We have a great dare this week which has been set by Paula. Scraplings are a great way to use up your scraps of card and paper and make the most lovely little cards. I so enjoyed making these :o) Card on the left uses paper by Funky Hand (Tis the Season), topper by Craftwork Cards and adhesive gems. Middle card uses paper by Funky Hand (Blue Christmas), Doodlebug rub ons and dotted vellum by Craftwork Cards. The card on the right uses papers by Craftwork Cards, Martha Stewart punch and Papermania letters. All cards have a little bit of glitter glue on.
My mega long break from crafting means that I haven't participated in any of the challenges on the new Funky Hand challenge blog Get Funky but now I'm getting back into the swing of things I have managed to join in this month :o)
The challenge has been set by the lovely Enfys and the theme is Autumn wonderland. You have a whole month to get an entry in and be in with the chance of winning a £20 Funky Hand gift voucher!! What are you waiting for?? All you have to do is make sure you use at least one Funky Hand product on your entry. Here is my DT card...
I used papers from "The Funky One" CD. The letters are Basic Grey and the cute owl is DCWV. x
"I love punches and use them on almost every card I make. This week I want you to join with me and make a card, any type, any theme but it needs to use your latest craft punch purchase. If you haven't bought any punches for a while or don't own any at all your latest craft purchase will be quite acceptable"
For some reason, I don't own many punches. It's not that I don't like them because I do. They are just something I rarely buy. The last punch I bought was a Martha Stewart border punch (double scallops) and I think it my have been last year! Here is my card... The papers, letters and house are all crate paper.
I'm back with a card for Daring cardmakers. The fabulous Kathy has asked us to use at least 5 of our favourite things on our cards. Now, being a bit of a scatterbrain, I did actually interpret the dare all wrong and thought you were meant to put 5 of a favourite thing on your card (durr!) but it still worked out because I have used 5 of my fave things/techniques anyway. My favourite things are.....
buttons (of course!) the colour green scalloped square card blanks from Craftwork Cards stamping and of course doodling!
Anyhow, expect another card on here soon. I bought a few bits at the Harrogate show last month and they are still in their bag. Have just got over flu and my hubby has broken his ankle so it's been a bit hectic the last few weeks but I so enjoyed making this card last night and I can't wait to get stuck into my new papers :o)
"As I'm completely involved in the planning and preparation for my 2nd Anniversary, Hostess Appreciation party as a Stampin' Up!® demonstrator the dare that came to mind was Anniversaries. Wedding Anniversaries are what automatically comes to mind but you could make cards to celebrate any special occassion in your life or someone else's life"
This is a very appropriate dare for me as it is my wedding anniversary next month so I've made my card for my hubby early! That's got to be a good thing lol! I've used my DCWV green stack again 'cos I just love it. I wish I could find the chipboard shapes to go with it.
I can hardly believe it but I have made a card this week! I decided it was time to get back into the swing of things with the DCM DT so I've joined in with the new dare which is set by the lovely Kathy :o)
LACE
I'd just like you to interpret Lace in your card-making this week in whatever way you like, you could use the actual word, stamp or cut a lacy design or maybe use one of these dictionary definitions to inspire you:1. a net-like ornamental fabric made of threads by hand or machine.2. a cord or string for holding or drawing together, as when passed through holes in opposite edges.3. ornamental cord or braid, esp. of gold or silver, used to decorate uniforms, hats, etc.4. a small amount of alcoholic liquor or other substance added to food or drink.
I've totally wimped out and just used lace on my card. I was tempted back into crafting by these lush papers from DCWV. They are from the green stack which is 70% recycled paper :o) Card blank - Craftwork Cards Lace from stash Happy birthday tile - magazine freebie Everything else DCWV the green stack
It's true! I've had a mega long break from crafting. Mojo buzzed off but I am starting to feel a little bit of an urge to craft so I hope to be back with something to share in the very near future.
Whilst I've been absent from blog land, my baby turned 4! I don't know where the years have gone - it doesn't seem 2 minutes ago that she was a tiny baby. She had a party with lots of her friends from nursery and of course I made her a cake! The birthday girl! The cake! The card!(yes I had to break my crafting drought to make a card for my girl!).
I also went to see Take That in Manchester on the 26th June. Oh my good Lord! They were fantabulous!!!! Yum!Yum!Yum!Yum!
We've also been on holiday! We're just back from a week in Scotland. We stayed just outside a village called Fintry which is fairly near Loch Lomond. We had an absolutely fabulous time. Scotland is soooo beautiful! I'll do a separate post with my pretty holiday pics xx
I'm sad to report that monsieur mojo is still missing in action. However, I have dropped by to let you know that there is an absolutely stunning new download release over at Funky Hand! The I Do collection is designed specifically with the wedding season in mind and I have to say Anice has really come up trumps with her designs. The downloads is a papers and word book collection and the colours are very neutral to enable you to dress them up with the colour of your choice. I really LOVE this download and my most very favourite and best paper is the one with all the swirls. It is to die for. I do have a word book and card sample for you to peruse and then I demand that you trot on over to Funky Hand and buy this most faberoonie download. You won't regret it! x
Ooh and I just want to add that it is my parents 43rd wedding anniversary today! Blimey 43 long years eh? You get much less for murder. Happy Anniversary mum and dad. Love ya both (even tho you hardly ever stop by my blog!) xxxxxxx
Wow what a great response we had to the first challenge! Check out the blog to find out the top 3 entries from last week. There is another totally fab sketch this week. I had a set idea in my head of what I wanted to do for this card. Unfortunately it didn't turn out quite like I had expected. It is a card for my dad from the girls for Father's Day. They call him Pappap which is what Abbi used to call him when she first started talking. I turned the sketch on its side this time. Everything is from the Sugar Birdies CD except the card stock, ribbon, stitching and the rub ons (doodlebug).
Just for a change I seem to be chasing my tail this week. It's been a pretty stressful week work wise and yesterday we had a day out which involved visiting this little fella..... Tropical World in Leeds has a fab Meercat section. I went along hoping to see Aleksandr in his cravat and smoking jacket, but he must have been filming another TV ad as he was nowhere to be seen.
We had a really lovely day yesterday but it was jam packed and we were back late, so I only made my DCM card this morning. The dare is to make a card which features 5 of the same thing on it. I used 5 punched hearts on my card but I'm not happy with it at all. The flower I have made with the hearts is far too small. Never mind. I used my favo MME papers and the stamps were sent in a package of blog candy that I won from the fabulous Enfys.
It's me! I'm here with a picture heavy post I'm afraid, and it ain't craft - and a lot of the pics are samey but I love them all the same. I'm a glass half empty kinda person by nature. I can't help it. It is probably genetic or learnt as my dear mum is just the same (bless her cottons!). Today we woke to the most glorious weather. Blue skies, tweeting birds, we're talking GORGEOUS. Poor Mr Jozza was working today (retail sucks!) and I just thought bugger it, I'm taking the girls out and about for the day. I decided to walk the most beautiful path into town down by the river Ouse. When Abigail was a baby I used to walk down by the river such an awful lot. It was great - I lost loads of weight. I walked all over the place pushing her in her pram and then her buggy as she got bigger. Once she started walking she used to toddle some of it. In fact before she was even 2 years old she walked all the way from our house into town without going in the buggy once! Amazing. Anyhow, what I'm trying to say is that for some reason, I seem to have forgotten just what a beautiful city I live in. I am so lucky that I am a 10 minute walk away from the river trail into town. When Abs was about 2, I walked the walk with my parents. It was a glorious day like today and we joined the path higher than normal so we had to walk away from the city to join the trail to then walk into town again. It was worth it because the fields of buttercups were breathtaking. I took pics of little Abs in amongst them and they were lovely. Unfortunately the computer died not long after and I lost the photos. I was gutted :o(
Anyhow, I decided to take the camera today and see if the buttercups were there - and they were! Bliss! We took way over an hour to walk into town. We stopped loads so I could snap pics while the kids picked buttercups. I'm so happy with the photos and I must not lose these! I just wish I knew how to use my camera properly. In fact, I wish I could afford a professional photoshoot of my kids. I would kill for that!
Tonight I feel like my glass is half full. Heck it may even be full! I'm so lucky to live in this city. I'm so lucky to have a job I love. I'm so lucky to have 2 healthy daughters. Maddie is starting to read just now. Not by me pushing her I must add, she is always asking "what does that say mummy?" and "can we do some words tonight?" and I am so proud of her! She is so animated when she tells a tale and her eyes seem to get bigger and bigger as she's telling it and ooh I could just breathe her right in. And Abigail - she is so beautiful and she really has no idea. But she is! I can say that because I'm her mum. She's clever and funny and gorgeous. Tonight I feel very very lucky (even though I got so sunburnt today that the City of York Council could turn off all the street lighting in York tonight and the city would be lit perfectly well by the glow coming from my chest!). So. Enough gushing already Joz. I'm not normally a gusher, honest. Tomorrow I may be a glass half empty person again but I hope not. Today was good! Hmm. These next 2 didn't go quite to plan. I was inspired by Tara Whitney to take pics lying in said field of flowers and Abs was meant to look all serene and pretty. Yeah right! The sun was so bright that she either had her hand up to shield her eyes, or she had her eyes closed. So. Picture it. Eyes closed, lying down on the ground with flowers in hand. Yep, she looked like a corpse! The second lying pic was her face when I told her she looked like she was dead!
Today is the day! Polka Doodle challenges have begun. The first challenge is a sketch and I LOVE working with sketches! Because this is the very first challenge, Nikky is offering up some MEGA candy which is worth over £80! How generous is that?? To be in with a chance of winning, just enter the challenge. Right, on to my card now! The new CD will be available to buy very soon and is full of yummy papers, sentiments and images. Ooh I know you will love it! For my card I turned the sketch round. Everything on the card is from the CD apart from the ribbon, buttons and alphabet stickers. I used the sugar cherry cupcakes collection and sugar swirlies for the main backing paper. Couldn't you just eat that cupcake? I added some glossy accents to make it shine!
It's dare time again! This week the dare was set by the lovely Kathy...
"This week I'd like you to do a bit of "singing in the rain" and make cards on the theme "Wet, Wet, Wet" I'd like to see cards featuring water of any kind, and if you can actually USE water in the making of them - then you can claim an extra bonus point lol"
Now I'm sure you'll be shocked to hear that I ran out of time again this week and that it turned out to be a bit of a rush job. Mine is a very quick card (15 mins to be exact) but sometimes the quickies are the best eh? *wink*
I used a pre coloured Dottie image (very cute!) and my favo Dream Street papers. Glossy accents on the bubbles to make them look wet and a few buttons to tart it up a little.
This week the fabulous Jane set the dare which is to see instruments or song lyrics on your cards.
We're a little bit upside down again chez Joz as we've been decorating the kitchen. I downed tools long enough to whizz out a card and to be honest it nearly went in the bin and I was all set to give the challenge a miss this week. I stuck with it though but I have to say it's not one of my finest. I have absolutely no idea what possessed me to get the distress inks out at 8.30pm. Tim Holtz I ain't! lol Anyhow it is what it is I guess. I found the papers in my stash and distressed the poor loves a little. I dug out one of my 3 Hero Arts stamps and also some fab freebie Prima flowers and finished the card with the little cute alpha's from the Patti Picklicious CD. Endless Love isn't really classed as song lyrics either is it? It's a song title! Ah well guess it's not my day! lol
Well we have a brand new DT member over at Funky Hand. It's all very exciting and I know she's going to fit in as though she's always been there :o)
The new teamie is Dolly! Please pop over to Dolly's blog as her cards are absolutely stunning :o)
Talking of Funky Hand, Anice has another live show on Create and Craft on Tuesday 19th at 12 noon. As well as demonstrating the fabulous Funky Word Books CD she also be demonstrating the Bind it all tool as they will be on sale during the show too! Hope you get chance to tune in.
I'll be back very soon with the latest DCM challenge card. Catch ya laters. Mwah!
It's time I got back on the challenge horse. I haven't done one for ages and seem to have got out of a regular crafting routine. Sooooo I'm back! I've had a go at this weeks Penny Black challenge which is to use black & white plus another colour. I love black and white on a card as it always looks so elegant. I also love the addition of another colour and usually add red or pink. I fancied a change this time and wanted to avoid red & pink. The colour I used was governed by what scraps I had in my box and it turned out to be blue! I've kept the card very simple and understated. I love the doggy image and wanted that to be the main focus. I always find it hard to keep my cards uncluttered but this one almost made itself. I'm rather partial to this card now it's finished - probably because that dog is so damn adorable (and I kinda like him in black).
I think I'm going to send this to my lovely Dad just to tell him that we love him :o) Stamp - Penny Black (watercoloured) Patterned paper - Patti picklicious flower from stash Black card embossed with divine swirls and outlined with white gel pen Alphabet stickers - papermania
Little Madgeroonie was sat playing with her train set late morning so I decided that as I had run the duster round already I would indulge in a little craft. Out came some crafty bits and I was all set to bang a couple of cards out when all of a sudden I was hit by an overwhelming urge to scrap. It felt so bizarre and it doesn't happen often 'cos I am not a scrapper. I find it hard to scrap so I only do it when I get the urge. I decided to get my coveted Crape Paper out which I have had quite a while and have only used a teeny weeny bit on a card so far. It is so lush and I thought it would work perfectly with the pics from our recent jaunt in Dalby Forest.
I finished one layout just in time to take Mads to nursery and then I came home and made another. On a Friday I quite like to come back from the nursery drop off and watch Loose Women as those girlies make me laugh. I was sat playing around with the layout of the photos and half listening to the tv. they had Julian Clary on today and for some reason had been talking about men having names for their "old men" so to speak. I think it stemmed from something Hugh Jackman had said in an interview. Anyhow, Julian announced that he called his "old man" Christopher Biggins because it is rather large and dribbles a lot. OMG thank goodness I was not drinking coffee at the time 'cos my layout would have been covered in it. hahahaha so funny (but rude!). Anyhow, on to the layouts... Now I should really get the hoover out and start doing the Shake & Vac dance - remember that? lol
This week the dare is set by the fabby Tanya Leigh who is back after a break from the DCM blog. As it is Mother's day in New Zealand this Sunday, Tanya Leigh wants us to make a card that has the word "Mum" on it. Here is mine... The patterned paper is Patti Picklicious as is the butterfly and tiny letters. The fab pink organza ribbon was on some packaging (a gift box from Lush I think) and I have been waiting to use it for ages. I think it looks yummy threaded through the holes that I punched with my Martha Stewart punch :o) Everything else is from my stash. x I also wanted to add that the Funky Hand DT call is still ongoing so pop over to the blog and apply. Also my friend Nikky of Fat Freddie's Craft Shed and The Craft Room in York is also looking for a DT to make cards using her new products so pop over to her blog to apply. x
Anice at Funky Hand is looking for a new member of the design team. Please have a look at her blog to find out how to apply. I love being in Anice's gang. We all get on like a house on fire and have an absolute hoot. As a gang member you get to play with all the fantastic new releases first and I know Anice has an exciting year planned for Funky Hand. Go on - have a go! You know you want to! x
My baby went to her first birthday party today. Now she has started nursery, the invites to parties have started. It was her little friend Neve's 4th birthday party today and she got the invitation over a month ago so all we have had since is "how many sleeps 'til Neve's party Mummy?" bless her! As she has an older sister she has lots of hand me down clothes but I wanted to get her a special party dress which she chose herself. I think it might be meant to be a very short dress to be worn with leggings underneath as the age 3 size looked like it would fit a 12 month old. For this reason I got her an age 6 which is still above the knee even though she isn't 4 til July!
Anyhow, I took some pics of my little lady before the party. I can't believe how fast she is growing up :o( whatever happened to my baby? She looks so sweet in the dress. I love the way the skirt sticks out - very 1950s!
This girl has such a sunny nature. I am a very lucky mum. The things she comes out with are priceless too. She has a little friend at nursery called Faith who always runs up to her and hugs her when she gets to nursery. We were talking about Faith one day over the school holidays and I said to Maddie "I bet Faith will be pleased to see you when you go back to school" to which Maddie replied "oh yes she will mum. She's actually obsessed with me" Hahahahahaaaa I almost cried laughing. Bless.
I got her silver party shoes in the Woolworths closing down sale before Christmas. They were a ridiculous price - £1.75 or something! Nasty bruise on her leg happened at nursery on Thursday. She fell off a balancing beam :o(
This week it is the very fab Vanessa's turn to set the dare and she wants us to put farm animals on our cards.
I used a Penny Black image which the gorgeous Kath stamped for me. This card has evolved into a birthday card for Maddie's little friend Neve whose birthday party she is going to on Sunday. I seem to be using orange an awful lot of late. Must use more colours!
My friend Nikky (aka Freddie Foo Foo) is giving away a set of stackies as candy over on her blog at the mo. Stackies are gorgeous flowers that you cut out and use however you want on your projects. They are yum yum yum. Nix actually gave me a set of these a while back and they are so fab! I have made another card with them today although it kind of went to pot. It was looking so good but then when I added the 3rd flower I ruined it. I guess you win some you lose some eh?
I recommend you pop over for a browse around Nikky's blog. She is very talented at craft and designs all sorts of fab papers and images too which she sells in her shop. Go on...you know you want to! Here is the card that went awry!
Anice showcased the new Funky Hand CD "Funky Word Books" on Ideal World on Monday. The show was a great success and I'm so happy to say that the CD sold out live on air (I had a feeling it would because it is awesome!). The CD is not available to buy from Funky Hand until 11th May so there is a while to wait for those of you who missed out. Anyhow, I thought I would flash the samples I made for Anice for the show :o)
The word book uses the Bad Ted collection (my fave!) and is basically a book containing my fave things as I ran out of ideas! I put the whole book through my Cuttlebug and really like the embossed effect :o)
Card on the left uses paper by Funky Hand (Tis the Season), topper by Craftwork Cards and adhesive gems.
I used papers from "The Funky One" CD. The letters are Basic Grey and the cute owl is DCWV. x
The papers, letters and house are all crate paper.
My favourite things are.....
Card blank - Craftwork Cards
The birthday girl!
The cake!
The card! (yes I had to break my crafting drought to make a card for my girl!).
Yum!
Yum!
Yum!
Yum!
Ooh and I just want to add that it is my parents 43rd wedding anniversary today! Blimey 43 long years eh? You get much less for murder. Happy Anniversary mum and dad. Love ya both (even tho you hardly ever stop by my blog!) xxxxxxx
Everything is from the Sugar Birdies CD except the card stock, ribbon, stitching and the rub ons (doodlebug).
Tropical World in Leeds has a fab Meercat section. I went along hoping to see Aleksandr in his cravat and smoking jacket, but he must have been filming another TV ad as he was nowhere to be seen.
I used my favo MME papers and the stamps were sent in a package of blog candy that I won from the fabulous Enfys.
Hmm. These next 2 didn't go quite to plan. I was inspired by Tara Whitney to take pics lying in said field of flowers and Abs was meant to look all serene and pretty. Yeah right! The sun was so bright that she either had her hand up to shield her eyes, or she had her eyes closed. So. Picture it. Eyes closed, lying down on the ground with flowers in hand. Yep, she looked like a corpse! The second lying pic was her face when I told her she looked like she was dead!
Right, on to my card now! The new CD will be available to buy very soon and is full of yummy papers, sentiments and images. Ooh I know you will love it! For my card I turned the sketch round. Everything on the card is from the CD apart from the ribbon, buttons and alphabet stickers. I used the sugar cherry cupcakes collection and sugar swirlies for the main backing paper. Couldn't you just eat that cupcake? I added some glossy accents to make it shine!
Stamp - Penny Black (watercoloured)
Now I should really get the hoover out and start doing the Shake & Vac dance - remember that? lol
The patterned paper is Patti Picklicious as is the butterfly and tiny letters. The fab pink organza ribbon was on some packaging (a gift box from Lush I think) and I have been waiting to use it for ages. I think it looks yummy threaded through the holes that I punched with my Martha Stewart punch :o) Everything else is from my stash. x
Nasty bruise on her leg happened at nursery on Thursday. She fell off a balancing beam :o(
Here is the card that went awry!
