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Monday 20 July 2015

A card for Adam

Hello crafty peeps and welcome to my crafty nook. I hope you've all had a brilliant weekend. I'd like to share a card that I made for my lovely friend Adam. It was his birthday last week and I think he must have got it by now.

I Like Big Books,,,

Adam likes reading almost as much as I do so I thought he'd like this CAS card featuring this cute bookworm stamp from Clearly Besotted Stamps (Bookworm Additions) it has a matching die but I decided to fussy cut it out. The balloon diecut was made using a die that came free with Simply Cards & Papercraft Magazine. The books that "Bookie" is standing on were from the Simply Gorguss stamp "New Heights" and I inked the books and wiped off any ink that got on the girl part of the stamp. All the elements of the image were coloured in using Flexmarkers. I wrapped some baker's twine around the knot of the balloon and tied it to Bookie's tail.

I really like this card, it was quite fiddly doing the books but well worth the effort (I stamped it a couple of times because although the stamp looked clean it left traces on the first attempt). The Bookworm Additions have some long flags included with funny book related sentiments (Get lost! In a good book... for example) but I couldn't work out where to place one on this card so I left the outside sentiment free.

Close up of "Bookie"

Card for Adam
Just a short post this time, I'm working on a few things but some are for a competition so I won't be posting them on here until they are finished and sent off. I've removed the anyone can comment feature of this blog after getting even more spam than usual, I'm sorry if this puts you off commenting on the blog, if it hasn't I'd love to hear your thoughts and comments on this card and any other featured on my blog, so please leave them in the usual places. Until next time - keep crafting!

Love and crafty hugs,

Sarah xxx

Thursday 16 July 2015

Candy Crush Card

Hello crafty peeps and welcome to my crafty nook! I've made a card for the Passion For ProMarkers Blog challenge this week, please click here for details or if you want to enter a card of your own, http://promarkerchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/week-305candy-crush.html. This week's theme is Candy Crush so I've made a fairly simple card using a Tatty Twinkle stamp from the Fairground collection (that's what I call it anyway).

Candy Crush Card

I'm afraid the quality of the photo isn't great but I've taken some close ups which I'll add further down. I coloured Tatty's dress in red stripes to match the backing paper (free with this month's Simply Homemade Magazine) because it reminded me of the paper bags you sometimes get sweets in. The Tatty Twinkles stamp actually has Tatty holding a bag with a goldfish in but I carefully wiped the ink off that part of the stamp before using it then made a post-it note mask using the stamp and cut out the bag area. I carefully placed this over the stamped image and stamped over it using a stamp set called "Sweet Treats" that I got free with a magazine quite a few years ago, it's actually a jar of sweets with a for you label on it but by lining it up carefully over the cut away part of the mask I just got some sweets stamped instead of the whole image. The Sweet Moment shield was stamped twice using a stamp taken from a Kaisercraft stamp set called "Spring Blooms" once using a water based felt tip called "Candy Floss" by Whispers and the second using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I coloured over the inner part of the shield using a Sea Mist Flexmarker, fussy cut it out and layered it over the pink shield using foam tape. Tatty was coloured using Flexmarkers and I went over the knots in the hair bows, the flake, Tatty's shoes and the sweets with Glossy Accents - I'm a newbie when it comes to Glossy Accents and I'm love the stuff but I have noticed it fades reds to oranges when you use it. I went over the sea mist coloured part of the shield with clear Wink of Stella then added Glossy Accents over that. I think the shield is my favourite part of this card! I matted the stamped image onto black card then the striped paper and then added it to a 5.5" square card blank that I made from 250gsm cardstock.





I think this is quite a cute card, not really sure who'll end up receiving it as I have cards planned for the next few birthdays. I enjoyed following the challenge though especially as I got to eat a few Skittles as I was making it (I thought they'd be cute to use in the photo layouts) and after the photos were taken ;).

I'll be sharing Adam's card in the next day or two once I know he's received it so please keep an eye out for a new post - why don't you click on the sidebar and follow me so you never miss a new post? As always if you have any questions or comments relating to this post or crafting then please look to the usual places. I'm still getting anonymous spam messages so I shall be removing that feature shortly, I'm very sorry if this makes it harder for you to leave a comment but I'd rather spend my spare time crafting instead of policing my comment section. Until the next time - keep crafting!

Love and crafty hugs,

Sarah xxxx

Tuesday 14 July 2015

I'M GETTING A BIT CROSS NOW!

Dear crafty peeps, welcome to my crafty nook! In an attempt to encourage crafters to comment/start a dialogue on my blog I changed my settings a while back allowing anonymous comments to be submitted to my posts, while still being subject to moderation. However I think it's only fair that people respect the fact that this is a blog about crafting and limit their comments to craft related subjects. I received this email today and initially I was going to allow it on my "Card For Alex" post even though it isn't a craft question but one about blogging. I remember all too well the struggle to get any views for my blog and even now almost a year after setting it up, I'm not exactly inundated with followers or views (it means I treasure every since one!) so I was quite happy to allow this email and reply with some handy hints and tips (main one being buy Blogging For Dummies book). This is the email I received:-

 ' Hi! I know this is somewhat off-topic but I needed to ask.
Does building a well-established website like yours take a 
lot of work? I am brand new to operating a blog 
but I do write in my journal daily. I'd like to start a blog so I will 
be able to share my personal experience and thoughts online.
Please let me know if you have any kind of suggestions or tips for brand new aspiring blog owners.
Appreciate it!'


On the surface innocuous as they come, however when I clicked on the link included (I chose to not copy and paste that part), it comes up with the header for a thermal hotel what ever that is in the address bar but no actual website. As most of you know I'm a complete novice when it comes to the ins and outs of computers and the internet but I'm assuming there's something dodgy about this link although it didn't trigger my anti virus/malware etc. If this was a genuine question then can the anonymous poster please get in contact again but leave a email address (don't worry I won't post your private details) and I will be happy to answer any blog questions to the best of my ability. However if I continue to get anonymous comments that link to non crafting sites (I can't tell you how many emails I've translated only to discover they are about electro plating!) I WILL BE DELETING THE ANONYMOUS COMMENTS OPTION FROM MY BLOG! This isn't something I particularly want to do as I want it to be easy for people to leave comments and let's face it not everyone has a blogger/Google account (or whatever) to log in with, though they are very easy to obtain as you just have to have a valid email address and fill in a simple form. But if I continue to get what is basically spam (apologies to anyone who posts anonymously but isn't spamming) then I'll have no option but to remove it as it's quite a chore checking every email to make sure it's a genuine question or comment.

I hope this has made things a bit clearer for my readers, I love to read the comments left but it isn't helpful to have non craft or blog related items added to the comments. I'm working on a couple of things at the moment and I'll be adding a post tomorrow featuring the card I've made for my lovely friend Adam. So until next time - keep crafting!

Love and crafty hugs,

Sarah xxx

P.S. OMG someone is REALLY taking the piss now - look what got left on this post asking anonymous posters not to leave SPAM!!!

 Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "I'M GETTING A BIT CROSS NOW!": 

Mahjong is really a game regarding Far east culture that may be enjoyed, Mahjong some people, along with bits known as tiles.
Mahjong Incorporating methods 


Sunday 12 July 2015

A card for Alex

Hello crafty peeps and welcome to my crafty nook! I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend. It's that time of year again that I both love and fear - no not the school holidays but the Cardmaker of the Year 2015 competition! Closing date isn't until mid September but  I'm determined to get my entry in early this year not that I'm expecting to win of course as there are hundreds of more talented and/or better equipped crafters out there than me but I do like to enter the comps anyway and I've had quite a few cards featured in Readers' Galleries. I love that double take I do when I realise the card I'm admiring is actually my own lol. Has that ever happened to you?

The card I'd like to share today is another pop up box card but this one is a flowery get well card for a man in the USA called Alex. He's about to have a second knee replacement op and fellow blogger Lydia http://understandblue.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/fresco-crack-corn-rock-star-and-derwent.html asked people to send him a card in return for being entered into a blog candy giveaway for some Derwent Inktense pencils which I'd really love to win. I don't have a stock of ready made get well cards as I like to make them to suit the recipient but I was fortunate enough to get "Simply Cards & Papercraft" magazine yesterday and it has a stitched balloon and flower die as it's free cover gift. I thought the flower would be perfect combined with my current favourite type of card blank.

Pop up Box card for Alex
I wanted to keep the box design fairly simple so I chose a pretty grey card stock to make the box with. I also rounded the corners of the flaps which I rather like. I die cut 12 flowers using 250gsm white card and coloured them using Flexmarkers and ProMakers. The centres of the flowers are die cut too and fell out when I removed them from the die so I added "Newsprint" Card Candi to replace them and used the leftover circles to cover the foam squares I used to stick the candi down. I staggered the heights of the flowers by adding the heads to different lengths of acetate, then added a silver get well soon peel off and roses as shown. The middle flower at the back had a tendency to flop about so I added a panel of white card to the back box flap and stamped a verse onto it. This has added much needed support to the back flowers.


Card with supported back panel

Close up of stitched flowers
I hope you like my latest card, I really love the stitched flower and balloon die that I got free and I know I'm going to get a lot of use out of it. I've made a card using the balloon element but don't want to share it just yet as it's for a friend's birthday and I don't want to spoil the surprise. I will be adding it to my blog on or after the 15th.

As always if you have any questions or comments relevant to this post or to craft in general, then please leave them in the usual places. Until next time - keep crafting!

Love and crafty hugs,

Sarah xxx

Tuesday 7 July 2015

Baby Boy Box Card

Hello crafty peeps and welcome to my crafty nook! I hope you've all had a wonderful weekend, a belated Happy 4th of July to anyone who celebrates it, my husband and I had an Independence Day meal even though obviously we don't celebrate that holiday in the UK, to be honest I just wanted to try some USA frozen meals from Iceland lol - we had chilli Philli Steak Bake, salad and soured cream with home grown chives mixed in. I'm not sure how authentic the meal was but we both loved the chilli Philli steak bake and we'll certainly be having the soured cream and chives again though I may add some sliced spring onions next time to give it a bit more kick.

 Now that the weather's cooled down a bit I've been able to craft a bit more and today we got a phone call letting us know that we have a new addition to our family - a baby boy, the first one born in our family for 41 years! (That's on my husband's side of the family, I have three nephews and a great nephew on my side.) As you can imagine we're all thrilled at the news (not because it's a boy - we love all babies.) To celebrate I've made a new baby card for the new parents.

Baby Boy Box Card
This card has been a real labour of love, I started it at 3pm and didn't finish until nearly 2am, I didn't work solidly though as I broke off to make tea, wash up afterwards and I watched two hours of tv (love Criminal Minds and Bones!) Three of the handmade toppers are layered or partially decoupaged so I had a lot of fussy cutting to do which is why it took me so long to make. Although the box card blank is relatively simple to make, decorating it can take a while depending on how many toppers you want to add. I used five different stamp sets to make the toppers; Clearly Besotted Stamps "Child's Play" and "Little Onsie", Hobbycraft "Stork" stamp, Me to You tiny tatty teddy Boy Clear Sentiments stamps and Papermania "Honey & Hugs" - Owl stamps (new arrival oval sentiment). I stamped most things using Memento Tuxedo Black ink but used Tim Holtz "Mermaid Lagoon" distress ink to stamp the base layer of the shield shaped sentiment and the yacht on the back onsie, "Scattered Straw" distress ink for the onsie star and "Stormy Sky" distress ink for the elephant. All elements apart from the three stars were then coloured in using Flexmarkers. The stars were made by punching three shapes out of scrap card using a star punch and  I gave them a base coat of yellow Sharpie pen then covered over that with Sakura Glaze pen in yellow. To finish them off I added a pale yellow self adhesive gem in the centre of each star once the glaze had dried. The baby bundle that the stork on the back panel carries was stamped twice so it could be decoupaged and the A,B,C bricks and shield were also layered. The panels of the card base were covered using K & Company Cuddly Chenille Blue Stripe Printed Flat Paper and Congratulations scrapbook paper from my stash, this paper doesn't have any information on it but I suspect it was from a DCWV paper stack from quire a few years ago. Here are some more photos.

Close up of the 'floating' toppers

Close up of decoupaged stork on back panel

Close up of the back layer of floating toppers

Close up of middle layer of floating toppers

Close up of front layer of floating toppers

New Arrival Box Card
I've thoroughly enjoyed making this card, yes it took hours but what better way is there to spend those hours than on a hobby I love? I think my friends and family will be getting sick of receiving pop up box cards before I tire of making them lol. Because I decorate each panel I can use card with a lower gsm than my usual card which is great as I accidentally bought some 200gsm card. These cards are a great way to use some of it up. I have at least two more designs in mind, a zoo themed one for Bethany (my niece) and a dolphin card for my sister-in-law Sue. I have a while yet before I need to start making these cards though.

My friend rang me today to check I was available on Friday for a visit so I'll be frantically cleaning the flat for the next few days (housework comes second usually to crafting lol) so I'm not sure how much time I'll have to craft. However as soon as I have some spare time I'll share a couple of other projects I've been working on recently. As always if you have any craft related questions or comments I'd love to hear from you so please leave them in the usual places. I hope you all have a good week and until next time - keep crafting!

Love and crafty hugs,

Sarah xxx

Sunday 5 July 2015

Cards as promised

Hello crafty peeps and welcome to my crafty nook! I hope you've all had a brilliant weekend, I'm going through one of those pesky crafty plateaux that a lot of crafters experience at some point or another, I want to craft and indeed I go in my crudy and make things or at least start things, but nothing really sparks my imagination at the moment. Maybe it's the weather, the humidity and closeness is physically draining so perhaps it's having a draining effect on my creativity too. As a result I've nothing particularly new to share but I thought you might like to see the cards I made for a couple of friends that I mentioned in my last post. Both cards are very simple in style.

Card for Adam
I actually had the residue of a migraine when I made this card which is the main reason for keeping it simple. I stamped out each letter using a Dimension Forth stamp set that I recently got in an order from Every Craft's A Pound which were only £2 for the set. They are a good size and stamp really well - I'm a huge fan of Dimension Forth stamps unfortunately I've just check the website and they're not selling them at the moment. I fussy cut the letters out and coloured them using FlexMarkers. I made a black card blank and stuck the letters on it landscape as shown. It seemed a bit bare so I added a strip of blue striped washi tape to the bottom and added a panel of white card to the inside to write on.

"Plastered" Get Well Card
The second card I'd like to share is a get well card for a friend's son who broke his arm at school. I thought this quirky plaster covered card would be a fun one to send him as he'd got his arm in a pot (got plastered as it were). The plaster was one from a stamp set by Unity Stamps and has some germ/monsters as well as a couple of sentiments but not a Get Well Soon stamp surprisingly. This stamp was a wood mounted stamp from The Works. I coloured the plasters in using Blush FlexMarker. I really like this card as it's a bit different from the usual Get Well Cards available. If I'm honest I often have a hard time making Get Well Cards for some reason so I was really pleased to get the idea for it quite quickly. I believe Lawn Fawn do a get well stamp set with a plaster or band aid as they probably call it and theirs has a smiley face on it. I think it would be sweet to have this design of card with one smiley faced plaster in the middle, I suppose I could draw one next time but as I lack artistic ability I always find my added drawn embellishments to be a bit awkward looking.

I hope you like my recent creations, hopefully my craft mojo will come back as the weather cools down and I'll have some cards/projects to share with you soon. As always if you have any questions or comments then leave them in the usual places and until next time - keep crafting!

Love and crafty hugs,

Sarah xxx