Just a quick post today as I have had a really busy weekend and need to chill out on the sofa this evening, but first I had to do a post to show off my new purchases.  I went to a huge craft show yesterday about 10 miles from where I live, I visit the show every year but often come back disappointed as the new products from CHA haven't quite reach the UK!  This year I was so excited to find Distress Markers, according to the stall holder they only arrived in the UK on Friday and she had only packed them in her car at the last minute!!  Well I had to buy some, I was quite restrained and only got 6 to start with, I didn't want to purchase a lot until I had tried them out just in case I didn't like them.  I can honestly say the fabulous Tim Holtz has done it again and I will definitely be buying more.

This was my first stamp with them, I used my Hero Arts Silhouette Corner and used the direct to stamp technique, the image was so soft and pretty all I had to do then was highlight the flowers and leaves with the fine end of the pen.  After stamping I distressed the card with Old Paper ink and just rubbed it all over (even over the stamped image), then I over stamped with Old Letter Writing.

The stamp show was fun and luckily I had birthday money to spend so I have lots of new goodies to play with.

Hope you have had a great weekend.

Wine Labels!!!!!

Just a quick post today with another wine label card, these labels make the perfect backdrop on a card and are made of gorgeous paper that soaks up ink really well. They also make really quick cards and great if you are in a hurry.

I love this new butterfly from Hero Arts its part of the greetings set and is gorgeous when inked with distress colours and then heat embossed once with heat enamel, it produces a lovely rippled effect.

Its been a beautiful day here today and it feels like spring is just round the corner...hope its been bright where you are today.

Three new cards!

One of my work colleagues is sick so I spent this morning making this card for her, sorry about the picture quality only its quite dark here today and this is the best I can get.  As you can see lots of paper piecing with the HA flowers and leaves so I will add this as another entry to the Lily Pad Paper challenge. I managed to use up lots of scraps of paper for this card but my basket is still overflowing!!!

I also wanted to share with you two cards I have made using some fabulous wine labels that the lovely Jacqueline was kind enough to send to me.  Her son visited a wine cave in France and spotted them in the bin, he asked if he could have them and luckily they said yes, now after Jacqueline's kindness lots of ladies in the flickr group are having fun creating with them!




The paper the labels are made of is really high quality and stamping and distressing them gives fabulous results.

Hope you are all having a great week, I am looking forward to the weekend when I will be visiting a large craft show not far from here.  I go every year and usually manage to get lots of new supplies, I can't wait.....

Playing with old stamps!

After seeing a few cards with silhouettes about recently I decided to have a play with one of last years Hero Arts stamps "Lets Garden ".  I decided to stamp the image and then fussy cut it out so I could layer it up with pop dots on some stamped paper from my scrap basket.

This is the finished card, lots of layers using lots of stamps. I am going to enter this into this months Hero Arts challenge.

Have a great weekend.


Supplies: Hero Arts stamps, F5407 Lets Garden, S4878 Old Letter Writing, CG269 Happy Definition, CG248 Classic Fabric, K5378 Hydrangea.  Spellbinders labels die, May Arts Ribbon,  Distress inks. Serenade Red Shades chalk ink.

Birthday card for Brenda!!

This was the card I sent to a flickr friend Brenda for her Birthday which was on Valentines Day!!  I had great fun paper piecing this card with some lovely BasicGrey papers.  Brenda has received it so its safe to post it now.  I also want to add it to the Lily Pad Patterned Paper challenge.

I am having a lovely week off work, my DD is home from University and although she has lots of work to do its great to have her home for a while.

Hope your week is good too.

A Crafty Sunday!

  Its been another cold day here today so I have stayed in my craft room and made a couple of cards.  This first one is using my favourite stamp of the moment the Greetings set from Hero Arts.  I really love the design its so versatile and you can never have enough Thank You cards.

I have made this for the "Patterned Paper" challenge over at The Lily Pad and also the CAS-ual Friday challenge of "Paper Piecing".

This card is for my lovely daughters 24th Birthday next week, she has an obsession with handbags and has a vast collection of them including some vintage bags that she has found at charity shops and car boot sales.  Hence the bag shaped card, its quite a simple design but I know she will love it.

Just a quick post as I must catch up on lots of my favourite blogs. Thank you all for the lovely comments about my last post and my Paper Craft rejects, I am going to keep trying!!!

Papercraft Submissions!

 One of my New Years resolutions this year was to try and get a card published in a magazine so I recently entered four cards into the  Paper Craft Stamp It! Cards vol 9 call .  Unfortunately they were not chosen so I am sharing two of them with you.

The top monochromatic card is eligible for this months Hero Arts Challenge so I am going to enter it there.

This is the second card I sent, Its a CAS design, I think I need to study the magazine a bit closer to try and understand the style they are after.

Its the start of my half term break and I plan lots of crafting (Yipee)  Have a great weekend.

Two challenges, two cards!!

 After struggling to find the twine I wanted in the UK, I eventually found  The Ribbon Reel site which is fantastic, it has a huge array of ribbons and twine plus other craft products.  I ordered my twine plus a few other bits that just fell into my basket when I wasn't looking ( LOL!!) and I was thrilled with the excellent service.  After looking round the site I noticed they had a blog and a fortnightly challenge, so I just had to try my luck and have a go.   The inspirational photograph is below and I love the pretty colours, the other requisites were to use, ribbon, lace, stitching and roses, I had fun with this one as I love a bit of shabby chic!!

Supplies:- Hero Arts stamps Classic Fabric Background, Happy Definition, Antique Engravings, The Crafts Meow Label Stamps . Patterned Paper. Prima Crafts

My second card is is for the current Hero Arts challenge to use Die Cuts, as you can see the background is made using the same technique as my first card.  I used some Serenade Chalk inks to stamp the Classic Fabric background and then over stamped it with the Happy Definition stamp.   The Greeting stamp has been inked and embossed with Moss powder and then I over stamped the Newspaper background stamp before die cutting and then distressing.  The second butterfly has been stamped onto some patterned vellum and embossed with clear powder.

One more day and I am on a weeks holiday, its half term next week so plenty of time to relax and craft, can't wait!!

Its Scramble Time!!!

Over at the Hero Arts flickr group Marcy has just hosted another 90 minute scramble challenge. These are always great fun and this week the challenge was to
"create a card/project using a heart in any way other than simply stamped on your paper."


Lots of the group managed to make two cards in the 90 minutes but I only had time to make one, for this I have stamped the Floral Brocade background using Serenade Red Shades ink pad and then over stamped with Happy Definitions, a really simple background but very effective.  I have also distressed the edges before mounting onto some red card.  Then its just adding the lace, ribbon and pearls and  the die cut hearts.  A simple card and made in 40 minutes.  I love these challenges, its always fun making a card under pressure.

Hope you have a great weekend, its snowing here at the moment so I am going to snuggle by the fire with a cup of tea.

Tuesday Trigger- Fancy Schmancy!!!

This is the yummy photo inspiration for this weeks Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger, as soon as I saw the chocolate and pink together (what a fabulous combination) I knew I had to join in the fun!

My card is made up of three panels, the pink and beige have been stamped with Hero Arts Old letter, then embossed in white and  distressed with Scattered Straw and Worn Lipstick.  The brown card has just been stamped with Moonlight White ink.  Next I added the Hydrangea and pieced the pieces together before cutting with my die.

I have been fighting a cold all week but am beginning to feel a bit better now, I am really looking forward to a relaxing weekend.  Have a great weekend yourself and thank you for all your amazing comments I really appreciate you stopping by.

A gift for friends!

I am going out tomorrow evening to meet up with some friends that I haven't seen for ages, we all used to work together at the school were I still work but now we only manage to get together a couple of times a year. Its always great fun catching up ,there is always lots to talk about.

I wanted to take a small gift with me so I have had a go at stamping on candles again and I am really pleased with the results.  This stamp is a really old Hero Arts one that I got in a sale bin at my LSS and its the perfect design for this technique.  I have used TomBow markers on the stamp so the colours are really bright.

Hope you are having a good week, I am fighting a cold at the moment, I hope I feel better for tomorrow!!

For Cath (sans CHA) with Love Blog Hop

Cath Edvalson, of Moxie fab World  fame, won't be able to attend CHA this year, due to an injured shoulder, so to try and cheer her up Virginia and Lorena have organised this amazing Blog Hop. If you are a regular visitor to the Moxie Fab World blog you will know that Cath brings us crafter's alot of enjoyment and fabulous inspiration  almost every single day with her posts, and so it's only fitting that we try to do the same for her.  Sending you lots of smiles and hope you feel better soon Cath!!!

I love this Etched Flower stamp from Hero Arts, its so versatile. For this card I have stamped it onto pink BoBunny paper and then cut it out, I have then adhered it onto white card to give it more strength and then cut out again  leaving a small border.  The background hounds tooth paper is patterned with a gorgeous brocade on the reverse, so I have used that for the strip down the middle. After adding the lace and ribbon I have pop dotted the flower in place.  I am going to enter the card for the current Lily Pad challenge.
The sentiment is an SRM sticker (the first time I have used these and I love them)  thanks so much Virginia!!