Stampin'Up-You are loved, a vintage card

MY latest Stampin' Up order arrived on Thursday but I have hardly had time to play. I actually stamped up this card on Friday but it has just sat in a cardboard box since then. I am more than happy with the techniques I have tried but not totally satisfied with the overall layout of the card. Never mind, I LOVE the stamps and cannot wait to try out another card with them!

I initially made this card to meet the criteria of "Purple" over at Crafts by Carolyn which I struggled with as I am so not a purple person BUT, there in my new pack of Stampin' Up Markers was a Perfect Plum marker just crying out for my to give it a go.

This card also meets challenges at;

Allsorts- Vintage

Creative Corner Challenge- Anything goes

Party Time Tuesday- Anything goes

Rhedd & Rosie- Vintage/Shabby

Be back soon!

xXx

Another Men's Card using Stampin' Up Clockworks!

I had a "day off" today, and apart from a frozen walk to the Post Office and a bit of housework, I didn't really have much else planned. SO, I decided to brave the chaos of my cluttered craft room and attempt to make another card. I was so tempted to take the "easy option" and make another pwetty card for a lady but seeing as I had some uninterrupted, child-free time, I thought I'd try to tackle another men's card!

I have been looking for inspiration on Pinterest recently and have seen several projects made up with small individual shapes, so I thought I'd have a go.

I used Black ink to randomly stamps assorted images onto white card stock, then I cut out little squares to layer onto the 9 stamp shapes. A bit of de-stressing and inking and a touch of embossing with silver and I was done. I decided to use bright red card stock for my lettering.....and whoop, whoop, another card made off my April to do list.

This card meets the challenges over at
 Crafts by Carolyn TTC
Creative Card Crew- Masculine

Men's card with Stampin' Up Clockworks.

It's been another hectic week, with so much new crafty Stampin' Up stash to play with and no time to do it. However I did manage to sit down yesterday and start a card. I am always out of my comfort zone making men's cards but considering my Father In Laws birthday is next on the list, I thought it apt to try my new "Clockworks" stamp set.

I used the various stamps with a mixture of Soft Suede, Marina Mist and Baja Breeze inks to create extra detail onto both the backing paper and the central oval layer.

I used a combination of a Framelit Labels die together with a plain oval shape to make a frame like embellishment, which I added detail to a gold metallic rub on.

 A bit of stitching, lots of de-stressing and inking, a bit of twine and a button...a lot of faffing around.

One thing I did enjoy on this card was using my dotty embossing folder as a stamp. I found this via Pinterest and a bit of blog hopping and I had never tried it before. Fab idea, I had inked up my embossing folders to add detail to embossed card, but never as an actual stamp before. I will be looking at them in a different light now!

This cards meets the criteria over at;

Crafts by Carolyn, TTC Colour Challenge.
Totally Gorjuss- Something Borrowed
Stamp with Fun - Anything Goes
Creative Card Crew- Masculine

Thank you for looking.Hope to be back again soon!

x X x

Doing a little Stampin' Up happy dance....

......I at long last managed to catch up with a few friends yesterday as well as holding a little crafty get together at home. I managed to meet my Stampin' Up monthly target, and had a fun, if not a little chaotic, afternoon showing my small but gorgeous kit.

After that I struggled to choose exactly which items, from my very long spreadsheeted list, to treat myself to  next. I manged to get quite a few freebies, SO, I thought I could justify the BigShot jumping into my Demonstrators Basket! OOPS! LOL How did that happen.?

Cannot wait until Mr UPS arrives.

Stampin Up hits the Dingle Household

I dilly dallied for a long while, then I dilly dallied some more over exactly what products to choose in my start up kit, BUT finally I have joined up as a Stampin Up demonstrator. I am not sure where it will take me yet, possibly only towards discounted products but who knows. 

Today is my day off and I spent the first part of it eagerly awaiting delivery of my first lot of gorgeous goodies....and I was certainly not disappointed. This afternoon I made my very first Stampin Up card.

 Here is a little taster of some of the products I treated myself too. I MUST now seriously start 

tidying and organising my craft room to make more room! LOL

xXx

Is feeling rather impatient today!!!!

I am waiting for something rather exciting to arrive. 

I keep on checking the status over at UPS! 

Please, please arrive early as I actually have a "DAY OFF" today!

Watch this space.

xXx

Saturated Canary card for my mum!

Last minute.com strikes again! Tomorrow is my darling mum's 70th Birthday so today I braved the depths of  my craft room junk room, cleared about a foot square space on my work desk and set to work.

This is what I ended up with! I wanted something a bit different from the 6x6 inch square cards that I normally do. The image I had already printed needed a larger background too. I exaggerated the mis-mash shape by making the Happy Birthday sentiment strip a little wider than the card base too.

I had seen some lovely "porcelain look" flowers on some blogs recently but most seem to have been created using UTEE. Seeing as I didn't have any, I attacked my flowers with some Glossy Accents. I took a bit of a risk really, being so short of time and not having a clue how they would turn out. Not quite as 3D as I had pictured, but quite fun to do!

 A bit of glitter works wonders. Also shown here is the script embossed backing I used to strengthen the top part of the card. I really would have preferred a more subtle effect here by inking the back of the embossing folder but the script writing would have then been back to front. (I did try this but thought it looked funny.LOL) 

Lace and twine add texture.

 Apologies for the lighting!

I have made this with a few challenges for inspiration-thank you. I need all the help I can get at the moment.

Saturated Canary Challenges - Read all about it.

ABC Challenge - Just as You Like it.

Cute card Thursday - Anything Goes.

Basic Grey Challenges - Spring is in the air.  ( I used BG Baby Girl, Isabelle, I think it is?) 

Totally Gorjuss - For mum. ( hope this is ok as it's her birthday card, not for Mother's Day!)

Got some exciting crafting ahead, watch this space!

xXx

Life's as hectic as ever!

Monday-work
Tuesday- a stuck at home, snow day! Chris couldn't get to work, Jack's school closed, Amelia's bus not running.
Wednesday- after a very sleepless night with Amelia feeling poorly, we cuddled up on the sofa watching films. A nice day but not really productive.
Thursday- a very early start as Chris left for work at 5am. Full day at pre-school, hairdressers, Young Carer's for Jack, Parent's Evening with Amelia! SHATTERED!

Looking forward to tomorrow- A DAY OFF to perhaps manage a little bit of housework creativity!

x X x

Busy doing nothing....

......well achieving nothing, that's for sure.

Work is work, as hectic as ever and then some more. At home we have at last got back to being a two car family after a whooping bill of £2100 to keep Chris's car on the road. I am trying to get myself motivated into de-cluttering, organising and dare I say "Spring" cleaning, but although the thoughts are there, that's really as far as it has got.

Life is as busy as ever, it was my Birthday last Thursday but rather than spend a few relaxing days with my darling hubby, I was rather preoccupied with goings on at work, tag days and Amelia dressing up for World Book day. I had left everything to the last minute as usual but I thought she looked fab in her thrown together Oliver Twist costume! 

She came home with all her costume still intact. I asked her if she had had gruel for lunch and she looked at me as if I were mad! "NO mummy! I had fish and chips!" she replied.

Yesterday we all went to watch Gillingham play football, well Amelia came home from school on Friday with four complimentary tickets so it was rude not to use them. Chris and Jack loved it and although Amelia did too, we really should have taken a blanket to wrap he up in as half way through the match the temperatures really dropped and she struggle to stay focused. Still, we live an learn, it was a fab experience all round.

Had a lovely Mother's Day, cooked brekkie this morning and a lovely 3 course meal this evening washed down with a nice glass of red wine. 

THANK YOU CHRIS, JACK & AMELIA. 

I love you all very much.

xXx