Exciting News!

Good morning friends!

Hope you are all well. It's nearly the end of term for us (phew!) ... the students break up tomorrow and staff finish on Thursday and boy am I ready for a holiday as this term has been full of sickly students and very strange accidents.

No "make" from me today, although I have made another little "mini" card from the wonderful Sugar & Spice CD Rom and completed a commissioned card which I'll share another time, once I know it's with the recipient. :o)  But I have got some exciting news to share with you all ....

I'm rejoining the Design Team at Incy Wincy Designs .... whoo hooooooooooooo :o)

My first "make" with the team will be next Monday, but why don't you drop by their blog and check out this week's challenge which is Flowers and Lace?

Hugs, Helen x

Having a Monster Day

Hi All!

I think my blog is going to be a bit like buses - you wait ages for one post, and then a "post fest" turns up!

I've been making a few cards for a colleague at school - he is running in the London Marathon next month raising funds for Breakthrough Breast Cancer, and as well as running he is doing other fund raising events. Yesterday evening he held a social at school: quiz, music from the Staff Band, a fish and chip supper (yummmmmmy!), an auction of promises and a raffle. I had offered a pack of cards to raffle and this was one of the cards I put into it.

I apologise for the poor quality of the photo - I took it late yesterday afternoon, by which time the natural light had gone, so I've had to lighten this a bit so you can see the details :o(

My card recipe is as follows:

• Base card - pre-made 14.7cm square card in white
  
• Embossing Folder - is a 6 inch Embossalicious folder by Crafter's Companion and it's called Geometric Motif. This folder came as a freebie with an order I placed last weekend, and I thought it was perfect for this card! I'm not sure if the folder is a new one or an old one ... either way I can't find it on the Crafter's Companion website, but there are plenty more there to tempt! ;o)
• Image - this cute furball is Monster Chris and he comes from the pen of Tammy at A Day for Daisies. I have brought Chris to life using my Spectrum Noir Pens and Spectrum Noir Pencils in the following colours, before cutting Chris out using the largest Die'sire Essentials Scalloped Circles die:
• Body - BT5, BT7, BT9 and 071 ... I made little 'c' shapes with my pencil to add "texture" to the fur
• Eyes - CG2
• Legs and Feet - TN7, TN8
• Outline - BT1
• Papers - are the "dotty" papers from a set called Lime and Chocolate Fusion which were a free download from docrafts. I cut narrow strips from the papers to make the cross and cut a pennant shape into the horizontal strip.
• Sentiment - is computer generated using the Word Art function in my word processing package. I've tried to use colours which match the chocolate, lime and turquoise dots in my papers.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

• Challenge #117 - Add Polka Dots at A Day for Daisies Challenge
• Challenge #136 - Anything Goes at Addicted to Stamps Challenge
• Birthdays at Polkadoodles Challenge

That's it from me for today - hope you have a great weekend!

Hugs, Helen x

Lost in Music!

Good afternoon friends!

Hope this post finds you well. I apologise for my lack of visiting your blogs and posting here over the last few weeks - chasing around ensuring MiL was safe and well, and taking her to appointments and doing bits and pieces for her has taken up more of my free time than I envisaged. However, she's making slow but steady progress and is regaining some of her independence so hopefully "community care" duties will continue to ease!

I also need to apologise to my newest followers, as I haven't welcomed you on this journey round my craft room! So without further ado, welcome to Pam, Laine and Antoinette, Michele, Beth and Kate and apologies once again for the tardiness of my welcome ;o) I hope you will all enjoy my creations!

Today is Papa Mia's birthday (I'm safe in posting now as he opened his cards this morning before he left for work) and he received this card from me!

My card recipe is as follows:

• Card - pre-made 14.7 cm square card base in white
  
• Papers - come from a Club Inspire download at Crafter's Companion. These are part of the set released in June 2010 called Father's Day Papers, which is still available. I've used 2 different papers and also the musical stave border.
• Image - is a retired Pollycraft digi, however you can still get Retro Chester (as originally drawn by Paula), as he is available as a stamp from LLM's Pollycraft at Little Miss Muffet Stamps. I have brought Chester and his personal stereo (for those who are too young to know, this is how we used to listen to music when we were out and about!) to life using my Spectrum Noir Pens in the following colours before cutting them out using my second largest Sizzix Oval die:
• Chester - EB1, EB2, GB8, GB10, DG2, DG3
• Headphones - BG6, BG8, BG10, TB6, TB9, Bender Pen 
• Personal Stereo - BG6, BG8, BG10, TB5, TB6, TB9, Bender Pen
• Outline and Grounding - BT1, BT2, BT4
• Sentiment - is by Paulette at Create with TLC, and this was a freebie on her blog in December 2011. I wanted to keep the musical theme but had to crop the wording as I didn't have room for the whole message on this card .... eeek! (you can see the entire sentiment on this card).

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

• Challenge #107 - Anything Goes at Little Miss Muffet Challenges
• Challenge #292 at Tuesday Morning Sketches
• Challenge 127 - Use a Two Word Sentiment at Aud Sentiments Challenge Blog

Whatever you're up to, I hope you have a great day!

Hugs, Helen x

Green Welly Brigade

Good morning friends!


Hope this post finds you well. Mother in Law is getting more confident on her crutches each day and therefore more mobile and more independent ;o) , so the volume of checking up on her is reducing slightly. As well as getting to my studio class and pounding the treadmill this week, I've found time to do a bit of crafting.


In my B.C. crafting days (B.C. = Before Cardmaking!) I was an avid lacemaker, and could regularly be found with my late mother at local fetes and country shows with our pillows and "makes". Some of the time we sported wellies (country shows can be messy affairs!) and yes, mine were green!!! A mutual friend of ours also demonstrated and sported green wellies, and we quickly became known amongst lacemaking friends as the "Lace Trimmed Green Welly Society"! Another friend (who also made lace bobbins) made us all membership bobbins, with a pair of green wellies trimmed with lace on them and my membership number was 4. Sadly, I don't think the "LTGWS" is still going, but I reminded of those happy days when I was going through some of my digis, and this card was born.

My card recipe is as follows:

• Card base - is a pre-made 14.7 cm square card in white cardstock
• Design Papers - are from my favourite CD-Rom at the moment ... Sugar and Spice Papercraft
  
  CD-Rom Collection. I have matted and layered these onto Kraft Cardstock
• Image - is called Pattern Wellies and it comes from the pen of Claire at Jellypark. This is a new store for Claire (she had to close her old store down at the end of December thanks to the new EU VAT rules on digital sales) so she is in the process of transferring her many images across - the wellies aren't there yet! I coloured these wellies using my Spectrum Noir Pens in the shades listed, before die cutting them using a Sizzix Framelits Oval Die.
• Outside of wellies - DG2, DG3, DG4, PL1, PL2
• Inside of wellies - EB1, EB2
• Ground - EB1, EB2, EB5
• Outline - CG1
• Sentiment - is a magazine freebie, from Quick Cards Made Easy, and I stamped this directly onto my DP using Memento Ink in Tuxedo Black.
• Some buttons from my stash, and a die cut flower using Die'sire Classiques Delicate Flower edged with a Papermania Hot Pink ink completed this card.

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

• Challenge #289 at Tuesday Morning Sketches
• Challenge #126 - Bingo plus a sentiment at Aud Sentiments Challenge I'm claiming the diagonal from bottom left to top right of two pattern papers, flowers (die cut, on a DP and on the image!) and die cut.
• Challenge #74 - Anything Goes with a Twist - use some buttons at Fan-Tastic Tuesday
• Challenge #98 - Anything Green at Ruby's Rainbow

Hope you have a good Sunday!

Hugs, Helen x