice I was that pleased to have to do the same with Sammy but his done now and I'm now making a tortoise/turtle for a friend. I have made him before and you can see him on this post. He is a Little Muggles pattern too.


According to the weathermen the temperature should drop a bit so I should be able to get to my craftroom, I want to make at least one card today and I will be happy.

Yes I'm still on Clean and Simple but Mo's Sparkler kinda made me go down that road. I cut a Penny Black swirl out of glitter card and cut the end swirl off so it would fit at the end of her wand.

I did paper piece her dress which is easy to do and even better with Doodlebug papers since their 6inch pack has smaller patterns. Out came some favourites my Lawn Fawn Stitched Scallop borders die and my large retro flower punch.

The sentiment is from Simon Says Stamp, a good verse for all sorts of occasions.

I managed to make a couple of cards yesterday before my craftroom got too hot but it looks like the mini heatwave has broken with some rumbling thunder and a couple of flashes of lightening last night.

I usually mix my cards up with either Square or Rectangle so I wanted to do something different from the usual one image but I just couldn't think of anything. Then I thought it was time to use the Tim Holtz Crazy Dogs. It all started to fall into place.

So I decided to use the Simon Says Stamp Stitched Squares to make the frames and then worked out which crazy dogs heads would work together. Out came my colouring Prismacolor pencils and I didn't buy the dies for the stamps so I fussy cut them but I run a Tim Holtz Distress Marker Pumice Stone round the edges to hide the white core paper.

I purposely made sure that the dogs ears, nose or tongue overlapped the frames. I laid the frames where I wanted them to go and then stamped the Simon Says Stamp Choose Happy sentiment in the spare square.

The rest of the card didn't need to be too busy because the stars are the crazy dogs. So I used the Lawn Fawn Beachside Pint size and I chose the stars so I could use the Simon Says Stamp Bundle of Stitched Shapes stars.

Few weeks ago I had a jolly good spend in  Saturated Canary and brought loads of digis because the shop closes down at the end of this month. So what do I do used a image that I'm pretty sure I've had for a while and used before.

Saying that when I reduce the image size to one that suits me I save them in a word file but there isn't one for this Tilly Fairy, there is now.

The papers are Kaiser and the stars are Simon Say Stamp die using glitter card. The sentiment that looks a bit crooked it isn't by the way just the camera playing tricks, I'm afraid I don't know its on a random stamp set that I've had a while.

I'm running late with one of my DT cards so that will be my first job today. I planned to make it yesterday then realised we had planned an Opticians appointment with a bit of shopping and I was taken out for lunch too. The good news I saved my husband over £300 by not needing new glasses but he just gave me that look.

Oh dear here we go again with a Clean and Simple card and lets be honest you can't get more cleaner than this.
The cut giraffe is High Hopes and the fence is from MFT. The Stitched Rectangle is Simon Says Stamp and so it the sentiment.

And thats it but I'm glad I finally got round to using the image its been in coloured pile for at least a year.

My draft post have dwindled down to a couple, I'm a bit disappointed I haven't been able to add to them this week.

It our Mid Month reminder on Penny Black Saturday Challenge which is Our Favourite Technique now I could have chosen another technique but decided to use the other Penny Black Flower stamp that I often use for this technique.

No idea why I chose this spotting paper more likely because it was handy. Again a Clean and Simple card seems the way I'm going at the moment. I used a a tiny scallop border  for interest and the sentiment is cut from card and layered twice, its also a Penny Black dies.

The beads I used for the centre I brought on e-bay and they are for nail art but they are very similar to Accent Beads from many years ago. I use a dot of a wet glue that dries clear  tip the container over them. I do recommend you place in the card in a box or a lid, the beads have a will of their own.

I had this little High Hopes Bunny coloured for ages so I decided to use him. I found the sketch on Pinterest unfortunately didn't make a note where it came from Sorry.

The papers are LOTV and I used the Simon Says Stamp Stitched Square with my favourite Lawn Fawn with Stitched Scallop Borders.

The Sending and the sentiment are from Simon Says Stamp looks like I may have damaged the r in the sentiment but I thin pen made it look more like bad stamping!

All finished off with some Retro Flowers using the EK Success punch. Oh not forgetting his fun flock and flowersoft bobtail.

Out tomorrow crafting with my two friend Nikki and Lesley so today I need to sort my bag(s) out.
If I have time today I have to unpick a couple of bits of Sammy the Seal only used the wrong size hook thats what happens when you try to make a couple things at the same time.

I can see Mo's Sharing a Song being a firm favourite and today I've used it for this months Blog Hop. The theme is Winter in August and it was the perfect time to use it.

I love these Doodlebug papers and I've used the Memory Box Mittens, I had to cut them out and trim them to get the right effect. The Holly is the Martha Stewart Punch still just about punching and instead of red berries I used some gems instead.

I added my mixture of Fun Flock and Flowersoft for her hat and if I coloured the image again I would try to make the sledge a different colour from her boots.

Now hopefully you have found you way to here from my team-mate Gaynor and now you need to Hop Skip and Jump over to Daria who has very kindly joined us this month. Don't forget to comment along the way there are two random vouchers to win from someones comments.

I apologise for yet another Christmas Cards but so called friends on FB keep reminding me and brain washing me to make them.

Now I have some current border dies from Memory Box but I decided that I may need a couple to add to my collection and this challenge gave me a reason to do so. I brought the Memory Box Fresh Pine Curved Border and the Warm Wishes Border. When I cut the Pine Trees they looked like the wind tried to blow them over! So a little tip I used the front cover of the envelope the die came in and it places the trees upright then add the layers you want.

The Warm Wishes border I cut then cut in blue and trimmed the words off and stuck on the white, while doing this is would have been much easier to cut of the white words and slot the blue behind the white. Also I would keep the blue dots so I could add them into the white holes.

So thats the borders now for my snow I used the Simon Says Stamp Be Joyful and stamped the snowfalling in Versamark and embossed with clear powder. Then used a couple of Distress Ink to colour the night sky Chipped Sapphire and Broken China.

Now my snow scene looked a bit plain I could have added another border but instead I used the North Pole from Simon Says Stamp Retro Christmas and carefully cut it with a tiny white border so I could keep the strings for the lights.

I haven't made next week's DT challenge card, I will try to make it non Christmassy but no promises.

I've really got to get my act together to either schedule my post the night before or my new post time will be past 8 o'clock we will see once I past this tired phase.

I 've used this card  from Tracy before I love how the design work whatever you do. So my little chap is from Mo Manning Sailor Boys, well used set.

The papers are Lawn Fawn and the embellishment of Simon Says Stamp Clouds and Bird dies. The twine is just parcel twine which I eventually made a reef knot, add a sentiment job done.

I shall be in my craft room this morning till it gets a bit toasty, still haven't done the colouring found out that some of my Blizzard granny square a couple of them are wrong again. I've spent most of my time frogging (crochet term for undoing) mainly because I got to clever for my boots and thought I knew the pattern off by heart guess I didn't. Poor Sammy the seal doesn't have any flippers yet.

Gosh are GB Olympians are doing well so in honor of them I used Penny Black Love London and I cheekily used the Simon Says Stamp Kit papers because they were perfect for my card.

I used the sentiment from Simon Says Stamp Seeing Stars and I used their Stars die from Bundle of Shapes.

I know it is very clean but the we are having a bit of summer here and I plan to make the most of it.
All my plans went out of the window while I enjoyed the sunshine. Its going to be a bit more cloudy today so I hope that discourages me from playing hooky from my craftroom.

Having a few days at home means I could get down and make some cards and actually use my Simon Says Stamp card kit soon after receiving it. Only wish Mr Mojo would help instead of going on his holibobs.

I love the firework/flower stencil that came with the kit and you could either use the star from the Stamp set that was with the kit or use a flower stamp. I decided to use one of the stars. I may not have stepped away from the card when adding the smaller stars!

So I cut out using the Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangles and backed the panel with a bit of red card. The fabulous sentiment is also with the stamp set which you can buy separately its called Seeing Stars and the Stitched Star is from Simon Says Stamp Bundle of Stitched Shapes.



Once I had cut the centre panel of the above card I was left with a frame, couldn't let that go to waste.  So I used the fab die that also came with the kit called Vented Star. Broke my heart cutting into the floral paper to get my cluster of flowers. Backed the frame with the blue card which helped my star to show and added the stripey paper on the back and the sentiment again from the stamp set.

I keep thinking I should have mat the aeroplane and dotty paper but its too late now. The papers are My Minds Eye which was perfect for Mo' s Dream.

I rarely chop off parts of a digi image or a stamped one come to that, because it takes time to work out which part of the image to colour and I still have to cut most of it out. I also have to wait till the glue has set before cutting to match the shaped mat and I'm far too impatient.

The sketch I've used is Sketch Saturday which called for a circle mat and normally he wouldn't fit in it unless he was chopped. I could have have layered the fishtail banner sentiment as well.

Since I have my clean and simple head on and made a few quick cards, well as quick as I can but now I realise that I have many coloured images ready to be made into cards so the crocheting as been put to one side for now while I get some images done.

Another Wedding card and this one has been bagged already by my daughter. The image is from Tiddly Inks and of course the oval is Floral Oval.

The papers are Kaisercrafts  and the hearts are Memory Box and so are the leaves I think they are Birch leaves but don't hold me to that.  The sentiment could be Stampin Up I know the oval and scallop oval are Stampin Up punches but  I cut out the smaller one.

Oh before I forget there is a little bit of Flowersoft in her hair instead of trying to cut them out I think it works well. I did it on another Wedding card using a Mo Images as well.

I'm resisting all calls for going out from the other half having a few busy weeks lately I just want one at home.

Don't panic there is a Penny Black card and its the first Saturday of the month so there's a new challenge on Penny Black Saturday Challenge this time is for you Favourite Technique.

I love layering my images but I do that nearly all the time so for a change I've used Paper Piecing.

I have two Penny Black Stamp that I used for this technique this the first one and hopefully I will find time to make another for the Mid-Month reminder with the other stamp.

I also wanted to use something other than the Floral Oval which I used nearly all the time and made a frame using the Simon Says Stamps Stitched Rectangles not sure if I used their Stitched Circle or it was the Bundle of Stitched Shapes for the sentiment.

The Brick background is Taylored Expression and I finished of the sides with Lawn Fawn Stitched Scallop borders die.

A bit of ribbon to finish off.

I planned to do a card and gift wallet today but I think I may have overdone it yesterday so its pay back day.

So a bit of an update with what I've been hooking! First is Patches he is a pattern out of the Love Crochet magazine issue 10 by Liz Ward with a few additions, the patches and rather than stick on his nose and paws I cut out some hearts and blanket stitched them on. I not that good at blanket stitch but I guess practice makes perfect.

I have made him before, you can find previous make here.



When I'm not making toys and supposedly to crochet while watching telly I've decide on this granny square, it will be fine when I've made it a few times and stop unpicking it!!!!

Its called Blizzard and you can find the link to the pattern here. I've recently brought this  to attempt blocking I have feeling this square would benefit from it. Now all I need is find some wooden clothes pegs to help me choose colours.