a quickie before I go to work...

a (fairly) quick card and a quick post, that is! LOL, what were you thinking about...

So I had a go at colouring a Penny Black hedgie. I've shied away from these before, not 'cos I don't think they're awful cute, but because I didn't think they'd be good to colour. Well, of course I was totally wrong, wasn't I? They're quite fast and fun to colour, using a few shades of brown and warm grey flecks on his prickles. I followed the suggestion on the stamp and left his tummy white. I did write all my colours down on the back of the image, but then it went in the rubbish by accident! Whoops..

And then, inspired by Debby's fantastic decoupage with her cards, I thought I'd do a bit of decoupage with him. I don't normally do decoupage, as I don't usually enjoy intricate cutting out, but I did enjoy doing these.
Apart from those hearts - they were a pain... I lost a couple and had to do them again!

Then I went a bit mad with the glossy accents and he and his flowerpot got all shiny!!

And check out that gorgeous Doodlebug flocked cardstock - scrummy! Very strokeable...

Off to work soon, so TTFN!

autumnal wedding

I think it should be safe to share this card with you. The wedding took place today, so it's OK to show this. I was asked to do an autumnal theme with leaves, so out came the gorgeous Whiff of Joy stamp.

I've used Stampin' Up More Mustard cardstock with Bo-Bunny 'Wine Dot' and 'Beau Jardin' patterned paper, gotta love all those swirls.
The text stamp behind the bride and groom is 'french script' by Stampin' Up, discontinued now. The 'two hearts' sentiment and the word 'love' on the carriage are by Hero Arts from a set of clear stamps. Metal wedding bells are by Making Memories, flowers and fern leaves by Prima. I dusted off my Martha Stewart fern punch and another leaf punch that I've had for donkeys years to add a bit of variety. The 'love and cherish' charm is from the USA, don't know the make of these.

And the close-up...

This time the hair colour is brunette, true to the couple IRL. I lost count of how many Copics I used to get the effect of the autumn foliage. I used a combo of Spica clear glitter pen and glamour dust, but as usual, that's very hard to capture on a photo. Just trust me, it's tastefully blingy!
And a decorated inside, using the Hero stamps again.

And the box.

Now I must tell you, it's a good thing this isn't being sent in the post - it would cost a fortune. Why - well, normally I use foam pads for dimension, but I thought I'd use silicone instead. I think I can say I used too much. Honestly, it weighs more than a card ought to, LOL.

The couple had lovely weather for their big day, hope it all went well.

TTFN!

peaches and soup

Ah, autumn! My favourite time of year, as long as the weather is nice, that is! I like those fresh, crisp mornings and the colours in the leaves. So it was natural to choose these colours for my next few projects.

I love this Tilda stamp, 'Picking Peaches'. For me, it's got just the right combination of detail and movement that makes Tilda stamps so appealing. The patterned papers are 'Porcelain' by Basic Grey, (oh, what a surprise, I hear you say - lol) and the textured cardstock is by Stampin' Up, from the Earth palette.

The stamped sentiment is also Stampin 'Up (Oval All), punched out with the SU oval and the scallop oval punches. I think they are my best ever SU purchase, they see quite a lot of action!

Flowers and leaves by Prima, and I found the pearl flower centres in Tesco, whilst pretending to shop for groceries...

And I'm sure you recognise the Nestabilities (labels 3) and the Martha Stewart Doily Lace punch.

Look how she's reaching up on her tiptoes - cute!

Copic Recipe: E00, E02, E51, E37, E33, E31, E43, E47, R20, R32, R35, R37, R59, RV42, YR23, Y21, YG03, YG63, YG67, C1.

And the other thing I like about colder weather is the excuse to make lovely casseroles and soups...in fact, I'll share another recipe with you. I know you can buy this, but it's so nice to do it yourself. I made this today, and it was scrummy.

Broccoli and Cheese soup (4-6 portions)

2 leeks, washed and sliced

2 sticks celery washed and sliced

1 clove garlic, chopped

fresh thyme leaves, removed from stalk

Gently fry the above in a little butter until softened - don't brown them.

Add 1 head broccoli, chopped and 1 pint chicken stock (stock cube, obviously - I'm not pretending I make my own stock!)

Cook until all veg soft, and then liquidise until it's almost smooth, if it's too thick, add milk or water.

Add a good dollop of creme fraiche and grated cheese and stir in. (we like fresh parmesan or blue cheese, but it's your call here). Adjust seasoning.

If you have a go, let me know what you think!

TTFN!

the reveal...

Warning - These are VERY, VERY addictive to make...I now have a little forest of paper trees on my mantelpiece!

We saw this idea at the Woodware day, and I was really taken with these cards. I chose to make them in pastels, though. The first one uses Basic Grey 'Two Scoops' - not Christmas paper, I know, but I like it for this.

The Stamped Greeting is a PSX stamp I've had for a few years, stamped in Versamark, then used with pastel chalks. The side view shows how dimensional these trees are, and I've used Woodware "Pearly Stuff' on the tree tips, then dipped the tree into white glitter.

And this one uses some very old Basic Grey paper that I've had for years - I'm still using up that paper mountain!The 'snow drifts' are edged with the 'Pearly Stuff' again, and I've used it for the snowflake dots in the background.

If you use this, gently flick the underside of the card, and the little (whispers the next word) ...nipples (!) on the pearly dots will flatten out.

Don't do what my 11yr old did, and flick it as hard as you can- I'm sure you can imagine where that leads to...Side view again...

And because more bling is GOOD, once the pearly stuff was dry, I ran around the snowline with my Quickie glue pen, and threw a bit more glitter on.

And how did I make these little trees? Well, it's a floral craft punch - the 'lilium' punch (I forgot to get a photo, sorry, try this link to have a look here, but please support your local shop by ordering it through them, the supplier is Woodware).

It punches out a 6-petalled piece, with glue tabs which you snip off. Each tree has 5 punched pieces which you reduce by 1 petal, down to a piece with 2 petals for the tree top.

Using a large embossing tool each piece then gets curled from each petal tip up towards the body, and glue each one onto a tree trunk. They're definitely not something to make in a rush, but I spent a very pleasant few hours making these.

A big thankyou to everyone who left lovely comments recently - it was absolutely lovely to read through them!

TTFN!

normal service is resumed...

I can't believe it's been almost 3 weeks since I posted - it must be a sign of impending old age that the time flies by. Remember when you were a kid and every day seemed like forever? Ah well!



I made these step cards a few weeks ago. They are my current favourites (apart from where I had to cut those intricate trees out - I didn't particularly enjoy that bit, I can tell you! All the stamps are by Magnolia, except for the white embossed dotty swirl on the Kraft CS, that's by Hero Arts.

And a close-up, since sometimes my images are 'clickable', sometimes not.

And this Edwin card uses K&Co 'Swell Noel' paper for the background - it suits the Magnolia images so well.

This Edwin is one of my favourites to colour. The circular 'north pole' stamp is coloured and then glazed with Diamond glaze, and a tiny amount of Glamour Dust sprinkled on, while it's wet.

And tearing the glitter card to make snow - gosh, I used to tear paper all the time, I hardly do it at all now.

Hope you like those cards - I'm going to find it difficult to part with these!

A couple of weeks ago I was very lucky and Barbara from the Windmill Craft Centre (who I demo for) took me along to a Woodware craft event for retailers. We did some really nice projects, and I'll be posting some of my faves over my next few posts.

I'll share a sneek peek at one of my favourites, just to keep you interested!

TTFN!