Blue Circles Dog and Kennel

This is the card I made for my friend's little boy in Australia. I wanted to make a nice bright card so opted for the DCWV Glitter Mat stack .


The card is a nice simple one, using patterned papers and stickers from Craft Planet and Daisy & Dandelion.

To make the card, the dog and kennel sticker from the Craft Planet Cats and Dogs sticker sheet was adhered to a white square panel and a blue colour wash was added around it. This panel was then matted onto blue card.


A strip of blue multi-stripe paper from the DCWV Glitter Mat Stack was matted onto a strip of the blue card and adhered across a panel of blue multi circles paper.


The sentiment panel was created by attaching a sticker from a Daisy and Dandelion sentiments and borders sticker sheet to a panel of white card and then matted onto blue card.



The inside of the card was also decorated using a strip of the DCWV circles paper matted onto a strip of the blue card. The sentiment was stamped using the 'Happy Birthday' stamp from the Papermania Claire Curd Sentiments stamp set.

Pink and Brown Penny Black Hedgehog Stroll

This is the card that I made for my mate and docrafts demonstrator Becky James. I wanted to make something special for her as I won't be able to go to her demos anymore having moved 'up north'. I have loved going to her demos over the past few years, as I always learn new techniques and get great inspiration, and I have certainly put on some miles to see her, travelling to Southampton, Salisbury and Swindon. It was all worth it (although I'm not sure my chauffeur would agree!!)

It is also my entry to this week's Stamp Something blog challenge, which is Stamp Something Cute this week, and I think this card fits the bill perfectly!

I decided to make her a card using a Penny Black Hedgie image that I received from Judith B in the docrafts September '08 image swap.


The Penny Black 'Hedgehog Stroll' image was watercoloured using Whispers Brushstroke markers and highlighted with Craft Planet Iridescent Sparkle glitter glue. The corners of the image were rounded using the large XCut corner rounder punch and matted onto pink card.


A strip of the Delectable paper from the Basic Grey Sugared paper pad was punched using the Honor Multishaper punch, adhered to a strip of the pink card and highlighted with a pink Whispers Brushstroke marker and the Iridescent Sparkle glitter glue. A length of pink organza ribbon was tied around the pink panel and attached across a panel of the Luscious paper from the Sugared paper pad.


A large white Papermania Imaginisce paper flower was colour tinted with the pastel pink Whispers Brushstroke marker and highlighted with the Iridescent Sparkle glitter glue. The 'Birthday Wishes' circle sentiment, from the Hero Arts Birthday Messages stamp set, was stamped onto white card using Versafine Vintage Sepia archival pigment ink, cut out using a circle Nestabilities die and matted onto a larger circle of the pink card. A large Papermania bronze brad was used in the centre of the message and flower and attached in the top right corner of the card.


The Hedgie image was then attached over the pink panel to the left of the card, and the Luscious patterned paper panel matted onto pink card.


I also decorated the inside of the card, using squares of the Luscious paper with the corners rounded and matted over a strip of the Delectable paper. The sentiment, stamped using the Vintage Sepia ink, was one of the many free stamps I received with my order from Crafty Individuals.

Valentine's Hearts and Polka Dots

Well, I have finally got around to entering a couple of blog challenges.

The first is the Stamp Something blog challenge and the theme for this week is Love Something. The second is the Stampin' For The Weekend blog challenge and their theme is Love and Valentine's. So, I decided to enter the Valentine's card that I made for my hubby into both.

I decided to go for a fairly simple design for this card and decided to use some of my new goodies, in particular my new border punch that I won on ebay recently.

I started by punching the edges of a strip of red card using my new punch, an EK Success Scalloped Scallop punch. A strip of the black and white polka dot paper from the Papermania Claire Curd The Big One paper pad was then matted on top.

The 'From The Heart' stamp from Dovecraft Studio G was then stamped onto white and red card using Versafine Onyx Black archival pigment ink. Just the sentiment centre part was cut from the white card and the whole frame was cut from the red card. The little heart was stamped again onto red card, cut out and attached to the white panel. The white panel was matted onto the red panel and then onto a panel of black card with the corners rounded.

Using the heart stamps from the Dovecraft Studio G Love and Be Mine mini stamp set, the images were stamped onto red card using the Onyx Black ink. The images were highlighted using a white gel pen and a red Sakura glitter gel pen. The circle sentiments were cut out using a circle Nestie die and matted onto black circles. The sentiment panel and the hearts were positioned across the polka dot border.

The inside of the card was also decorated, using the frame part of the 'From The Heart' stamp and the 'Be Mine' stamp from the mini stamp set. This was also layered onto the polka dot paper and punched red card.

Red, Black and Silver Kerry Jo Disco Girl

Well, I thought it was about time I posted another card. It's another of my older cards - I will catch up honest (although I haven't put any of my Christmas 2009 cards up yet, well, two of them!)

The card was made for my aunt, who is a very artistic lady, and in fact the birthday card I received from her consisted of a print of her own artwork.

Unfortunately, the picture is a little out of focus as my new scanner is a lot less forgiving of 3D elements on cards. But you get the idea!



I decided to go with a simple colour scheme for this card, so went with red, black and silver.


The Kerry Jo Disco Girl image was stamped using Versafine Onyx Black archival pigment ink and coloured using Whispers Brushstroke markers. Details of the image were then highlighted using a white gel pen and Anita's 3D Gloss and matted onto black and red card.


Black and silver patterned paper from the DCWV Glitter Mat Stack was attached to the lower part of a black card blank and the join covered with a length of red grosgrain ribbon.


A sentiment panel was created by stamping the oval frame from the Stamps Away Bookplates, Anchors and Photo Corners stamp set using the Onyx Black ink and the frame section was coloured using a red Whispers Brushstroke marker.


The 'Just For You' sentiment, from the HOTP Sentiments stamp set, was stamped in the centre and holes punched at either end. Red grosgrain ribbon was then threaded through the holes and adhered hanging from the image panel.

Now, with a bit of luck, the next card I post will have been coloured using my lovely new Copics. I've had a bit of a play this evening, but not actually finished a card as yet!

My Copics Have Arrived!

So, my Copics arrived this afternoon - and so far all I've done is colour in my colour chart and rearrange the pens in the box so that the colour families are better grouped!

I really should go and play but I'm scared. What if I can't use them properly. My husband will truly never speak to me again if I can't successfully use them after I've banged on about these pens for the better part of a year, if not longer!!!

I would like to make a little Copic book, one that will fit into my handbag so I can have a mobile record of the colours I've got (although if I ever receive my mobile phone I should be able to put it all in that!) But I'd also like a sort of workbook that shows good colour combinations for hair and skin and the like.

I've seen something along these lines during my blog travels on the Copic Munkies blog here. Some of you might be interested in making something similar. There are lots of other downloads and projects featured on this blog.

Well, I might go and have a little play, or failing that, tidy up my craft table so I've got somewhere to play tomorrow!! Wish me luck!

My Copics Are On Their Way!!

I received an e-mail today from Amazon to say that my Copics have been despatched - finally! Not sure how long they'll take. Not even sure if they are coming with Royal Mail or courier!!

I really can't wait for them to arrive - although I can almost certainly guarantee that I won't play with them straight away. I'm always the same - order something, get really excited and then wait a couple of weeks before I actually use them.

I'm pretty certain I'll actually be too scared to use them in case I discover they've been a terrible waste of money. I really couldn't bear it!

On a separate topic, I finally got around to watching the BBC dramatization of Enid tonight. I grew up reading most of her books (I know I didn't read them all as I discovered tonight she wrote about 800) but I was a huge fan of her stories, the Secret Seven, the Famous Five, the Adventures, Mallory Towers (they almost convinced me that boarding school would be a good idea!), but most of all the Wishing Chair and The Magic Faraway Tree. I know a lot of her work has been criticised for racism and sexism, but that was the time when they were written. There's a lot more sexism in Shakespeare, I'm sure! I loved them, and I'm sure the children of today love them too if they are given the chance. They promote escapism, which in a time when children can barely play out in their own backgardens, that can only be a good thing.

Well, enough of my ramblings, I'm off to have a midnight feast with a picnic and lashings of ginger beer!!