Slow going in craftland

Good Afternoon everyone.

This enforced resting thing continues.......grief it's so alien to me, but this battered body of mine is still yelling at me "not enough energy". If I need any more convincing it takes me half a day to make a card then I'm shattered and I've not really done anything. So still not blogging and visiting folks, just the essential DT comments and that's about it which means I really, really need to say such a very special thanks to those of your that have still bothered to visit me, despite my lethargy.

A couple of cards - a couple of days worth of effort, how sad is that I ask you.......if I was teaching class at this pace they would all need to sleep over to get everything completed at this rate.

The first one is a sample for good old Stampalot......they are coming Janice, honest they are......using another of the lovely new stamps Magenta 42067M floral silhouette stamped onto a background of Glimmer Mist lemon zest and pearl and Hero Arts S3516 silhouette grass stamped with Tim Holtz scattered straw. The strip across the top is stamped with Hero CG222 music, the DP is Crate, lots of distressed edges, ribbon, buttons and beads added to embellish. This card is for the following challenges:

Crafts and Me - Easel card

ABC - Distressing

Flutterby Wednesdays - Wings and buttons

Cute Card Thursday - Tweet and Flutter

Paper Sundaes - At least three embellishments

My second card used lots of Art Impression stamps, a background brayered with Big and Juicy waterfall and a masked crescent moon.......I thought it was time for a deviation from a full moon ! Some DP from stash, punched leaves, lots of glitter on the trees and snow and a rather soggy flower which got 'Daisy'd'......she's so helpful in the crafting department. So it's a bit flatter than when it started life, but with some glitter it looks OK'ish. This card is for the following challenges:

Moving along with the Times - Christmas

Christmas Cards - Christmas trees (mine are still growing)

Glitterbabes - Anything goes

For fun Challenges - Glitter it up

A green one, a purple one

Good afternoon peeps, a bit of a later post that I've been planning all day. But I did want to share with you that Theresa from Crafts and Me has spotlighted me on her blog again with the cards coming up further down this post. If you've never visited her store where have you been ? As well as all sorts of craftiness, she sells those gorgeous Sweet Pea stamps as well as several brands that are hard to find here in the UK, as well as her own label stamps of the most divine fairy images.....what better for people like me who live in a total fantasy world.

So the delays in posting........a very thoughtful gift from my hubby of Photoshop Elements which he thought would help me editing my photos.......jury's still out on that one because four hours on and I'm ready to throw it out the window. I'm sure it's a great piece of software, but for the less than technical mined more of a nightmare. So perseverance I think..............

My card, well two of them actually following the same sketch but I could not decide on a colour so did two. The image is Crafts and Me Eternity by Molly Harrison. Isn't she just adorable ? For both cards I brayered a background with Big and Juicy hydrangea and soothing sunset masking a moon....you all know I love my moons. I used the same ink pads to colour the images and glittered the wings of both with crystal ultra fine glitter.

The border on the green version.....my favourite I think.......is Martha Stewart eyelet lace and on the purple floral vine. The green DP is Magnolia and the purple DP Doodlebug. Flowers gems and pearls to embellish. These cards are for the following challenges:

Flutterby Wednesdays - Sketch

Crafts and Me - Gems and Sparkles

ABC - C for Charm (dragonfly)

Fab 'n' Funky - Material Girl (lace)

Cute Card Thursday - same as above

Simon Says - Pearls and Lace

Creative Cottage - Celebrations

Lots to Do - Fairies and Angels

A another quick card as a certain person.....she knows who she is........made me feel so guilty that I could not find a house to share for this weeks Tuesday Taggers theme "Our house is a nice house ours is", so this one is just for you girls. The row of houses....yes at Christmas........are all in the new set from Hero Arts CL464 which I stamped simply onto some patterned Kaiser DP and added a little red Copics here and there and a bit of glitter. The birds are Penny Black 3937H birds on a wire.

Fairies and flowers

How is everyone ? Have you all got this rain as well ? If they talk about droughts now, I think I'll throw something at the TV, to have such green lush paddocks in August is unheard of and utterly bizarre.

I have two shares today, the first is one of the very special birthday cards I have been making for Anysia's 18th on Sunday..............45 peeps coming for a barbie, well that's the plan anyway. Thankfully my mate Mark Spencer.......for those of you not familiar with him he also goes under the guise of M&S......... is doing most of the catering so it just needs collecting and the boys love cooking barbies, so I figure all that leaves for me is to do is make a bowl or two of my famous punch. Why is it famous you ask......nobody can ever remember drinking it !

So the card, another of the gorgeous Sweet Pea Stamps called Black Rose, stamped with versafine black and embossed with detail clear, coloured with Copis and generously glittered and embellished. The DP is Kaiser and the border punched with my new Martha Stewart floral vine punch.

I added lace and vellum butterflies cut with Martha Stewart small monarch. The flowers are a mixture of Magnolia and from stash, plus liberal helpings of pearls.

This card is for the following challenges:

Sweet Pea Stamps: Lace and Pearls

Stamp with Fun: Card for a Girl

Flutterby Wednesdays: Open theme

Charisma Cardz: Hot Hot Hot

C.R.A.F.T: Milestone Birthdays

My second card above is a really quick plain and simple one but I quite like the clean lines. I cut squares on my guillotine and stamped a variety of stamps using Tim Holtz olive and stormy sky and embossed with iridescent powder. I distressed the edges slightly and matted onto blue and green co0ordinating cardstock.

This card is for the following challenges:

Cupcake: Blue and Green

Cut Card Thursday: Dieing for a Punch

Cute Card Thursday 60

This weeks challenge over at Cute Card Thursday is "Letters and Numbers" so have created a birthday card for a special little girl who loves elephants.

The image is Woodware FRV004 stamped with brilliance violet and embossed with detail clear, then stamped a second time and decoupaged. The elephant actually has a lollipop in her month, but I have replaced this with a little flower. The letters were cut on purple card using the cricut and double embossed with UTEE. Border is a fiskars punch and DP is Doodlebug and the button brad Laura Ashely.

Friday Sketchers 50 and Cute Card Thursday 58

Good Morning everyone, it's a beautiful day here in the Fens, hope it's as good where you are and lets hope it lasts for the weekend !

I was up with the birds today and already completed my first card combining two challenges: Friday Sketchers who have a lovely sketch by Beatrix which is right up my street and Cute card Thursday which is entitled Mirror Mirror. And to share the lovely morning with you all I took my card into the garden and photographed it next to a Cytisus which is just bursting into an abundance of yellow flowers.

My main image is a brand new stamp (yesterdays jolly to Stampalot) Magenta 26032P. It has so many possibilities, but that's for another day and here I have kept it very simple stamping with versamark and embossing with detail gold on a background sprayed with GM's (gold and patina) onto a glossy card. DP's are My Minds Eye and the stick pin made up with beads, pin etc., from Spellboundbead. Pin, gold embossing and gold mirri card for the 'Mirror' element. Sentiment is Woodware FRCL28.

Two challenges in one

Well, anyone who knows me can have a good giggle because they will know just how hard I found this one. I struggle with busy and cutsie and like nice symmetrical cards. Challenge 57 for Cute Card Thursday is "Getting Edgy - tear, sand, distress or sew the edges of your card". That on it's own wasn't a problem but time being short I wanted to try and combine it with this weeks Friday Sketcher which has a nice sketch by Murielle from France, but quite busy which is where I have problems.

Anyway, I started with a GM'd background (gold, terracotta and sunkissed peach) and tore the edges and distressed with TH vintage photo, then stamped all over with a crackle background stamp from Magenta 32090M using brilliance cosmic copper and as usual if in doubt rely on good old favourite Stampendous P107 stamped with versamark and embossed with detail copper. Then my problems really started, lots of embellies needed to fit the sketch, so flowers, buttons, gems, ribbon and so on. Finally a greeting from Stampsmith and background paper is Daisy Bucket. Done !

Sketch Something and Cute Card Thursday 56 challenge

The Cute Card Thursday Challenge 56 is called Floral Fantasy, so I just had to take part. It asks simply that you use any type of flower on your card. I am combining my card with this weeks Sketch Something challenge where the theme is green, blue and yellow.

I have created a glimmer mist background using linen card as this picks up the mica elements of the sprays so well, using midnight, key lime and pineapple and a top coat of iridescent gold. The stamp is American Art Stamps Field of Daisies stamped in black and embossed with detail clear, coloured with Sakura pens and ultrafine glitter added when still wet. Birthday wishes from Woodware FRCL128, flowers, buttons, ribbon, gems and bazzil run through the cuttlebug using Swiss dots.