Another Birthday Boy Card!

Hello, and welcome!

Here's aheads-up for you.....Katie over at bothsidesofthepaper.blogspot.com has got the most fantastic Blog Candy!!

Well, we've had the  lot today.....beautiful blue skies, soft, fluffy white clouds, warm sunshine.......black clouds, howling wind, thunder, lightening, and torrential downpours!!

My poor old Bonnie (ancient black Lab) has always been terrified of heavy rain and thunderstorms, and I had to let her jump up on the sofa, next to me, and cradle her head......but she didn't want to do that...oh no....she wanted to push behind me, and hide until it was over!

I keep tellin' her she's a gun dog, and should be comfortable around loud bangs and water, but she just puts her paw over her nose, and peeps at me with those soft, brown eyes........aaawwww, lol!

At least I was at home, today, when the storm broke,........we were all out, last time, and came home to a living room door that had huge gouges in it, and the carpet underneath it torn to bits!  Told ya she didn't like storms. Tut.

Had some time to be a bit creative today.........

Grandson #4, otherwise known as William, will be 8 years old, later this month, and I wanted to get his card made, because we'll actually be on holiday in Cornwall, when the big day arrives. 

We spend a week on holiday, each year, with daughter #2 (Gillian) and her family, usually in Cornwall.....William is second son in the family, so we'll get to spend a lovely day with him......party time!

Here's the card................

Card base is kraft, and I cut a piece out from the side so I could over-hang the image.......I layered scraps of DP onto a muted orange piece of card, inked all the edges (always seems to finish the piece off nicely).........did a strip to put on the inside of the card, along the edge that shows.......

This is a Cuddly Buddly image that was a treat to colour!  I cut the image out, and put it onto a frame that was actually a page from a mini-book.....it was from AMM (All My Memories)........and then punched those cute li'l shapes and drew the lines.....kinda works, I think, lol..........then stuck a #8 on to an extra large brad.......

I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder to add some texture to this shape......I free-hand drew it before embossin'.......neat, eh?......then punched the primitive star shapes from scraps, inked, and added teeny-tiny brads in the centres......

How d'you like this cotton ribbon?  It's self-adhesive, and was also from AMM.......the colours matched my papers perfectly, so couldn't resist usin' it.........looks like I've inked the edges, but it was already on there....would have done if it wasn't. lol........

This one is on the side edge.....those brads look gooooood........

Side view........flippin' eck.......gettin' all artsy, now!

And this is the inside.....always seem to forget to show the insides.....duh!

Hope William likes it........when he was about 2 years old, I would look at his beautiful curly hair, and cherub face, and tell him he was gorgeous......and he would wave his chubby li'l fist and say, "a NOT dorduss!"....which would send me into fits....every time!

Challenges:

cardsformen.blogspot.com

Someone Special (my DORDUSS William!)

kaboodlesdoodles.blogspot.com

Lots of layers

pollycraftchallenge.blogspot.com

Boys to Men

simonsaysstampandshow.blogspot.com

Anything goes

stampsruschallenges.blogspot.com

Masculine

theribbonreelchallenge.blogspot.com

Colour combo

Hugs,

Anne-Marie x

Another for my Girlie!

Hello,  and welcome!

I've been hidin' in me little craft hide-away, with the rain pouring outside, and the 'phone ringin' off the hook....seemed like every two flippin'  minutes!.....but wouldn't come out until I'd finished preparing my nursery class lesson and all the visual aids (paper puppets on sticks, no less) for the little peeps.

I also wanted to get the fourth birthday card done for the tiny coming-up two year old missy.......

....and here it is.....

I'm back with those soft, muted colours again, and these pretty papers were.....drumroll......freebies!  Love the strawberry one...very summery.....and seemed to just "go" with the cute digi image........

......two diddy girlies.......aaawww......another drumroll.....freebie from Sliekje.

They are coloured with Promarkers (I'm soooo predictable, lol), and backed onto more of that paper set.......see the tiny ladybird?

The scalloped label was part of the above freebie paper pack, and I cut it out and used a rub-on sentiment, added a shiny gem, then the cute heart button, which I pinched off an old photo frame that I made years ago.....can't decide whether I'm an avid recycler, or just cheap....heehee.....

I love this wooden shape.......think it's supposed to be a sun, but it would lend itself to quite a few other things (just as well, 'cos I've got loads of 'em, ha!)....and I stuck the sticky-backed number on, to finish......

Now.......I'm still on a journey when it comes to makin' me flowers.....and from the look of these, I might be a bit car-sick....sorry......not sayin' anything else.......let's move on........

Suffice to say, now I see 'em in full technicolour, in HD, on the wide screen (me little notebook,  actually) they'll be comin' off....sob....sigh.....will try to do better!

Thanks for coming by,

Challenges

bee-crafty.blogspot.com

Birthday for little ones

catchthebugblog.blogspot.com

Anything goes

onestopcraftchallenge.blogspot.com

Birthdays

craftyourpassionchallenges.blogspot.com

Anything goes

ceschallenges.blogspot.com

Favourite colour combo

Hugs,

Anne-Marie x



Pretty flowers for a Girlie

Hi, and welcome!

After my driving adventures, yesterday, feeling pretty good that I was back in the saddle, (so to speak), I was a bit disappointed that I woke up about 2.30am to find a swollen and sore arm....as my bloggie mate, Stef, would say....oi vay!

Wasn't too bad, though.....did my massage routine again (have to do it for about twenty minutes, every night before goin' to bed) and have done pretty much nothing but rest it today, so swelling is down, and only a bit sore.  Concluded that I'd probably driven for a bit too long......and won't do it again.....not worth the hassle, or the discomfort and pain!

From now on, short drives to church, and my Mam's, and the cemetery to visit Dad's grave.....and that's me lot!  Ho-hum.

And to add more insult to injury....first time I'd driven since breakin' me flippin' ankle, last summer, and it hurt!

Remember the kiddly-winks in my nursery class?

Here's the third card of four, for another girlie's birthday.......

I found a box of these chipboard flowers by Brenda Pinnock....it was lurkin' underneath my Xron machine that I never use....and I finally pulled the box out and was delighted to find all this lovely stuff that I'd completely forgotten about....love it when that happens, lol....even better than finding a £10 note in yer hubbie's jeans when doin' the washing, and not tellin' him.....not that I've ever done that....I'm a good girl........

So, the card was a very easy make......stuck some scrap yellow stripey paper on the base card......put glue dots under the flower heads.....and cut three little strips of green paper to put under them for stems......

.....and embossed a ready-made sentiment that I found in a huge pile in that same box of treasure.....stuck it onto a piece of yellow card, and did my famous (just in my head, lol) back-stitch....and the job's a good 'un.  (Hopefully!)

Challenges:

dreamvalleychallenges.blogspot.com

Flowers

craftycatzweeklychallenge.blogspot.com

Quote/Sentiment

Hugs,

Anne-Marie x

Little blue birdie card

Hi, and welcome!

Funny weather we're having, today!  Started out bright and sunny, and warm, and has now become overcast and dull, and looks like a storm is brewin'.....still very warm, though. 

I haven't been driving my car for almost two years.......the lymphodema in my left arm, (a legacy from breast cancer) caused me problems if I drove for any length of time, so we took the decision that Ken would use my little Corsa for work (a lot cheaper on petrol, too), and Jonathan could use Ken's Mondeo.  That has worked out fine, but it meant that I was then reliant on one of my girls taking me for grocery shopping, or anywhere else I needed to go........and I felt a burden.  It also meant that I couldn't get to visit my Mam as often as I should.......and she's been makin' remarks about not ever seeing me without one of the girls being there......hmmph.

Sooooo.......I've reclaimed my little car....Jonathan now has his own van, so Ken has his Mondeo back.

I drove to church on Sunday.....it's only about a mile away, lol.....but it felt so good to be doin' it........and today picked up my daughter-in-law, and Bevan, to go to a friend's birthday party....totalled about 4 miles.....and the arm is fine....fingers crossed!

Last time I was at the lymphodema clinic (February), my arm was swollen by 19 per cent more than it had been....doesn't sound a lot, but it was for me........but it's definitely been a lot better, thanks to better management and the right exercises, so I'm keepin' a close eye on what happens with the driving, lol.

Anyway.....that's more than enough about that.....onto the card........

This is the one I made for the coming-up two year old boy, in my nursery class........

Quite a clean and simple little card.......but I was pleased with how it turned out........white base, layered blue cardstock, distressed some DP (it's feelin' better now, lol),.......

The li'l birdie and his pile of pressies was fun and quick to colour (Promarkers, of course!).....and those knees crack me up!

Used the deckle-edge Nesties to cut the label and sentiment, edged with Artic Blue Promarker, and used the same to sweep across the centre word........ 

.....didn't have the right colour of Card Candi, so coloured with you-know-what....perfect....just love that I can do that, heehee......

.......and just look at that expression!  Would you say bemused?.....worried?....scared?......whatever, he's so flippin' cute!

Now, I'm toying with whether or not to put a big number 2 on there, somewhere.......little 'uns like to see the numbers, don't they?......hmmm.....still thinkin' about it!

And that's it for today, folks.........and just a quick follow-up on yesterday's comment from Leigh (daughter #3) when she said I'd had her book for over a week, and still not finished it!  That's because she knows I usually get through 2 books a week, because I read in bed,

maybe until about 2.00am.....but, just for your info, missy, I didn't start readin' that one 'til the night before last, and I've got one and a half chapters to go.....so there!!

Challenges:

ladybugscraftsinkchallengeblog.blogspot.com

Going Dotty

Hugs, Anne-Marie x

Busy Little Girlie!

Hello, and a warm welcome!

Can you believe it.........a WHOLE day to myself......well, if you ignore Jonathan coming by three or four times (he keeps some of his work equipment in our garage), and raiding the fridge each time!  Otherwise, I've not even had a ringing 'phone to bother with.......pinch me, it must be a lovely dream, because that never happens......not a full day to myself!!

Well......maybe it did happen, because I got THREE cards made.....I repeat.....THREE....now that is a first, lol!

I even managed to do a little family history research.......something very close to my heart.  I'm back to 1745 on my Mam's line, and 1800 on my Dad's......both lines take me back to Ireland, with stops on the way in Scotland, Germany and France.......bit of a mongrel, eh?..lol.

I made this card with one of the little girls in my church nursery class in mind.  We've got three girlies with a birthday this month........one is turning two, and the other two will be three, a few days later, on the same day!

We also have a sweet little boy who will turn 2 in June, and I'll show his card, maybe tomorrow.....another male card finished......whoopee!

On with the show......

Again, I started with a textured white card base and layered some embossed green DP, more of the white textured, and a piece of this lovely muted pink gingham, which I then hand-stitched (as per, lol).  A smaller piece of the embossed green was sewn onto a scrap of kraft, and then came the cute image...............

I've been holdin' on to this little digi cutie for ages.......look at those chubby legs!......and she was yet another freebie from Paulette at Create with TLC (link in the sidebar).......

I happen to know that the little miss that this card is intended for loves sunflowers, so I couldn't resist addin' this lovely one to one of the tiny yo-yos that I sewed, a while ago....still got a whole box of these dinky what-nots......

The birthday sentiment was.....yep....another freebie from Paulette....and I added a twinkle of pink Sakura sparkles on the teeny cupcake, and added some gorgeous spotted lilac grosgrain ribbon....just the job!

There's that famous sewing.....that's actually the only stitch I can do, lol.....and shiny pink gems finish the job!

Now, I'm off to read a little more of  "The Union Quilters" by Jennifer Chiaverini........marvelous stuff, heehee.

Challenges:

digistamps4joy.blogspot.com

Celebration

divasbydesignchallenge.blogspot.com

Anything goes

mymumscraftshopchallenges

Cute and girlie

Hugs,

Anne-Marie x

It's a boy thing!

Hi, and welcome!

I bet you have never come across a crafter who actually enjoys making anything for the male of the species....if you do know somebody, then please send me their details, lol, 'cos I'm drownin' in sons, sons-in-law, grandsons, and brothers......not to mention brothers-in-law, uncles, cousins, friends.....oh, and one slightly-used hubby......which, at a rough count comes to at least 36 male cards that I have to make for birthdays!!

Oh, now I've gone and scared meself........ok, I don't have to make a card for all of those male cousins, but that still leaves a gianormous number of boyish cards.....and it's not flippin' easy!!

So, yesterday, while I was playing working in my crafty hidey-hole, I came across a pack of acetate images that were given to me, probably three years ago (or maybe even more).  My friend gave them to me because she'd bought them on a whim, (been there), and didn't know what to do with 'em.

If truth be told, neither did I, lol........so they went in the back of a drawer until I brought 'em out, kickin' and screamin', yesterday.  Still wasn't sure what to do with the flippin' things, and not even sure that I even like them....but, hey.......they would do for a not too fussy male card......I hope, heehee.........so, see what ya think.........

Dark brown corrugated card is the base of the card, and, as you can see, I kept it very simple.......I layered some text DP onto white textured card, the hand-sewed around, and inked the edges.......

The pocket watch and racing drivers are acetate, which I simply cut from the larger sheet and trimmed to fit my card.......I toyed with maybe colouring them from the back, but thought they looked okay as they were...(I'm soooo lazy, lol).....

I love pocket watches, and always wanted to own one.....will have to make do with this acetate one, for now......I was a bit doubtful about what kind of glue to use for fixing the acetates to the paper, but found that good ol' PVA glue worked fine....just put it onto the darker areas, on the back, and it did the job!

How about that sentiment?.....cheeky, eh?, lol........I dug out my Dynamo and typed out the sentiment, then just stuck it onto a scrap piece of the brown card I'd used for the base of the card.......

I don't often use rub-ons, mostly because I think they are ridiculously expensive......but I think this was probably a freebie (have ya noticed how much free stuff I use, heehee)......and it seemed just right to finish off this simple card.

Not sure who this will go out to....don't have any racing drivers in my lot........but neither do I have any pipe-smokers, steam engine drivers, or vintage car drivers, which are what the other images in these acetate sheets are........ho-hum!

Would love to have your thoughts on this one.......as for mine........not at all sure, lol!

Challenges:  papertakeweekly.blogspot.com  Anything goes and use a circle (pocket watch)
tuesdaytaggers.blogspot.com  Something old (acetate) Something new (DP)

Hugs,

Anne-Marie x

Getting back in the swing!

Hello, and a warm welcome!

First of all, let me say how sorry I am not to have been around for a while.....I really missed you all....honestly!.....but sometimes family needs become a bit more pressing, and I'm a wife, mother, grandma, and daughter....and then I'm a crafter and blogger, lol!!

I finally managed to creep into my craft room......I'm kinda suspectin' there's a hidden alarm that goes off whenever I step foot in there, because, almost unfailingly, the 'phone will ring, or somebody arrives, or....or...or....

but, after spending the morning looking after 6 month old Bevan while his Mummy and Daddy worked (they have a little cleaning business), I did actually get to make a couple of cards.....yippeee!....and here's one of 'em......

I layered some kraft card onto a textured white card base, then put inked white, stitched some DP (freebie)....layered more kraft, and topped with a stamped and paper-pieced image.....aawww....sweet........and added some pretty taupe lace....always softens everything, dontcha think?.....

Got these funky wooden flowers from Create and Craft, and luv 'em......the dinky buttons were from my stash.......more of 'em in the bottom right-hand corner.......they are really tiny!

I'd forgotten how much I like the results you can get from paper-piecing!  The checked paper was also a freebie, and the cafe latte paper was from HOTP....had it ages, and thought it was time it was dragged into the light, hehe........the sparkly flower was from the ol' stash......

....and this li'l cutie is wooden, and I covered him/her with some of the same paper from the cupcake.......a smidgin of brown ink round the edges, and on the wing....a dot for the eye.......and got meself a tweetie bird!

Hope to be able to show ya another creative marvel tomorrow....lol.......

Challenges

sparklesforumchallenges.blogspot.com

Anything goes

ccmonthlychallenge.blogspot.com

Girls birthday

pollycraftchallengeblog.blogspot.com

Anything goes

mamidoodlesblogspot.com

Let's get girly

crafts4eternity.blogspot.com

Anything goes

craftyourpassionchallenges.blogspot.com

Anything goes

scrappyfrogschallenge.blogspot.com

Anything goes

houseofgilli.blogspot.com

Lots of layers and stitching

Hugs,

Anne-Marie x