It must nearly be Christmas!!! I'm updating my blog!!

Well its been so long since I posted I'd almost forgotten how to do it! I am still around! and making the occasional cards but to be honest card making has taken a bit of a back seat over the past year. I still enjoy making and creating but card making has always been more a hobby for me. Please leave me a comment at the end of this post, so I can see if anybody (other than you, Mum!) is still checking for updates!! LOL

I have recently been to my very first Stampin Up party! Through a friend, I found a demonstrator in my local area! Hooray and am even now considering hosting a party of my own. I am hoping that this gives me a kick start back into making cards! I am ashamed to say I have been and bought cards from the shops over the past few months too. So lazy.

I do have a few cards to share though, this being the most recent. I was asked to make a 1st Anniversary card, with the following requirements: to use;

Sheet Music "The Luckiest" by Ben Folds

A Photo of the happy couple on their wedding day

The Colour Purple as this was the theme of the Wedding

x2 Poems

and A Picture of Pooh Sticks Bridge

I printed the sheet music onto clear acetate and fixed it over the top of some thick iridescent vellum using purple brads. I printed the photo onto Bazzil criss cross white card ( it gives a canvas effect) which I then mounted and layered using more vellum and purple card. I've tied a nice satin bow around the bottom of the photo and added a purple adhesive stone to finish. The photo and pictures are all fixed with foam pads so they stand out. The x2 poems are adhered to the back of the card together with a personalised message.

I'm not going to push it so will leave it at just the one card for today! I'll be back soon with some more updates! I Promise!

Zoe

Shabby Chic & Quickutz Butterflies

This is my second version of this card! And I like this one a little more than the last! The papers are part of the Pink Petticoat Vintage Florals set, which came free in a magazine! I absolutely love them! I've kept the layout of the card quite simple. The sentiment is computer generated and cut out with my trusty old nestabilities! This time I've added a bow of blue gingham ribbon instead of the pink I used last time, which I think stands out a bit better.
I've used my quickutz die for the butterflies! a very good buy! I use it quite a lot! and I've stuck them on with foam pads and added lots of little blue adhesive stones, to make them stand out.

Thanks for looking.

Zoe

xxx

Mishka Mooshka Mickey Mouse

This card was made by request! My oldest, Adam, put his order in for his own birthday card when I was busy making the pink 30th birthday card a while back!!! This one is from his brother, James! For the faces, I found a colouring page which I've printed off onto a skin tone coloured piece of card. I've then cut out of the template, the eyes, nose and the black part of the mouth. I've used my nesties to cut out the circles. I drew on Minnie's eyelashes and made her a bow from my ribbon stash! Its amazing how easily Mickey was transformed into a Minnie!

My Baby Boy is 5 Today!!!

Where has that time gone? Well there really was no doubt about what to put on his card! He is absolutely 100% Disney Cars obsessed and what with the next movie due to be released on 22nd July I decided to "Cars 2" theme the card! I did a quick google search for some images and found this fantastic image. The Cars 2 movie is about a world series Grand Prix. On this picture from left to right is Tokyo, London & Paris and they all merge into eachother. I decided to split it into three and came up with this 3 page card. I printed two copies so that I could cut out and layer on the main characters.

I can't wait to see his reaction when he opens this!

Happy Birthday Adam!!!

Forever Friends Daddy Card

I made this card quite recently for a friend. The Lettering is all cut out by hand and then mounted on foam pads. I've used the same teal spotty paper for the inside of the balloons to tie it all together. The sentiment was printed directly onto the card. I scanned in the Forever Friends bear onto the computer and then I've mirrored it and printed it off, so that I have them facing in different directions.I recently made a similar "Dad" version for Father's Day too.

Thanks for looking.

Zoe

xxx

Diamond Anniversary

This card is very much inspired by Deb's! Thank You!! Again!! I've just bought this leafy fern punch and this was my first time using it! I've seen it used on so many cards and have admired it for ages! I've made a few Diamond Anniversary cards before, but I felt the need to try something a bit different this time. I've made this a gate fold card. Under the sentiment, I've added a small piece of velcro so it can be stuck down to look flatter. The card is still able to stand when closed. I love the simplicity of the white on white, with just a small amount of matt silver card.I hope to make more like this one!

Zoe

xxx

Father's Day Cards

I've been really busy working on Father's Day cards over the past couple of weeks. I decided to try out my Elzybells DIY bear for the first time. I chose quite a simple layout, and I think this is my favourite layout of the moment! lots of layers! The sentiment is computer generated. The papers are Making Memories.

I've also used the same layout to come up with this golf card too. I've used my cuttlebug embossig folder to emboss the golf ball, and I've then mounted it with foam pads.

I think this pringle style paper was part of a Shabby Princess kit. I'ts great! I use it on quite a lot of my masculine cards! Especially the Golf ones! This is yet another golfing card, this time using the Cuddly Buddly Country Gents image. I've changed the colour of his trousers as they were green on the downlaoded image. Again, I've used the cuttlebug folder to create an golf ball effect behind him. The sentiment is again a computer generated one which I've cut out using my nestabilities.

Thanks for looking.

You've been Snookered!

This is another card I've made as a Father's Day Card. I was asked to do a snooker themed card. As I dont have any snooker related images and stamps, I decided to have a go at piecing one together! Easier said than done! It took a little while to get the first one right! So I ended up making 3 all at once so now I've got a few spares for the future! Forward Planning! It was only after I'd finished the card that I decided to make a cue to sit on top too. That was the easy part! I'm really pleased with how this turned out, so much so, that it's got a post all to itself! Lol. To make it stand out a bit more, I've simply mounted it onto a piece of black card. The sentiments are little self adhesive wooden scrabble like peices. I bought a few sets of these YEARS back when I first got into card making. Each sheet has a full alphabet of square and a full alphabet of circles too. This is in fact the first time I've ever used them! See even if you don't use things straight away, one day they will be perfect for something!

Thanks for looking.

James the Engine

I made this card back in February for my little boy James's first birthday! This was the first idea I had for the card for him. I'd done the Thomas the Tank Engine framed picture before, so I thought I'd have a go at turning James the Engine into a card. I bought him a James T-shirt too! This card is a large A4 size card, not my usual, but this was for someone special!! I have used a colouring page i found on the internet as a template and I've printed out the face onto grey card. There are lots and lots of foam pads on this card! I've tried to give it as much dimension as possible. I'm hoping to find a nice frame to fit and will be hang this up on his bedroom wall. Thanks for looking.

Little Red Tractor

Well with school holidays, I've found I've got a little more time on my hands, so the perfect opportunity to have a sit down at the computer! I've tried making a card today, but that hasn't gone well, so for now I've given up!

I made this simple kids card a few months back. I knew what I wanted to do when I thought of a Tractor card. The sentiment and the stitching are both computer generated and printed directly onto the card. I found a template for the tractor on Google and have cut it out using some red Bazzill Cardstock. I've then added some buttons and red thread to the black wheels to add a bit of dimension. The tractor is on a couple of layers of foam pads to really make it stand out from the card.I think I'll have a little play with this one and see if I can make it a bit more interesting. I may just run the tyres through my checker plate embossing folder?

Mickey & Minnie Mouse

I was recently asked to make a 30th Birthday card featuring Mickey & Minnie Mouse. I had a quick browse for some inspiration and I saw some really cute Minnie & Mickey heads which had simply been made using no more than a couple of circles punches! My kind of crafting! I decided to have a go myself and have made a little bow for Minnie's head. I've gone round the edge of each with a silver pen creating a faux stitched effect. Another request that was to have lots and lots of stars on it. So again out came my star punches, lots of adhesive stones and voila! I look forward to making some more of these! My son has put in his order for his 5th Birthday, he said he wants a big Mickey Mouse Card. I'm sure I can conjour one of those up!

My First Digistamp Boutique Purchase! meet Alf!

Yes I've finally gone and done it, and have made my first purchase at Digistamp Boutique, although now I've started I fear I might not be able to stop. I've seen this image used a few times whilst browsing the DoCrafts gallery. His name is Alf and I think he has a mischeivous look about him! I have to say I had to open a can of lager to make this card! I didn't consume any though, but I really wanted to use a ringpull! I have since asked people to save them for me! This is also the first time out for this cute little bear from Elzybells. I bought up quite a few stamps in the closing down sale. I coloured the bear in but then I really struggled with what to do for the background. I didnt want to leave it white, so I got out my chalks, which dont come out very often and have attempted a background. I'm not very good at colouring and it really frustrates me. I dont really have the patients for it. I've got quite a lot of fathers day cards I need to get working on. Most of them will be Golf themed! which is lucky as I have a few images and some Quickutz dies. I have also been asked to make a snooker themed card, so I'll have to get my thinking cap on for that one as I dont have any snooker stamps/images. Does anybody know if there is a snooker digistamp? Whilst on the theme of Father's Day, DotComGiftShop have sent me a full english plate from their Father's Day Gift range.Its fab! I think I'll let my boys give it to their Daddy! I think I might theme his card around this too! as he's not really into sports other that Formula 1 and motor racing, and every card I make for him seems to be centred around that. He does however, enjoy a good breakfast!

Thanks for looking!

Woohooo...I'm back again!

Here are a few more cards that I made at the end of last year. I've used the same layout for each of them, and again have gone through and used up some more scraps. The first is my favourite. I love the black & yellow. I think the spotty paper is Basic Grey, Ambrosia. I've made this set with "Men" in mind. I find them quite difficult to make for! I absolutely love this spotty paper! It appears on quite a few of my cards! Its from the Shabby Princess set, Festival. I've matched it with some green strip paper from My Minds Eye.

And finally, this one is made using some more Basic Grey paper, from the Ambrosia set. The sentiment is my best value sentiment stamp! It came from a Studio G 99p set and I use it all the time. I'd hate to think what I'd do if I lost it or it perished! I have looked for a spare just in case but can't one anywhere!

Thanks again for looking.

and here's the male version of the previous card!

I've chosen to use the same layout as before with this card only this time I've used less circles! Lol! It's given me a chance to use up a lot of the scraps of card. I've also had these mini eyelets hanging around for a while so was a good opportunity to use a few of those up too!

I've used my favourite "kraft" card as the base for all of these cards, and have finished each one off with a Craftwork Cards sentiment. I had quite a lot of scraps! so I've repated this one a few times! My favourite was a black & grey version, but I seem to have sold that one without taking a photo of it first! oopsWell that's two posts in one day! I'm not sure what's come over me. I think I might need to go and have a lay down now! Hopefully it won't be too long before I get back as I've got a few more that I'd really like to share!

Surprise...Surprise...I am still here!

Although I'm not sure that there will be anybody out there to read this?! I am still making cards! and I have quite a few to share with you, but I just don't often get the time to sit down and blog. So I'd better get on with it while I have the chance!
I actually made these cards towards the end of last year! I really like making cards that use just a few punches and nestabilities in this case. I really could do with some nesting circle punches though! It took me ages to punch out all of these circles in 3 different colours! Something else to add to the ever growing shopping list! Although I do enjoy making cards using rubber stamps and digi images, I find it more satisfying coming up with cards like this.

I think these flower punches are probably my favourite "embellishment of the moment" and they seem to be appearing on a lot of my cards. So there may still be a few more to come! I've also made a male version of this card which I'll show you later! (I hope!) If not, see you in a month or so, lol! Anyway thats it for this post, thanks for stopping by and looking.

Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year!

I know it's a bit late! Lol So far this year I've only made one card! and that was a copy of an old one too! Card making is taking a bit of a back seat at the moment but I have still got a few that I made back last year that I need to share with you.

I was asked to make this Wedding card with the theme being Peter Pan & Tinkerbell with butterflies and the colours were to be Purple & White. I have to say a big THANK YOU to Kerry for inspiring me with this card, otherwise I don't quite know what I'd have done! It was becoming a bit of a challenge!

It all turned out well in the end though, I'm told the couple really loved the card!