Just a quickie

This weeks dare... a quick card! It took about 10 minutes in all, but that didn't include picking what I was going to use, and finding it. Cosmo Cricket papers, K&Co sentiment, Papermania brads and a sizzlits corner die.

Shrink to Fit (aka how small is 5x5cm!)

Kathy set a stonker of a dare this week, and, although I finished my card on Tuesday, I've only just had a moment to photo it and upload.
Papermania embellies, K&Co papers, Sizzix Corner die and clear stamp... I can't remember but if you really want to know send me an email!

2 weeks!

I can't believe it's been that long since I updated here, phew....

Things have been a bit manic, as well as the normal busyness I had the news that my Grandma's had a stroke and is poorly in Hospital. I've managed to wangle things around and I'm going down next week to see her and Grampy (who wants to know how to cook scrambled eggs!). So cardmaking has been right off the agenda apart from a couple of get well soon cards for Grandma, the first one didn't make it to the first hospital before she was transferred to the second. There should be photo's of them...er...somewhere...

Thanks for the lovely You cheer me up awards :) You cheered me right up! I'll return them when I actually have time to get some reading done... hmm now is it worth taking my laptop down south in case I can get a signal from somewhere...

Due to getting up mega early this morning I managed to do this weeks dare. I had to see if there was snow as soon as I opened my eyes... but no, again the weather people have been winding me up and there'll be no sledging today (sigh)

Here's my card
Stamps by Doodlebug & Duo Designs, Sizzix tag, K&Co Paper ribbon, brad, ribbon and button from stash, and finally gorgeous Pink Petticoat paper, from Lola Rose Rainbow collection.

Hope I'm back before another 2 weeks!

Hide and Seek

I just love Fridays, it's DCM day :)

I'd like you to make a card which has a hidden component of some sort - the hidden part could be a tag, a concealed photo, message or something along those lines, maybe a pull-out or pop-up. Anything goes as long as there's something extra for the recipient to find on your card that's not immediately visible when they open the envelope.

Here's my card as it comes out of the envelope...

And with the star popping out...

And a close up of the greeting...

Papers are American Crafts, Cuttlebug star die, Sizzix Bigz Flourish die, Woodware buttons, Ribbon from Little Silver Hat (I'm going to miss Liane's shop so much), corners scalloped with BG Notch & Die tool and dotty doodling by me.

Two for the price of one

Wow what a challenge Jane set us for this weeks Daring Cardmakers Dare! To make 2 cards with the exact same ingredients! This is what I came up with using new sizzix dies, the cupcake and swirl, some brads and the delish Tinkering Ink Botanicals papers.
The Design Team really came up trumps, and we're really lucky to have the talented Sue Hyde with us as a guest for a couple of weeks. Have a looksie here!

Other exciting news, I got a message to say was that my card in Simply Cards and Papercraft Readers Gallery in the feb issue... so I went out and bougt it and YES! It's one of my competition entry cards
And if that excitement wasn't enough I also received a fabulous pile of goodies from Melonie as a RAK, what a star you are, thanks so much. It's amazing how many lovely, kind and generous people there are in the world, it really lifts my spirits. How gorgeous are those little keys and the wood panels are just so cool, I can't wait to have a play. I'm a very lucky girl. Thats going to have to wait a couple of days though as I have other, boring, non-crafty stuff to do. Such is life.

Happy Crafting and I'm so sorry I'm not making it round all the blogs at the moment, I just seem to run out of time and whenever I set an hour aside to indulge it gets swallowed up by something else. I hope I can catch up soon, I'm missing your news and wonderful creations.

Birthday star

Just popped in to share a card I made for my FIL. All the pics came out so badly, this was the best and its slightly out of focus! Papers are Chloe's Closet, so are the 2008 card ones, I love their muted tones.
It's icy cold here, but no proper snowman building snow yet... fingers crossed it arrives when I don't have to drive anywhere. Hope you're having a contented crafty day :)

My first Tilda!

These Tilda stamps didn't appeal at first but the more I see beautiful cards made with them the more I like them. The lovely Nic let me stamp a load out last week and I had a play last night, they really are nice to work with and wonderful to paint.The colours are actually a much better match than in this photo. I had to use the flash despite it being the middle of the day. The Christmas tree is up and making the whole place a bit brighter, and just another week and the days will be getting lighter. Meanwhile I've a to do list longer than Santa's, ok perhaps a slight exaggeration!

Brrrrrr & Cardboard

It snowed here last night don't you know! It was blowing a hooly too, still at least most of the traffic was driving sensibly on the dual carriageway when I went to work last night, and the gritters are out in force too. Actually snow may be exaggerating slightly, it was more like an occasional 5 minute flurry that got blown into the hollows but it was still the first snow of the winter. Matt laughs at me getting excited about snow, it brings out the big kid in me. I had a hot water bottle last night, not that I needed it with the central heating but it was so snuggly.

So, onto cards now. This week is Jo's turn to dare us all, and she wants us to use Corrugated cardboard. Now I'm sure I had loads of this at one time but its disappeared and only left a teeny bit of red behind, so I had a go at Jo's suggestion and tore up cardboard boxes too.

I was going for a naive look with this one, you know like kids draw the sky at the top of a picture and the grass at the bottom with no middle! Elsie fabric for the sky, sizzix hearts, handcut felt & house.


I also learned that not all cardboard boxes are alike! Some are easy to tear and get the crunckled bit but others are stuck together really well. My way round this for the really well glued ones apart is to steam iron them , making the top layer all soggy and easy to peel. I suppose you could just use water and leave it but I had the iron out at the time I was thinking about it! This card uses Cuttlebug Paisley die, scalloped punch, brads, torn cardboard, a little hampton stamp and lots of inking.

Have fun ripping up your cardboard boxes, its great fun!

Scallop Scissors and 7 things about me

I don't seem to be able to put my new scallop scissors down! I'm not sure if it's a good thing or whether I'll be looking back in a year embarassed at how much I was using them, still its fun and thats what matters. Here's a couple of cards I made over the weekend.


I've also been experimenting on photoshop with making papers, wow, its amazing the things you can do with layers. I never really understood them before but Matt showed me how they work properly and now I can see how things work a little clearer. What I really need to do is start carrying my camera round all the time so I can shoot textures so I have some usable photos to play with, it's exciting and it'll make a good winter hobby! I haven't actually made anything I'm pleased with yet but as soon as I do I'll share of course.

I've been tagged by Dawn! So here's my 7 things...

1. I'm rubbish in the mornings, I'm very much a night owl and always have been.
2. I'm a messy crafter, like really messy to the point of covering every surface with stuff, but I'm trying to be tidier because it's frustrating not being able to find things and trying to work on a two inch square corner of desk.
   
3. I smoke (yep giving up is on the life list), but I don't smoke in my craft room because of my precious papers and pretties might get contaminated.
4. I used to save up my pocket money as a child to buy craft stuff, I still have a pyrography iron I bought when I was about 9.
5. In 5th year at school when we were choosing our careers (lol, like you can shoose a career at 16) I narrowed it down to Art School or Dentistry. I would have been much richer as a dentist but I'm glad I went with my heart. Art school was fab!
   
6. I like gardening but I'm such a fairweather gardener, as soon as we get to autumn I just can't be bothered with it, but I'll be back out there in march. I just say to myself it's a wildlife haven!
7. I love twiglets and I'm not very good at sharing them, the new packets made me and Matt laugh so much that I took a photo, great for sharing... lol I don't think so!

Thank Dawn, now the people I would like to know 7 random facts about are... erm, I'll get back to you!

More Frames

Lynnes framed dare has really inspired me, so many wonderful entries on the DCM blog. Here's a couple more Christmas cards along the same lines. Traditional colours and something a bit different. That Merry Christmas stamp is from one of the little studio G sets, really cute.
Another fab delivery today from Artbase, finally got the fiskars cloud scissors I've been hankering after for ages, luberly juberly. Also got a copy of Papercrafts, the US mag, I love it. It's so full of ideas and even the ads are inspiring me, maybe its just cause they're all new to my eyes!

Vroom Vroom

This weeks Little Extra is trains, planes and automobiles, anything with transport! Meanwhile isn't it cold and windy, going to have to get the wooly jumpers out very soon. Still, when it's raining I don't feel like I'm missing the sunshine by being in my craft room. Back to the card...

Shash : Cuttlebug dies, a Hero Arts stamp, Recess BG Paper.

Basic Grey... Joy!

Whoohoo! I made it into the Basic Grey Gallery! I love their papers so much, what a buzz! This is the card I submitted and it's shown here, using the gorgeous Phoebe papers. It makes cutting up those papers worthwhile... This was actually made for Jo's frills dare ages ago, *blush* but better late than never eh!

Golden

Wow! So many wonderful one word cards, thanks for sharing and if I haven't stopped by your blog yet I hope to very soon.

Todays Little Extra is in the same theme...a word challenge, GOLDEN ...


...and Golden Sunshine is what sprung to mind for me, a busy little card with lots of ribbons, texture and golden yellow tones.


I Used: MM foam Alpha stamps, Brilliance Ink, QK Sunshine dies, Cuttlebug Swirl Embossing Die, Bosscut Apricot Alpha, berisfords ribbon, some eyelets and a clip

Music makes the world go round

We had a lovely meeting with the organist yesterday to finalise our music choices and check we had the same versions of the hymns. Things are coming together nicely now, a few hitches but nothing too major, and as long as we're both there, that's what counts. Now I can start on the Order of Service design, oh and the thank you cards, and ice the cake, the list really is endless!

I thought I'd share the card I made for Matt's birthday, aaagges ago, but have only just managed to photo now. Oh for an extra day a week to catch up with blogs and aimlessly browse the internet following random links! Thats been the thing I've really missed about being so busy.


Thank you to all of you who keep popping by to read my news, I'm sorry I haven't been able to return the visits right now or keep totally up to date, but I have to fit in sleep somewhere!

Take care and happy crafting

Rhi x

More embossing

Thank you all for your comments about my embossing cards, I loved doing the dare and its so nice that you've taken the time to visit and comment on my cards. I have to say I'm still being an awful blogger, days and weeks are passing so quickly and there's so much to do. Plus I'm not getting enough time to sit down and read all the blogs. I miss just having time! Bit of a lack of time theme running at the moment eh!

The fun day last Saturday was, well, FUN! It was great showing people how to make cards and I think my highlight had to be the wee girl of about three who stamped the front back and insides of her card all over, brilliant! I did almost have to prize the stamp from her at the end, but instead cunningly distracted her with sticking a message on. She was so proud of her creation, it was absolutely priceless. I think some Dad's got some real works of Art on Sunday.

I have been managing to fit a bit of creative time in too, just not getting any photo's taken, so to prove I'm still making, here's some cards I've done recently with my new babies, I mean, my cuttlebug embossing folders.
More sanding and I just love these colours together. I'm a 70's child through and through.

Remember those metallic rub ons you bought years ago and get left at the bottom of a drawer, well they're ace on this embossed surface
Gold brilliance inkpad over a debossed pattern, this one started as a mistake as its one sided card and I put it in the wrong way, but actually I really like it.

And a cute fairy cake to finish! And a final confession, Ive ordered a cuttlebug!!!! Yes I know the bigshot does everything the cuttlebug does but my liitle green machine's going to be so much more portable, so much more practical for classes. Thats my line and I'm sticking to it!

Working 9 to 5

...what a way to make a living! Whoo, been singing that non stop, love it! Jo has set a super cool dare this week to use office inspired stuff on a card. I have to admit I found it a little daunting at first, but then I realised there's just so much out there, clips, file folders, brads, those little circley stickers you can put on punched holes so they dont tear... I didn't manage to track any of those down yet but I have a fab idea when I do find them.
My card uses DCWV pocket full of posies paper, Bosscut die cut turny things with Papermania Brads, a handcut filefolder that can open for a little message and is held closed by a mini bulldog clip. Its embossed with happy birthday by one of those fab little Cuttlebug embossing folders and inked for definition.


I really enjoyed making this card and the Team have as always produced an amazing array of designs. Have a look at them here to inspire you, I'm so looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

Tuesdays Little Extra

Over on the Daring Cardmakers Blog we have a fab sketch for this weeks Little Extra and some gorgeous cards to get you inspired. Here's my effort!I used some of my brand spanking new BG Perhaps papers I got the other day, they are just gorgeous, blooms and Papermainia pearl Brads. A simple little card really, I didnt want to cover up too much of that droolable paper.

And guess what the postie brought me! Some new stamps and Prima's from Bargain Garden off ebay, recommended by Lynne. What a fab seller! I have to say I was a little dissapointed with the number of blooms in the little Prima tins til I realised the tins have a magnetic base, Cool mini fridge magnet scrapbook altered thingys here we come! Now if someone could find me an extra few hours in the day to play that would be perfect!

Here's two I made earlier!

Don't you just love it when a plan starts coming together! We were round at Matt's Mum's for brunch and a big wedding-ey chat, we're really getting somewhere now, loads is done, though theres always going to be a last minute rush I think. Here's a couple of custom cards I made last night, the second one is the one that made all the mess I was on about and the first one, well while all the surfaces were covered I thought I'd do it too! The green flower on the Helen one has come up all funny in the photo, it really does match better in real life! It's been a dreich (for those not in Scotland see here) kind on day, but hey ho, makes the sunny ones even nicer!

Speaking of here's one I made earlier, have you seen the things they're doing on Blue Peter recently? Theres a super cool Star Wars Sand Village and a pop up dog card. The viewer entries look a million miles away from my childhood efforts, but then there's only so much you can do with safety scissors and glue that won't stick 3d things properly. Hooray for hot glue guns, double sided tape and being old enough to use a cutting blade unsupervised!

Food for Thought

Hooray its friday! This weeks Daring Cardmakers Dare is set by Kathy and is to create a card with a food theme. There is an amazing array of cards on the Dare blog this week and this is mine...
I think I've got weddings on the brain at the moment, (99 days to go or so my wedding website tells me!) and so I decided to cheat a bit and use this love quote from the most famous bard Shakespeare. The papers are DCWV Far East, font is Rebekah's Birthday printed onto acetate and attached with 3 little silver heart brads, silver buckle is from Carolyn's and I haven't a clue where the little music note charm came from but there it was in my charms tub waiting to be used on this card!

Look, look and look again!

Phew, what a day, Im a busy bee right now, suppliers, a rush order, paperwork, on it goes.... I nearly had a car crash today, an older guy pulled out from a junction right in front of me. I thought he was acting a bit funny at the junction pulling forward and rolling back so I'd slowed down and managed to swerve and not hit him but it was so close and it certainly got the adrenalin going. So take care on those roads, and look twice. Oh and while I'm on driving, why do half the people in the world not use their indicators, its a pet peeve of mine, use them!

Ok, breathe, and back to craft, a nice calming subject for me! I managed to make a card I need for a birthday just in the nick of time. I used the fab circle Sketches on Paper Squares for inspiration. Dovecraft papers, so good for Mens cards, Olivia alpha, Basic Grey Monogram, Making Memories Brads and plain card.