paper and ink

Well I seem to have been a bit neglectful of my blog recently, but the craft room has been neglected a bit too, it is nearly December and I have only made about 5 Christmas cards, might have to enlist Martins help I am thinking conscription may be in order lol!

Anyway enough waffle time for a picture

I made this card last weekend for my hairdressers birthday, following the Sketch n Stash Challenge 124 sketch


The image is from The Hobby House, Summertime pre-printed image sheet.
Paper is from the Echo Park Sweet Girl collection embossed with a Diesire embossing folder.
Flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts, sentiment is Craftwork cards and other items are from the craft room shelves.

Thank you for visiting and for any comments you are kind enough to leave

...... between posts due to our holiday, we weren't away for 4 weeks but it has taken a while to get back in the swing of things.
I don't often make cards in Autumn shades but I have couple of friends that love those tones so they come out a couple of times a year.
Here is a card made recently for one of them


The flowers and paper are from a Craftwork Cards pad which I have had for a while and decided to have a play with, the flourishes are cut from a sizzlits die, pearls are Hobby House I think.

I am entering this card in the Heck of a Challenge blog challenge for October which is Autumn Colours.

Thank you for visiting

It was craft group again last Thursday and I was more productive than I have been for a while, I had to be really as it was Mum-in-laws birthday on Saturday and up till then I still had not made her a card.

So here's the card I made.

The image is from Crafters Companion Mulberry Wood CD
Papers are Basic Grey Kioshi and Bazzill Two scoops
Cardstock and ribbon are American Crafts
Sentiment is Craftwork Cards
Flowers and flourishes are Spellbinders Bitty Blossoms and Jewel flowers and flourishes, here's a close up


Thank you for visiting

The challenge over at Penny Black Saturday  this month is for anything but a card and gave me the perfect opportunity to try out something I have been wanting to have a go at for a while.
So out came a candle, tissue and greaseproof paper, my heat gun, copics and the Whispers stamp from Penny Black and after a bit of trimming up with some paper, lace ribbon and pins this is the result.



Hope you like it and hope the person who may get it as a Christmas gift does too. There is a great tutorial on the Lili of the Valley site if you want to see how it is done.

Ribbon and pearls are from the craft room shelves

I am hopefully going to have a bit of a session in the craft room today in between soting out the laundry, need to do a bit of experimenting I think :-D

There doesn't seem to be much time for crafting just now so here's one from earlier in the year that I never blogged.


Papers and sentiment are Lili of the Valley and the image is a stamp from the Crafters Companion Mulberry Wood range which I have coloured with copics. Pearls are from Hobby House.

Thank you for visiting

The challenge at the moment over at Stampin' for the Weekend just now is Butterflies and here's a gatefold card I made which fits the bill


The image is a Little Claire stamp, part of the Butterfly Tree set.
Papers are Lili of the Valley with Nitwits Bonnets and Bowties
Punched butterflies are a Martha Stewart punch
Green card is American crafts and ribbon and jewels are off the craft room shelves

I thought I would share the guest book which I made for my sisters wedding earlier this year.

So looking at Kaths blog  just now reminded me that I had never blooged the card that I made for my sisters wedding in May, so here it is

Here's the card I have made for this fortnights Sketch N Stash Challenge


I made it at the weekend but am only just posting it as it was for a birthday earlier in the week and I am not sure if the recipient visits my blog.
Really enjoyed making this card, the sketch is interesting and I used my favourite colours (as well as the recipients I think) and a Sarah Kay image too. It is a decoupage image which I bought last year at Donington from Pinflair.
The papers are LOTV Nitwits (just for a change), cardstock is Bazzill, brads came from Dovecraft and along with the flower would be classed as neglected stash, corners are Cheery Lynn and the sentiment is a Paula Pascual stamp set and another favourite.
Oh and if you look carefully you may just spot a teeny bit of ribbon.

Thank you for visiting and for any comments you are kind enough to take the time to leave

The theme over at Allsorts Challenge blog this week is photo inspiration and as it's been a pretty busy week I am entering by the skin of my teeth.

Here's the photo



and here is my card


I took my inspiration from the bright colours, the squares and the black background oh and the hearts.
I did try to do more squares but couldn't get the measurements quite right.
So to the supplies
Papers are Echo Park Summer Days, couldn't use anything else really
Hearts were cut with a sizzix die and the sentiment is from Craftwork Cards.
I think that the black card is Coredinations

Thank you for visiting

........ just a small one, about the lack of posts so thought I would fiind something to put on to keep up with demand and here it is

It's a boy card which I made in January, quite CAS with an image from Lili of the Valley coloured in Bradford Bulls colours and a few American Crafts papers in the background.

Thank you for visiting, I have a challenge card to post soon but will do that when my visitors have gone

So the challenge over at Allsorts Challenge Blog this week is transport, so I had this daft idea to do a card with these tortoises transporting presents, I hope it's not too far outside the box but I enjoyed doing it so here it is

The challenge at Lilis Little Fairies this week is Christmas in July and here is my entry


Image is Lili of the Valley
Papers are my minds eye, from a freebie 6x6 pad I think.
Sentiment is Craftwork cards
Pearls came from the Hobby House and the card and ribbon is off the shelf

Firstly welcome to my new follower Kevin, thanks for making my list into double figures :-D

The challenge over at Allsorts Challenge blog this week is fur and feathers so here is my entry,



The image is a Whimsy stamp coloured with Copics.
Card base is another 8 inch scallop from the shop in Cleckheckmondsedge
Embossed card is Hunkydory.
Circle is a grand nestability
Sentiment is Craftwork Cards
Flower is from Hobbyhouse
Ribbon and jewels are off the shelf.
Well if truth be told everything came off one shelf or another but I'm not sure where the ribbon came from.

Anyway enough waffle, hope you are all enjoying this wonderful sunny weather, makes crafting in the dormer warm work but I'm not complaining. Thank you visiting and for any comments which you are kind enough to take the time to make.

I am having a bit of a sort out in the craft room at the moment, have to say it is looking a lot better, just a few more bits to do to be straighter but could do with a bit of a radical blitz too or maybe even challenge myself not to buy anything for a bit, mmmmm decisions decisions

So anyway here's a card to match the weather

It was Martins birthday a couple of weeks ago and this is the card I made for him.

The base card is a 6x6 which I have topped with papers from the LOTV Nitwits Collection  Country Gent which I edged with Vintage Photo Distress ink, the sentiment and image are also LOTV.
Washi tape is from the washo tape tin, I can't remember who it is by and the heart string is a Simon says Stamp Memory Box die.

I think he liked it, he didn't give his usual response of "It's a card"

Well it seems the ribbon is back in evidence, 2 lots again!



The image is another one from Lili of the Valley and again I have coloured it with Copics.
The papers are Memory Box and the base card is Craftwork Cards.
Ribbons are from the red jar, I think they are Hot off the Press and May Arts.
Flowers are Prima and brads are Queen & Co

Thank you for your visit, I really appreciate it

Here's a card using the sketch from this weeks Sketch Saturday Challenge and it's got ribbon!




2 pieces of ribbon to be precise, bought from Joanna Sheen last year  to do some invitations and still a bit left.
The papers and image are Lili of the Valley, the image is from the Art pads but I have warmed it up with Copics.
Border punch is Stampin up
Flower is prima witha button from the fabric shop just across the yard from the Lili of the Valley shop.
The turquoise card is from the craft room shop and the sentiment is a wood mounted one by Personal Impressions inked with Memento ink.

Thank you as always for visiting and for being kind enough to leave a comment, talking of which yes Kath it is the shop in Heckmondwike so maybe I should have just said Cleckheckmondsedge and covered all bases :-)

So here's a card I was asked to make and I just had the brief of flowers and 65 and this is the result

Thank you for visiting and for any comments you are kind enough to leave

The challenge over at Allsorts Challenge Blog this week is Favourite things
so here is a card using some of mine and is one of my favourite cards made recently.


The base card is from Craftwork Cards, my favourite base cards
Image is Lili of the Valley - I love the variety of images they do and when time is tight the precoloured images are so handy
Papers are Nitwits from Lili of the Valley, the green leaf paper is one of my favourites and I have nearly run out of it now.
Embossed paper is Bazzill Two scoops
Flowers are from wild Orchid crafts, here's a close up



and the leaves are a Martha Stewart punch.

Thank you for visiting, hope you like some of my favourite things too

This isn't the best picture because you can't see the inside detail


and this one gives a good view of my phone charger flex and grand calibur but they are all I have so thought I would show both of them.

I made this card from the Fabulous Fashion CD Rom from Katy Sue and this is one of my favourite collections from it, I love the colours and design which to be fair you can't see too well behind the acetate window. I glazed the flowers and leaves on the outside to give it more dimension and the dress on the inside is decoupaged.

Thank you for visiting and for any comments you are kind enough to take the time to leave.

Thank you for all the lovely comments on the last batch of cards I posted it was very thoughtful of all of you.

Here's a card for the Papertake Weekly challenge where the theme is Hello Boys.


The image is Lili of the Valley and the papers are Pink Paislee (I think) from an old scrapbooking kit from Sarahs Cards. Kraft card is American Crafts and the lines and dots are from a Studio Calico sticker sheet that was also in the kit.
The sentiment is from a set designed by Paula Pascual.

Thank you for visiting and for any comments you are kind enough to take the time to leave.

So here's the third challenge card I made and this one fitted the theme at Allsorts Challenge blog which this week is In the Garden.


The image is from the Lili of the Valley Jack, Patch and Puss Art pad, it's actually the coloured one that I 've used but then I have gone over it with some Copics just to change the colour from the greys and whites. The papers are from Lili of the Valley again, this time from the Perfect Pair pad.
The flowers and leaves are a Woodware Stamp, Dotty Daisies I think which I have stamped onto vellum and coloured with Copics then cut out before layering up with a brad.

I haven't put a sentiment on it yet as I'm not sure what it will be used for.

Thank you for taking time to visit and for any comments you might be kind enough to leave

I really enjoyed making this card for the Totally Papercrafts Challenge, to use 3 dies or punches or more.


It's a new baby card for a baby due in a couple of weeks, not like me to be ahead so much at the moment. The main image is another image from the Humphreys Corner everyday decoupage. The papers are from the Lili of the Valley Nitwit Collection Petal Fresh, base card is from Craftwork Cards. Pale blue card is from the American Crafts Pastel set.
Dies and punches used are as follows:
Spellbinders Die D-Lites Medallion 5
Spellbinders mega ovals LG
Memory Box Precious Hearts
Martha Stewart Punch Doily Lace (I think)

Thank you for visiting and such a great challenge.

So now that the blog is up and running again I thought I'd have a go at a few challenges and had a lovely afternoon yesterday working my way through a few. So here's number one, a Fathers Day card for father-in-law based on this weeks sketch at Sketch Saturday. Phew I can still remember how to do a link.


So a simple card using Humphreys Corner decoupage for the main image, backed onto yellow card from thecraft shelf. The paper is Craftwork Cards and a few years old, the sentiment is a Woodware stamp, base card is a 5 x7 Papermania and the oval and star dies are Spellbinders.

Thank you for visiting and for any comments you might take the time to leave

Hello again, hope you are enjoying the sunshine.
So here's another boy card. This one winged its way to Australia at the start of the year.
The image is Lili of the Valley coloured with Promarkers, papers are American Crafts and I think the sentiment stamp is from a Hero Arts set.

Thank you for visiting

A Lili of the Valley image from one of the mini masterpiececsheets which are now discontinued, paper is My Minds Eye, twine was with some Christmas wrapping, the diecut is MFT, other card is off the shelves and the sentiment was computer generated.

Thank you for visiting

At Christmas I made a recipe book for my sisters then fiancee, they were married a few weeks ago, it was a lovely happy day.

So here is the cover

Thought I'd best do a midweek post or you might think I had disappeared again, so here's the card I made for my brother last year and spent months running out of patience with blogger. He's had another birthday since then and I'll show that card once it's made it's way off the memory card and onto the computer.

Sorry Kath but it looks like there hasn't been much ribbon use at all recently, I will have to dust off the ribbon jars and remedy that. Meanwhile here is a card from earlier in the year which I made for my niece and it has ribbon and ric rac and my favourite Magenta stamp as well as more lovely Lili of the Valley papers

It's a lovely sunny day out there today, might step out and enjoy it a bit later but thought I would share a card first.
It's a card I made for one of my friends earlier this year and uses one of my favourite colours and a lovely Lili of the Valley stamp coloured with copics


The papers are also LOTV, sentiment is Craftwork Cards, and a mix of Spellbinders and Cheery Lynn dies for the lacey bits of card. The little flowers are from Hobby House.

Thank you for visiting and I always appreciate any comments you might take the time to leave