Monday 29 August 2011

WOYWW 117

My oh my - lookee what we have here - Dafydd and a little girlie!!!!  Her name is Delilah Alice, isn't that sweet.  She loves pink, she has black patent shoes on and little pink bows in her ears.  She loves anything pink, so a real girlie, but she's also a bit of a tomboy and had a secret crush on Dafydd before they were adopted.  He also loved her, but was too shy to say anything.

How lovely that they've ended up being adopted together!  Holding hands and having a cuddle - lovely!

Now on to WOYWW again so soon!  I've not done much lately to be honest as I've pulled a muscle and can hardly move!  If you need to know where I am follow the 'argghhhs' and you'll find me. 

As you can tell, wedding cards are still on the workdesk.  I'm not sure about the colourway at the moment and I keep changing my mind on the design too.  I don't know the colour scheme of the wedding so it'll just be what I like at the time!  I coloured the LOTV wedding image in and blinged it up a bit.

What do you all think of the Golden Wedding card below?  A bit different to my normal ones, but I wanted something unusual as the lady who commissioned it is a bit different herself so I thought I'd match the card to her if I could.  Please vote in the poll and let me know what you think in the comment box.  I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Anyway got to go now, have "Ralgexed" myself up as we're off to meet a friend at the seaside and it's been planned a while so I can't call it off.  Who knows maybe I'll find a craft shop there and get more inspiration for this wedding card!

Enjoy WOYWW!!

Golden Wedding - What Do You Think???

I got this commission on Sunday morning and by Sunday evening it was done - a real quick card for me.  What do you think?  Is it OK for a Golden Wedding Anniversary Card?  I wanted something unusual and different from the 'normal' wedding cards - do you think I've succeeded or should I go back to the normal styleeee????

I've now got to colour another 'image' good job Di sent me two!  I don't do wedding cards often and now I've had about three in a month to make!

Enter the Poll so I can see what you all think!  Do you like/dislike the Golden Wedding Card?


Don't worry - the little bit on the left hand side has been stuck down now!!!

Wednesday 24 August 2011

WOYWW 116

Welcome WOYWW'ers!!!  If you don't know what I mean, then go to Julia's and join in the fun!

Been a bit busy with hospital appointments and no internet access/email for a while, but now hopefully technological problems have been solved!  Yahooo!!!!!!!!!

Anyway here's what I've been working on lately - I had some odd sized pieces of card and decided to make a square card this time - luckily I have a spare envelope for it!  Most of the cards I make for cancer charities/hospices are not square, so this makes a nice change for me. 

I'm also trying to get some ideas in my head for a special wedding card, I love this stamped image that Di sent to me so have 'blinged' it up a bit and used my trusty PM's on it.  I keep changing my mind as to the style of card for the special couple, but no doubt you will see it in different stages in future WOYWW!
Poor Dafydd, he was soooooooooooooooo tired after making the tutorial for the pink and girlie style book card (not sure of the proper name for it sorry!), that he went to bed and snoozed for hours....zzzzz....zzzzzz

Enjoy WOYWW!

Monday 22 August 2011

Making the Pink and Girlie Book Style Card - a Tutorial

Here's the basic card - sizes below for the actual book pages

I've tried making these cards with "quality cardstock" and they turned out too big for the cover.  Here I've used the cheapest cardstock from the Pound Shop and it works brilliantly - folds easily and takes the ink well too.  You need the following CS:

  • 2 pieces of 24cm x 12.5cm
  • 2 pieces of 24cm x 14.5cm
I found it easier to punch one side (I only have two punches, this one is "Daisy" by EK Success I believe) first.  This CS is easy to punch too which helps my poor old carpal tunnel riddled hands!

All the pieces folded here
 Dafydd helped with the folding here.  You need to score the CS every 2 cms. Nice and easy!

Bit difficult to fold with paws - but I did it - says Dafydd!
 You can see how it all folds together before it is glued.  I just use a white glue - similar to school glue we used to have!  Did anyone else love to put it on their palms and then wait for it to dry and pick it off on the way home?!?!?!?  Oops perhaps it was just me!

You can see the folding better here - it fits together well
Once folded at 2cm intervals, interleave them to make the book - quite easy once you get the first one together.  
All four sides stuck together - watch out for the glue if you have paws!
See, says Dafydd, it all folds together nicely. Had to have a caffeine free soda to help calm me down when glue stuck on my paws!  Eeeeeowwww!  After this you need to use ink to distress the sides and front of the box. I need to find something to do this properly as I only have one distress ink to try and didn't think how I was going to put it on!!

Here's my favourite "Cheeky Monkey" tin which holds my crafting tools
So who else spotted this little tin of mine?  It has a matching mug in it which I use when crafting.  It's great for holding my crafting equipment.  Here you need DST to put on the outside edges of the book card, ready for adding ribbon, makes it look smarter - you can also use self adhesive ribbon of course if you have that.

Here's the outside I was working on shown on a previous WOYWW
 I'd already made the outside cover, so here are the dimensions for you:

  • 15cm deep x 13.7cm (front cover), 2cm spine, 13.7cm back cover
When I have a printer again I'll scan in the image to make it clearer for you if needed (please let me know).  You can then either punch the edges, or add some 'half the page' already made edging.  I then colour them and add some Stickles.  Just love the bling!


My first distressing isn't that brilliant - I was more distressed I think!
 All you need to do then is add a backing paper to the box and stick it to the inside of the cover.  Voila - now you can embellish it with whatever you want. 

This glitter goes everywhere in the bed - I wake up with it in my eyebrows.....ahem...!
I've not quite finished mine, but here's the main image - a lovely Penny Black one from Di.  It's so pretty and looks brilliant with the glitter - just watch where it goes if you craft on your bed like me - glittery eyebrows is not a good look!

Wednesday 17 August 2011

WOYWW 115

Another WOYWW with Julia already - hoping to have a snoop around later - our net access keeps dropping out and it's taken me three days to send an email...argghh!!! Fingers crossed it will sort itself out soon!

As you can tell Dafydd has been really busy helping me with crafting!  He's got some things ready for our next card making project, which is to make another 'book style card' which I made in the previous post, along with intructions along the way for people who asked to know how I made it.  Also I've got a few cards to make for birthdays/weddings too so they will be blogged as soon as they're done.

He's not usually allowed to handle the 'pokey tool' as it's very sharp, but it is only just for the photo so he's OK with that this time.

He also asked me to thank you all for your lovely comments, he's quite a shy little fellow really, but is coming out of his shell a bit since his adoption into his new home!

Enjoy WOYWW!

Sunday 14 August 2011

A Special Card for a Special Person!!!

OK this has been received now so I can show you all what I've been working on - it took me quite a while to complete, but I think it's worth it when you see the end result!
Here's something I've never tried before - my first ever attempt and I hope you like it!  I even made the box, it's not the most perfect of boxes as I've only got my Trimmer to make it with, not a proper boxmaker.  It's OK but could do with some tweeking!
Here's the actual card, it's made to look like a book.  I made it all girly and pink as it's for Di and she loves pink - so I couldn't make it any other colour really!  I'd been looking for a lovely corner die cut and thought I'd found it - only to find when I got it home that it doesn't truly cut a corner die, it just cuts the corner of the paper, however with some fiddling around, and a small pair of scissors, and lots of cramp later, I managed to get them to look like corners.  I coloured them with Promarkers to match the colour of the backing papers and then added some Stickles all over including the borders (again, these came from Di, but I coloured them with Promarkers and added more Stickles!).

Here's the side view, which as you can see looks like a book - all nicely distressed with my first ever Distress Ink Pad!  I've also used some girly pink ribbon and instead of cutting the ends I tied them in a small knot.  Different....I don't like to follow the same as everyone else as those of you who know me, will know!
Here's the inside of the box, I just added some little butterflies (along with some gems and Stickles of course).  I'm quickly running out of Stickles again!  I used my first ever Distress Ink Pad on the sides of this and only realised after I'd got it, that I didn't have anything to put it on with so had to improvise with things around the house I tried.  I'm all for finding an alternative to costly items, so try my bright ideas first and only as a last resort do I head to the online shops!
A little ticket sentiment was added, it says it all to you Di!  You are so special and an angel on earth to so many people!  Your wings have already been earned.
Anyway I hope you all like it, and watch out for more interesting things to come! (In between hospital visits of which there are many at the moment!).
If you'd like to know how I made this card, then leave me a comment and I'll do a more photo intensive blog to show you as I have another one to make soon for a special occasion.

I'm entering this into my first ever challenges as follows:

 Fingers crossed for me here....!!!

Enjoy!!


Wednesday 10 August 2011

WOYWW 114


Can you believe it's WOYWW again already!  Check out Julia's blog to see what is going on there today.

This is the smaller tray which I craft on - I've got something I'm working on here - but I must admit I've had a little help in the name of Dafydd who arrived the other day after being adopted by the lovely Di for me!!!!

He's arrived with a little glitter on him already, so I had the inkling that he's a crafter at heart (more like crafty!!) so I let him help me with this.
The bigger tray is a bit full of stuff at the moment which I am clearing using all my snippets - then I'll have a bigger tray to show you next time!

Dafydd loves Stickles and gets in a bit of a mess with the DST, but bless him, he tries and we always have a good cleaning session before he goes to bed.....zzzz.....

Enjoy!

Sunday 7 August 2011

Isn't she a sweetie, helping me craft......all for charity too...!

Well I just had to show you this.  This is our Domi, helping me to use my paper trimmer - she's really helpful, putting lovely faux stitching in pieces of paper, crumpling for the 'distressed' look on paper, dragging glitter all over the house and then me getting the blame....! 

The list is endless!  I wouldn't swap her for the world though, she's a little old lady of 18 now and such a cutie, she gets away with murder most days!

Enjoy!

Saturday 6 August 2011

Look what Postie delivered to me......!!!

My brother handed me this parcel, and I wasn't expecting anything, and said .... don't read it, just open it.......

and this little face appeared!! Isn't he cute....well wait until you see more.....
This is Dafydd - as you can see from his Adoption Certificate he's holding.  He arrived with a little note and some cello bags filled with items.  He came with his Collection of Novelty Erasers, and a little Torch, as he doesn't like the dark, bless.  He loves Lamb Roast on a Sunday and an individual Egg Custard Tart, but doesn't like couscous - he thinks it's a texture thing!
He also has a lucky stone around his neck which he got from his friend Darrell who got it on his Sun £9.50 Holiday - isn't that cute.  He's immediately made himself at home and here he is sitting at the computer, along with his Haribo close to hand, which he had with him on arrival.
Poor Dafydd - after his long journey and some extensive surfing time (no sea involved!), he is worn out and just went into some serious zzzzz's on the desk!!!!!  It's a bit untidy at the moment, as I've spent all week in various hospitals again, so when the Doctors allow me to have a break from them, I'll be back into tidy mode!
I'm pleased to say that due to a "Monkey Collection" I've got from friends and relatives since starting my own personal website The Furry Monkey, they are everywhere!!!!  On the bed head, on the cupboards, on the shelves, on the floor, everywhere.
Here are some more of my collection, the biggest one is sat on the floor and he had a trip in a big van all the way 'Oop North before he came back home to me.  He's wearing the cap (with hair attached) which I wore when having chemotherapy and lost all mine!

I was offered the mould made from the radiotherapy too, but I declined that......who'd blame me huh!

Now all I need to do, is find out where he came from.  I think he may have been adopted for me by Di - she knows I love Monkey and Darrell and follow them,  Dafydd has cute little jeans on and a stripey top too and he's no trouble at all, so will be staying here forever more.

I know, I'm a total softy, but hey, that's me!  I'll always be 4 mentally according to my brother!

Friday 5 August 2011

Sad Cardmaking.....

OK so this is a sympathy card, but with a difference.  It's for a good friend of mine, whose little cat died suddenly.  I know how they feel, so just had to make a card for them to show that I'm thinking of them.

As I said, a sad occasion and some of you will think it pretty daft, but a cat is part of our family and always will be.  A pet becomes a huge part of your family and is missed just as much, if not more, than some people.

RIP little kitty.

PS. I know I'm soft but hey, it's better than being a hard head with no feelings.

Wednesday 3 August 2011

WOYWW 113 - my first piccie!

OK, so I was wondering for a while if I could join in with WOYWW - as I don't have a "Workdesk" as such, just my bed and a tray I use for stamping and CB'ing when needed. 

At the moment it's a bit of a mess on the tray (it's kind of covered in my current project stuff!), as I can then just lift most of it off the bed in one go! LOL!  My carpal tunnel and other health problems mean I can't do much for long, but hey that doesn't stop me crafting does it, it just means I have to do it in stages instead!

Anyway, if I'm not allowed to join in because of the "No Workdesk" then please just let me know.

Enjoy!!

A favourite image....one of many!

I just love this image and have used it many times for guys cards.  This is a thank you for a guy so I kept it fairly masculine (I hope!).  A new technique for doing "Dragon Skin" - what do you think of it???

The backing paper is actually a Christmas one I found in the bargain bundle I got at the Craft Sale.  Not bad huh!

Some star gems (to reflect the "Superstar" part!) and some netting on the corners along with another ticket sentiment and it's done.

Enjoy!

Monday 1 August 2011

Another bear - a digi this time

This little bear was a freebie I've had in my stash so I coloured him with Promarkers and added some stickles to the flowers, a simple background paper and some Nesties onto mirror card and some plain blue cardstock.

More of the flower gems and a bit of ribbon (left over from the ribbon flowers I made - waste not want not!) and a ticket sentiment added onto the same backing paper.

Enjoy!

Fab Freebie - Meet Sally

Say Goodbye Sally - she's retired!  Watch out for a new digi soon!

She's a new "Fab Freebie" for you all to have fun with.  I seem to have a lot more comments when I add a freebie, so perhaps some of you may stay around for some special cards coming up.  Fingers crossed.

Hope you enjoy Sally and there will be more to come soon....so keep following for more freebies!  It'd be nice to see any of your makes using my freebies.  Come on, encourage me to make you some more!

Enjoy!