What a view!

Well my recent card creation really fitted with my experience this weekend!  But we'll get there in a minute.  I love this stamp from Sheena Douglas.  It reminds me of the beautiful Lakes and North Pennines. I've used it in the past to create a 'Rainbow Bridge' card using subtle pastel colours.  This time I've used my Aquamarkers to create a more autumnal look. Couldn't resist photographing it on my bench with some real autumn leaves! The leaves on the card are more Sheena stamps and I've intensified the colour with Distress Inks (Rusty Hinge is just perfect with a bit of Shabby Shutters!).

So getting back to the weekend.  Well I went with my family to visit a barn conversion my sister and brother-in-law are working on in the North Pennines. And guess what, it rained and it rained and it rained.  All the way they were pointing out of the window and saying things like 'this is the fabulous view of Crossfell, this cafe looks over the Eden Valley, the view of the hills from here is stunning' etc, but in reality all we could see was a bank of cloud through the steamed up windows! You had to laugh really... I've just seen a quote online that the Hartside Pass on the way to Alston is a route named as one of the World's Top Ten Most Scenic drives by the AA. If only... So I had to imagine what it might look like and thankfully I had this card fresh in my mind. But seeing the barn and spending time with family made it all worth while!

On taking the picture above I was interrupted by a little visitor - my furry buddy Thomas.

He was obviously protecting the card from any intruders (OK he was yawning!). Couldn't resist showing you...

A Gorjuss Girly Card

This is an unashamedly pink and girly card!  It was made especially for one of the ladies at the craft group. I am loving the Gorjuss Girl Stamps, especially as it helps me to perfect the ProMarker colouring techniques. I made it into an easel card using a craftwork cards blank and layered the image using my scalloped nesties.

Here's a close up of the little girl:

She reminds me a bit of my middle sister when she was a little girl - with lots of unruly hair!  She'll kill me for saying that if she reads this... Oops!

Baby boy card

How cute is this little fella?  I keep saying I'm not really into cute, but when it comes to baby cards and especially Humphrey the elephant I do get a bit gooey. I remember when I saw my first baby wild elephant on safari in Tanzania and I'm not ashamed to say there were a few blobbers in my eyes.  There is something so endearing about them with their big eyes and even bigger eyelashes, and those comical little trunks and enormous feet. The little eles in Tanzania were running after their mums and trying to hold their tails with their trunks. It was a really special moment - will have to try to find the pictures I took now!

Anyway, back to the card!  The stamp is one of the Humphrey's Corner sets from Crafters Companion, stamped in Memento London Fog, which is much more suited for the soft outline.  Then of course it has been coloured with the ProMarkers - mainly using the blender pen to wash in the colours to a really gentle hue. I've used Coredinations White Wash paper for the mat, punched with a Martha Stewart punch.  The ribbon was actually needed to hide the botched punching (why can I never cut out a square of the right size!) but worked out to be one of those happy accidents.  And finally it has been layered onto a Craftworks Card notched edge 6"x6" square card.

Now I do know someone expecting a baby boy but will I be able to part with this card? Maybe I need to make a duplicate to keep as I really do like it... (anyone else do that?)!

A seaside card and fabulous at 50

Very quick post today with a couple of my latest cards! First off a good friend and colleague has recently turned 50.  Now there is now way on earth that she looks that old and I am sure her birth certificate must be wrong... We needed a big card to circulate at work so out came the 8x8 square cards again, and I wanted to make it fresh, vibrant and funky.  And a little bit of paisley was also needed to reflect where her hometown.

She loved it and was very thankful that the age was hidden down at the bottom! And now for a little seaside card inspired by my hols in Anglesey.  This time for my cousin who has recently moved there.  The stamps are clarity stamps and of course they are coloured in with my trusty ProMarkers. I was quite pleased with the simplicity of it all.

Wish I was back there, but with weather like this maybe not. I'm resisting putting on the heating seeing that it is still August (just) but it's pretty nippy isn't it? No signs of an Indian summer then...

Slate, Shells and Sea Glass

And now for something completely different... no card, paper or ribbons in sight!  Last week I was in Anglesey with my family and after a very blustery afternoon beachcombing me and my big sis got to play. This is part of our beachcombing haul:

And this is the beautiful beach.

So here is creation 1 and in keeping with all great artworks it had to have a name and so henceforth it shall be named 'Sea Flower'!

And the second creation is 'Shell Cottage'.  Not quite the amazing creation seen in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, but come on, I only had a few shells, a bit of driftwood and some sea glass.  I do love sea glass.  I cannot walk past a bit without squirrelling it away in my pocket.

And finally creation 3!  This little beauty of a clock was mainly made with the help of my brother-in-law and isn't it stylish?  I actually made 2 - one for home and one for my office. I reckon down here in Oxfordshire they would sell for a small fortune.

The mosaics are designed for staying outside so I think I'll hang them near my new garden bench and bring a bit of the beauty of Anglesey and the seaside to my little garden.  Hope you've enjoyed seeing something a bit different!

Wild flowers and birds

 Nature theme, green, birds, ribbons - anyone spotting a theme in most of my cards?  Thankfully my sister is also a fan of all things nature so this is what I've come up with for her birthday card.  Hopefully she'll like it.  The papers are Botanical Gazette from Stamping Up and a bit of green Coredinations to matt with. The ribbon and pins are from my local fabric shop. This is the inside:

I wanted to make it a bit special and carry on the theme.  The bird and flower stamps are Stamping Up again - the Nature Walk set.  I just love these stamps, birds, flowers, bumble bee, butterfly, eggs and a bird cage, and create beautiful crisp images.  If you fancy some for yourself then my friend Tamara sells them and you can see all the details here http://www.pickledpapercrafts.blogspot.com/


Off on hols with the birthday girl this week to Anglesey where hopefully we'll be seeing plenty of birds and wildflowers in real life! And you never know we might even spot a glimpse of Will and Kate (unlikely!).

Another Sepia-tone Card with the ProMarkers and Copics

Just a quick post today - been a rough couple of weeks and not much time for crafting.  So in danger of repeating myself this is another little card that demonstrates my attempts at using the ProMarkers and Copics to achieve a sepia tone (see here for previous card).  It's actually quite a tiny little easel card using a Craftworks Card elegant rectangle die cut which was scored twice to make the easel.  The Popcorn the Bear stamp is a freebie I got from Crafters Companion during their birthday event last year.  I thought it might be a bit cutesy for me but it's growing on me and I'm sure I've got some friends who quite like cute.

Might be a bit of a gap now before the next blog post but who knows!  Going to Krakow, Poland with work (woo hoo) and then back at the desk for a week before going on hols to Anglesey (double woo hoo!).  Hopefully there'll be more crafting by the sea as I unwind and recharge the batteries...