A little something for a little someone!

I decided last week that I would make a picture for my friend's little boy who we went to visit on Monday. Obviously he's Thomas mad and his bedroom is Thomas themed so it wasn't hard deciding what theme to use! The 12 x 12 box frame was a purchase from Wilkinson's for approx £7.00. They were a good £14.99 in Hobbycraft last time I looked!I have used a colouring page as a template for Thomas. I printed out his face onto grey card and then paper pieced the white of his eyes and the mouth. The rest of Thomas is all individually cut out in sections, edged with ink and taped together. It did take quite a while but I think it was worth it! I've used quite a lot of foam pads as I wanted to give it as much depth as I could. I made the background paper using one of the standard patterns in paint shop pro. The train track around the edge is printed onto acetate and then fixed to some yellow ribbon with the eyelets.
I wasn't quite sure what to do with the background, so in the end decided to go with the simplest idea of some grass hills! I've made a couple of tickets, which I've personalised and mounted. I wasn't quite sure where to stick them. Spent ages moving them around, in the end I just had to stick them down, but I think they ended up in the best place! To finish it off, I've used my sizzix alphabet to cut out his name, which I've then layered and cut out by hand! I then stuck the name onto the frame itself rather than adding it to the picture.

A slightly early Gruffalo Halloween!

Good evening! I thought I'd pop on and quickly this evening as I wanted to share with you my latest creation. My Gruffalo Pumpkin! I took my boys to a Halloween event this afternoon in our local community centre where they had a a few tables with crafts, cakes etc. There was also a pumpkin carving competition. My 4 year old wasn't atall interested in helping carve or empty the pumpkin. He didnt want to put his hands in the slime! I spent last night looking for an idea. I've made Ghosts, Bats, Spiders and a vampire in the past. I wanted to stick to something quite simple this year. Last year's went a bit wrong! I ended up holding it together with wire! My son seems to have a bit of an obsession for The Gruffalo at the moment, so I thought I would indulge him! Funnily enough, there's not many Gruffalo pumpkin carving templates on the internet. I did however, manage to find a mask template, which is what I used to create my Gruffalo face!And here is the handsome fella! I'm actually really pleased how he turned out, and how simple he was to carve. There were a few extra details I could have carved out, but for fear of totally ruining it, I held back and kept it simple! He seemed to go down really well, my little boy absolutely loves him! I even won a bottle of wine for my efforts!
Here is a pic of my boys all dressed up in their glow in the dark matching outfits!

I have another pumpkin which I plan on carving for Sunday night. Think we will just go for a silly face next time though!

Thanks for stopping by.

Birthday Candles

Well I thought I'd try something different and this is what happened! I'm not sure where the inspiration came from for this card! It seems to have worked out well though. Well this was the second attempt at it! The first attempt is the second card, my least favourite! I started out by making my own candle template so that I could cut them all the same! For the first card I've used My Mind's Eye Papers, another recent favourite of mine! I've added some faux stitching to all the edges. The sentiment is from a 99p studio G stamp set! That was so worth the money! I dont have many sentiment stamps and I use this one all the time, as you may have noticed, lol! Adding the buttons to this card was a bit of an after thought, but I think they work well.

I think I'll have a go at making this card in some girly papers too.

Thanks for looking.

Handmade Paper Flowers

Just a quickie for tonight. I made this card a couple of weeks ago for a lady. It's the only female card I've made just recently. I've been concentrating on making men's cards as I struggle to get inspired. Women's cards seem to be much easier!This paper was part of a free download set from Tinker & Co. I really love these colours at the moment. I've made the flower myself using my nestabilities and an embossing tool. I inherited quite a lot of handmade papers a while ago, but never really used them. They are perfect for making flowers with though. To finish I've added a Craftwork Cards sentiment on foam pads, to the middle of the flower and a few teal adhesive stones. I might make some more like this! It only took a few mins to make too!

Stacked Presents Collection

Now I'm back into "Cardmaking Mode" again, I've decided to do what my husband told me to do a long time ago and make several of the same design of card all at the same time. My problem is I make one card and spend too much time thinking about it and moving things around. So with this set I've used the same design and just used different papers.This was my first attempt, I wanted to go for a very basic look. I've used DCWV Rockstar foiled cardstock to create the presents. They are mounted on foam pads to add a bit of depth, onto a plain white card, eek!
This is version two! My preferred choice as you can tell by the next two cards that follow! I've used some Kraft card for the base layer. The papers are a download, I really love these colours. The sentiment is from a Hero Arts set.These cards are great for using up scraps of paper! I have had this Making Memories set in my drawer for quite a couple of years now. Nice to see it finally getting used!And the final one, although I'm not too keen on the orange ribbon. I have straightened it up since I took the photo though! lol

Thanks for looking.

My Second Nappy Cake

I really struggled for inspiration when shopping for this nappy cake. All the colours in the shops, were pink, pink, pink and pink and more pink, no lovely bright colours, so this was my best choice of all the pinks! and this is what I came up with. The little comforter on top has a cute brown bear hugging a pink blanket. I've taken this as it was the only other colour and found some ribbon to match which I've added to the top and middle tiers. These nappy cakes make such a wonderful gift, I don't know of a new mum who wouldn't love to get one! I got a real sense of achievement once it was all finished! The recipient was absolutely thrilled with it, I'm pleased to say! I'd love to make these more often, but they do work out to be quite expensive.

For Mum...

I made this card for my Mum's birthday back at the begining of September. I made it shortly after the Hawaiian card on my previous post. Its the first time I made these 3 page cards. I have used Summer Drigg's papers on this card and my trusty flower punches! The letters were cut by hand.

I also made this card for my step-dad to give to my mum. The papers and roses are Basic Grey, I've had them in my drawer for a long time but never wanted to cut them! I've added a few punched butterflies, some silk roses and a few pearls to finish.Thanks for looking.

Kraft Cardstock....what do you use?

Two posts in one day!! Another stash related post tonight. I've been using a lot of Kraft cardstock on my cards recently and just wondered what you all use. I've seen on a few different blogs, some people use parcel paper and old packaging. I have been using these folders which I bought from Staples

I think the pack I got had 200 in. If using them as a base layer for a card, I would say you could get 4 cards out of each, so all in all for about £5 you are getting a serious amount of cardstock! Anyway, just thought I would share that info!

Bye for now!

***EDITED*** Just a quick note to say that this Kraft is thin, I always layer it on top of a white base card. It's cheaper that way and lasts twice as long too! I wouldn't use this sort as the card blank itself, its not strong enough.

A Great Buy!!! .....DCWV Paper Stacks

I recently went to the Coleman Craft Warehouse we have here in Northants, just for a look, as you do! and discovered these 8x8" DCWV paper stacks, reduced from £15.99 to £8.99! I thought that was a fantastic buy! The Just for Boys one is fantastic, most of the papers are embossed and glazed. I love the plum colours to the Latte set.The also found these two scrapbook in a stack kits which were just £2.99 each! I thought they were worth that just for the plain card in the back! . There were lots more sets reduced too, but my husband wouldn't let me get anymore. I may have to take another trip backAnyway, just thought I'd share my find with you all. Back soon with more cards! I promise!

I'm Back...for a while at least!

My big boy Adam has started school now and all of a sudden I feel I've got a lot more free time on my hands! although I've still got James to look after! I thought I'd take the opportunity to get back on track and make a few cards.This card was made for an order for a lady who was having a Hawaiian themed party. I decided to use Beach Babe Lola from Pink Petticoat and have hand cut her a grass skirt! The papers are a Shabby Princess download. The numbers were cut out by hand as were the flowers which have been embellished with glamour dust and adhesive stones.

I have made a few cards now, so hopefully I can start updating regularly. I'm going to save some and not blog them all at once! I hope there might still be some people out there who will come and read my blog! Its been so long.