Waltzing Mouse birthday card and Old Stash Challenge

Hello everyone,

Its been a very busy week for me and I've just realised that I should have already posted this card for the WMS sketch challenge.  I decided to do a simple monochromatic card and used Off beat backgrounds, Gingham and Co  and Teeny trees, which are old friends by now so qualify for my September Use Old Stash Challenge.

I am also going to enter this into the Papertake Weekly challenge which is Anything Goes.

Sorry for the brief entry but thanks for stopping by.

Hugs

Carol x

Cricut Back to school card/ Old Stash challenge

Hello everyone,

I hope you have all had a good weekend and are easing into the new week. We have had a lovely, if busy weekend seeing friends and family and I don't seem to have had a lot of down time recently. However, I did find time to play with my Cricut again and I managed to weld some words using Design Studio so I'm quite chuffed with myself. I know people who are adept at DS or have a Gypsy will be singularly unimpressed with this feat, but for some reason I struggle with DS and could really do with some training in how to use it. The Cricut-360-challenge , the 2 sisters challenge  , the bitten by the bug 2 and die cuttin divas challenge this week is to do a Back to School project so I made a card and bookmark for my daughter who teaches and will be going back to school next week.

For the card, I started with a cream card base and punched out lots of dots to stick on to make a polka dot edge to the card. I then cut a clipboard from Fabulous Finds  and cut it again in silver card to make the metal look bulldog clip. Next came the word welding from Plantin Schoolbook and a little ric rac decoration emphasised the words. The pencil stamp was from Papertrey Ink and the gingham ribbon finished it off.

The bookmark was an elongated tag from Tags, Bags, Boxes and More, decorated with some more of the ric rac from Plantin Schoolbook. I cut the book from Paper Doll Dress Up but it had the word 'spells' cut into it, so I cut another front for it by hand and added an apple on the front as it is for a teacher..

 The bookplate was cut from Fabulous Finds and the Let me save your spot stamp is also from Papertrey Ink.

As all the materials used were old items from my stash, this duo also qualifies for my August Use Old Stash Challenge.

Thanks for looking and I hope you have a great week.

Hugs

Carol x

New Baby card

Hi everyone,

Well you don't get a post for ages and then you get one three days in a row! This must be a record for me. Well as regular visitors will know, I've had a problem with my crafting mojo recently and I've struggled to come up with ideas for cards for a while now. However, I decided to take myself in hand and try entering some challenges to get me to apply my bottom to my craft chair and play. It must be working for me to make cards 3 days in a row. This time I (rather appropriately) decided to try a Mojo Monday challenge for the first time and follow this sketch












 I came up with this card:-

click to enlarge

I used a Lily of the Valley stamp for the focal point and used Promarkers for colouring. Those PTI Tiny Tags found their way onto the card again and the rest was just layering with papers from my stash using some Nestabilities and paper trimmer. Here is a closer look at the focal panel

click to enlarge

Well I better get in the shower now as it is lunchtime and I'm still in my PJs! The supermarket calls or we won't have anything for dinner tonight.

Thanks for looking,
Hugs
Carol x

4th July card for Waltzing Mouse Blog Waltz and June Old Stash Challenge

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog. I'm sorry to have been AWOL for so long but we've been away for a week and its taken me some time to get caught up and find some time to craft. However, to help me get back in the swing, its the 17th of the month and its time for the Waltzing Mouse Blog Waltz.

The challenge this time is to create a card for the 4th July and at first I thought I'd have to pass on this one because I don't have any appropriate stamps, let alone anyone to send it to, but not to be daunted, I looked through my WMS stash and tried to be a bit creative with what I had.

I decided to make a US flag and started with the rectangular frame from Frame It stamped in red and then I created the stripes with some red ric rac. For the stars part, I played with the star tree from Teeny Trees and just kept stamping it until I had a panel that pleased me.

For the background I started with a white card base and cut four squares of Coredinations card stock and embossed them with a Cuttlebug folder, before sanding them to expose some of the core. A sentiment from Frame it, some ribbon and a few star gems for bling finished it off.

I'll update you on the ducks in my next post because I'm sure that like me, you will want to waltz off to see all the goodies on the other blogs. This card also counts as my June 'Use Old Stash Challenge', in my continuing attempt to use old materials that have been neglected in favour of shiny new stuff.

Thanks for stopping by,

Hugs

Carol x

Cricut birthday card and May Old Stash Challenge

Hello everyone,

Yay its Friday and the start of another weekend! I'm going to a guitar recital tonight and we have friends coming for dinner tomorrow so I thought I'd get a card up here before it all gets too busy. Regular visitors will know that one of my New Year Resolutions was to use up more of my old stash and I challenged myself to do a card a month only using old stuff and this is the May offering:-)

I used a white card base and some PM Venetian Skies design paper with Coredinations card layered to the side after being sanded on the edges. I then cut the cupcake from Cricut Wildcard cartridge ( love this and have used it a lot). This time I cut the cake wrapper in some coordinating card and, although it is hard to see it in the photograph, I tried to shape it to give some dimension,

before adding glitter for the frosting. I coloured the candle flame with Copics. The top sentiment is from Waltzing Mouse Frame it and the bottom one is from Papertrey Ink Signature Greetings - I really like mixing sentiments up in this way.

If you too are trying to use up old stash, do please send me a link so can hop over to see it.

Well I better get a move on so I hope you have a great weekend and thanks for looking in.

Hugs

Carol x

My 1st Blogiversary! and Old Stash Challenge

Hello everyone,

I hope you are enjoying the lovely weather if you are in my part of the world and are in the holiday spirit with all the bank holidays. I discovered yesterday that my blog is 1 year old today! Happy blogiversary to me! I'm so surprised that a year has passed since I started this journey and I have to say I have learned such a lot during that time. I was a bit computerphobic when I started off but I can tap away at the keys quite happily now, although there are still some additions I'd like to learn how to make on the blog. I wasn't sure that I'd maintain interest for long but but I've had such encouragement from all you lovely folk who have left sweet and helpful comments for me, that I've been spurred on to try new things as I've gone along. The challenges I've begun to enter have really taken me out of my crafting rut and I've tried new techniques that were daunting at first but so enjoyable in the end. One thing I recently decided to try was making felt flower brooches:-

I started with a simple flower using the Papertrey Ink Bloom Builder dies in two sizes and put a pearl brad through the centre to hold a brooch pin on the back.

Next I cut two of the flower shapes, hand stitched them together and stuffed them with wadding.

I then added a couple of leaves that I stamped and a smaller flower shape sewn on the back with a brooch pin,

and finished off with a flower and button on the front. As these were made with products I have had for a while, they are for my April, Use Old Stash Challenge.

Thank you to everyone who follows or stops by my blog, especially when you leave a comment for me, because it really makes my day. None of my friends or family 'speak craft' as it were, so it is wonderful for me to be able to visit with you all and share this absorbing hobby. I look forward to sharing the next year with you.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Carol x

Use Old Stash Challenge March

Hello everyone,

I hope you had a good weekend and feel refreshed for the week ahead. I have been raiding my stash again for items I either haven't used for a long time, or haven't used at all. I'm quite proud that I am keeping my New Year resolution to use more of my old stash and for my March challenge I found some lace and decided to try that, along with some of my mountain of design paper. I'm going to play along with the Playdate Cafe challenge for the first time and this was to use black and white with a splash of colour.

I can't tell you what the paper is as it has lost its label, but I embelished some of the flowers on it with some fine glitter. The focal panel was stamped with the floral image from Papertrey Ink With Sympathy stamp set and I used the rosebud for my flash of red colour, before mounting it onto Nestabilities Labels Four die cuts. The sentiment is also PTI and it is mounted onto Nestabilities Fancy Tags die cut.

I am also going to enter this card in the challenges at Papertake Weekly challenge and Clear It Out challenge

Birthday card for February Use Old Stash Challenge

Hello everyone,

I hope you are having a good week and managing to get some inky time even if it is half term. I'm going away with my daughter now until Friday, but I just wanted to pop on and share a card I made out of my old stash materials. If you stopped by in January, you will know that one of my new year resolutions was to challenge myself (and anyone else who would like to join in) to make a card each month entirely from old stash.

For this card I used backing papers from an old Hot off the Press book of  papers and some red and white card from Paper Box. The stamp is from Stampavie and is a Penny Johnson design called Looking Chic, and I had great fun colouring it in with Copic markers. I also used the following dies:- Nestabilities Fancy Tags, Scalloped Circle and Circle. PTI Border die.

If you fancy trying my challenge, do leave a comment so I can pop onto your blog and see. I'd love to visit!

Hugs

Carol x

Cricut children's card for the Old Stash Challenge!

Hello everyone,

Its a lovely sunny day here in Manchester and its a wonderful change from the gray, damp days we've been having recently. I find January and February depressing months and long to jump straight to spring, but days like this are good and remind me that spring is not too far away.

The resolution I mentioned in my last post is still strong and I have created the first card for my 'Use Up Old Stash Challenge'

For this card I used bits of card from my remnants drawer and dug out one of my old favourite Cricut cartridges, Walk in My garden. I also used Plantin Schoolbook for the birthday letters and the grass border. I used white gel pen to faux stitch on 'happy' and black and white gel pen to create the eyes and facial features on the snail and caterpillar.

I feel quite pleased with the results of my first challenge, and hope my resolution lasts, so please let me know if you play along so I can visit your blog.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs

Carol x