Here are a couple of cards I made last night.  One is a thank you card for a friend.  As well as being a talented quilter, she is also a successful beader, and yesterday she kindly gave me a pair of gorgeous beaded ear-rings. that she had recently made.

For both of them, I used a square lilac base card, then got out my faithful Sizzix and cut some square background pieces of patterned paper.  Next, I took some pieces of cream card that I had previously fed through the Sizzix inside an embossing folder, thus producing a gorgeous texture.  After being embossed, they were also die-cut to make smaller square shapes.  Taking a purple chalk inkpad  I then rubbed the ink gently over the raised pattern - this gives a lovely effect, as the colouring is light but picks out the pattern.  In the centre of the flowers, I used glitter glue to highlight. Then I added the felt butterflies, a row of self adhesive purple flowers along the bottom, and then using my pokey tool, some flowers with brad centres. Finally, I added a little glitter glue to the flower petals and the paler butterfly. 

Two beautiful, but quite simple cards, using a technique that I hope to explore more in the future.  I have just ordered from QVC some more embossing folders, new ones from Tim Holtz so it should be hours of fun experimenting with those.

As mentioned in my other blog, we hosted two of our nephews last week for a couple of days.  I took lots of pictures, as did Andrew, including some he took via his Blackberry, and was able to email back to me while still out on the boat on Cardiff Bay! After the boys had gone back, and I'd emailed a few pics to their parents and grandparents, I uploaded a selection to Photobox and ordered some prints, as well as a couple of enlargements.  One of our nephews gets on particularly well with one of our greyhounds, and we had a lovely picture of him and the hound in question walking together, so I'm going to get a nice frame and send it to him.  The other prints were ordered with a view to a scrapbook, and as usual I was very impressed by Photobox.  Pics were uploaded on Tuesday morning, and by Wednesday lunchtime Keith our lovely postie was knocking on the door with a rather soggy envelope for me (it was pouring with rain). 

I've made up a little scrapbook using 6" x 6" page sizes.  Some time ago, I bought a little box from QVC, of about 20 assorted mini scrapbooks, which has been a real treasure.  Whenever I want to make up a little book I can go to the box, and know I can pull something out easily.  I chose a nice little bright spotty design and got to work.  As the prints were mainly 6" x 4", in some cases all I needed to do was mount them on some suitable background paper, but in other cases I went a bit fancy, and used my diecutter to frame the key elements and layer up some paper and embellishments.  It was fun to choose and edit the pictures and put in a few simple captions, so the boys will always have a nice reminder of their trip.  I am also going to send their parents a duplicate set of prints, as I know they enjoy putting them in photo albums. 

A couple of nice things to post about. Today is the birthday of a friend, so I decided to stitch a design for her card of a cupcake. The design was taken from a small booklet that came with a recent edition of World of Cross Stitch magazine, to which I subscribe. It was a lovely little piece to stitch and produced a neat little picture. I dithered about mounting it in an aperture card - some stitched designs do look much better that way but as the design had its own little square border round it, I decided to mount it directly onto a card, although as you can see, I layered it with a very pretty selection of papers.

I also wanted to post her a small gift but as the gift was going via the post, was conscious of the weight issue. Possibilitites included a coaster or a key ring, but I knew she enjoyed reading, so I decided on a bookmark. The little booklet also had some very pretty designs for bookmarks, so I stitched one on aida band, using some variegated thread for the larger flowers. At this point, I could just have backed it with interfacing, but that didn't seem enough, so I used some felt, cut in a strip with my rotary cutter just a bit wider than the aida band. Then I used my sewing machine to stitch the completed, pressed aida onto the felt. Finally, I cut a small fringe at the base of the band, leaving me with a very pretty and practical lightweight gift.

The last step was to wrap it in some very lovely K & Co paper, with a ribbon and tag added and then it was off to the Post Office. The gift arrived a couple of days ago, and today was her birthday, so now I feel I can write about it without spoiling the surprise. I'm delighted with how this foray into bookmarks has gone, and think this could be an excellent idea for Christmas gifts as there are a wide variety of very attractive and suitable patterns around and of course felt is available in a rainbow of colours at all craft shops. It's also very useful to be able to send a small gift through the post when you don't see people too often.

A few things to post about. Firstly, I made a card for Andrew's dad for Father's Day. I started with a plain pearlescent gold card then added a base layer. This was coloured by using a whole range of inks swirled about on the card then I added sprays of Glitz Spritz, which dry to a wonderful coloured metallic sheen. Then on top I layered another image, a stamp which i bought up in London of an old doorway, surrounded by ancient script - this was stamped in a Distress Ink and then covered in Sepia Accents and allowed to dry before trimming and mounting. Finally, I added some organza ribbon, which I coloured using an ink pad, then tied the knot while incorporating a beautiful chipboard key, in keeping with the medieval theme.

For Basil's birthday, next week (Basil is married to Claire, Andrew's sister), I started with a deep brown square card. I layered a smaller piece of K & Co patterned brown paper, then got to work on a smaller square piece of white card. Basil is a keen bird watcher, so I used a bird/branch mask (again,bought in London recently) and then worked various soft green and amber inks in random swooshy patterns. I sprayed with Glitz Spritz then removed the masks before applying the heat gun to dry the card. Once dry, I stamped various botanical stamps across the base using assorted Distress inks - I wanted to give the effect of viewing the bird on the branch through fronds of vegetation. Finally I added a birthday greeting.

Basil and Claire's wedding anniversary is just before Basil's birthday so I made a card for them. I took an A5 card (landscape format) and applied some beautiful glittered paper from the last Docrafts goody bag, featuring roses and butterflies. Then I used my diecutter to cut some squares of co-ordinating papers and layered these on the card. Then I stamped an image of roses (the stamp courtesy of the goody bag) twice using Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink. On the base image, I cut round the stamped card and coloured in the leaves using metallic pencils, then cut the roses from the second stamped image and coloured these, before layering them up on the first image. Then I applied Sepia Accents to the roses, this strengthening the colour and transparent Glossy Accents to the leaves. Once dry, I added a small message on the left of the image - I am really pleased with this and thinks it looks lovely and hope the recipients like it.

Finally, one of Claire and Basil's sons was born on their wedding anniversary! So it's always a busy week for them with three celebrations going on. I made a card for Alex, starting with a sunny yellow square base card with an attractive zig zag edging. This was layered with an orange paper, then on a piece of white card I added a gorgeous stamped image of four adorable little hedgehogs. I coloured these using a combination of gel pens, pencils and some Stickles and edged the card with some Distress Inks. Finally I added a bow at the bottom and a birthday message. All in all, I was very pleased with the way all the cards turned out.

It's a friend's birthday tomorrow, and we went down to see her today and have a joint hound walk, followed by a relaxing pub lunch. I made her a birthday card. I took an A5 base card in plain white, and topped it off with a pretty design from a recent Docrafts goody bag, then that in turn was topped with a delicate lacey felt butterfly. I added a row of self adhesive flowers in a co-ordinating shade of purple and some paper flowers, then applied copious quantities of glitter glue in various shades to the butterfly and the layered flowers. Finally, a sparkly gem in the centre of the flower, then it just needed to dry. Quite simple, but very attractive none the less.

As a present, I had a little kit from K & Co, from their K-Ology range, which is a pretty little box, and inside you have an accordion book which is stuck down to the base of the box. The pictures show what I did, which was to fill the little pages with various pics of her beloved dogs, and out on assorted walks. I varied the shape and size of the pics, in some cases by chopping ruthlessly, in others by die-cutting into shapes. Various embellishments, stickers and so on were added where appropriate. I had fun making the little book, and I think she'll like it.

Today, I finished a scrapbook project and an accompanying card. The scrapbook is a 12 x 12 size, and was part of a kit I ordered at a substantial discount from the Docrafts website some time ago. It came with the album, a paper pad, some letters, some diecut printed squares and some pretty chipboard message shapes. Last autumn, one of our very good friends came up from Plymouth and we had a fabulous weekend. I took loads of photos and decided to use the album as a reminder of a wonderful few days.

You can see the album cover, and a few sample pages. I love these bright cheerful florals, spots and stripes - very zingy and uplifting. Of course, with the letters, I very quickly found that I had used up all the vowels and was left with a pile of Z's, Q's and so - it was a bit like playing Scrabble. As usual, I had ordered the prints used from Photobox - I know I keep praising them, but in fairness, I never cease to be impressed by their service, which is very cheap, incredibly fast and good quality.

To go with it, I made a pretty card from a Kanban kit I ordered from QVC about a month ago. One of the reasons I haven't posted much lately is that I've been very busy making lots of cards for the greyhound charity - they have opened a new shop down in Burry Port and I wanted to make sure they had a good stock to get them under way. As part of that exercise I bought this little kit which has been a delight to work with, with lots of really gorgeous shapes and papers to make very simple but attractive cards very quickly, which is just what you want when making in bulk for the shop. I loved the message - "Happiness is Handmade" seemed so appropriate and perfect on a card to accompany this type of gift. After putting some background paper on the blank card, I added and layered the die cut hearts and butterfly, then finished with an organza ribbon and some little adhesive gems.

I photographed the scrapbook on our stripped and not yet made bed and as you can see I was joined by a hound who, as usual, was determined to ensure he was at the heart of any action. I've lost count of the number of photos I have taken which have bits of tail, ear, or furry rump in the corner. So, for your delectation and delight, Andy is included in what should be a strictly crafting blog. But, hey, it's my blog, and I'm going to break the rules!! Lots more greyhound stuff over on my other blog.

Now that the big run of card making is done, I should be able to resume normal service with posts coming a lot more frequently.

As the previous post was quite long, I decided to do a fresh post. On Tuesday, QVC had one of their regular Craft Days. Sometimes these are good value (like the aforementioned BP kit) and sometimes they are just fun to dip into and get ideas. This time though I was committed to watching quite avidly as Tim Holtz was appearing, having travelled over from the USA. Tim is an inspirational crafter and with Ranger, is responsible for a range of goodies including alcohol inks, distress inks and all sorts of other great kit, in fabulous colours. He's particularly well known for his "grunge" look but to be fair, many of his techniques and products can be used/enjoyed by any crafter who enjoys messy play. During the craft day they had a selection of goodies from Ranger that were tempting, and as the prices were good, I succumbed. I ordered a selection of 12 Stickles, a fabulous glitter glue in amazing colours which never clogs, drips or spurts. I also ordered a pack which included 3 different Distress Metallic Crackle Paint and matching Distress Stickles. Plus the TSV, which was Tim's new book, bundled with an assortment of goodies, including several products that I had seen before but never actually tried, so figured that now was the time to take the plunge. Previously, when Ranger stuff has been stocked, they've sold out very quickly, so I waited up until midnight on Monday, then ordered via the web, to be sure of getting what I wanted.

The rest of the craft day went well, as I was relaxed about having my purchases safely bagged, and could enjoy the various demos including lots with Tim and his new book. Fast forward, and on Thursday morning, the first of my parcels arrived. QVC do not bag up separate items - they always deliver them in separate packages - I was very impressed with the speed of delivery and sure enough when I opened it, it was a stack of goodies. The new book is brilliant - loads of tips, techniques and ideas, all very inspiring, both for browsing and for detailed technique following. For instance, I didn't know you could use alcohol inks to colour metal charms, so tried out this on a butterfly charm and it seems to have worked brilliantly.

On Saturday, we went out for lunch with my great aunt, leaving the dogs in the house. The postman pushed through the letterbox, two Jiffy Bags with the remaining items while we were out, and Andy decided to do what he does sometimes, and attack the post. We are actually in the process of sourcing a mailbox to affix to the side of the house, as we quite often have letters with teeth marks, rips and so on. Anyway, his teeth punctured a pot of Antique Silver Distress Crackle Paint, so when we came home, the hall was a picture. Piles of ripped and munched post, with paint everywhere, including all over the criminal, and a selection of doggy footprints in Antique Silver on the wooden floor, paint all over the hall rug, and worse of all, paint all over the sofa in the living room, which has loose covers. Clearly, having had a good munch, he decided to go and have a lie down on the sofa and rest after all the excitement.

My feelings were very mixed, to say the least. A combination of laughter (it really did look ridicolous), annoyance at my paint being wasted, and worry over the dog being poisoned by the paint, plus concern over clearing up the mess. We managed to find the pot, and reassuringly it had NON TOXIC written boldly in big letters - did this apply to greyhounds, we wondered? The criminal was bouncing round quite happily when we got home, so it obviously was not a fast acting poison (if at all) so we decided to focus on cleaning up. The hall rug is a complete write off but as it was a very cheap one from Ikea, we are not too worried about that. We stripped off the loose covers from the sofa, and immediately washed them, and worked on the floor - fortunately that came clean immediately. The guilty dog was covered in dried paint on his legs - we've now started calling him Twinkletoes since there have been no ill effects. Unfortunately, however, the paint has not come out from the sofa fabric, so we now need to check our insurance policy to see if it is worth making a claim.

Today, I've been playing with my new purchases, very happily. Andrew and Twinkletoes went for a run together this afternoon, and enjoyed themselves. I'll probably post more pics as projects get finished. All I can say is that I've started work on a little chipboard book, and am having lots of fun, involving paints, squirts, sprays, rubs, stamps and general fun.