Morning All!!!

Lovely day out there today but I as usual have some work to catch up on so I don't think I shall be going out in it.

I was going to blog at my usual ridiculous hour of the morning but I fell asleep after watching a couple of episodes of Grey's Anatomy on DVD with DD and managed to sleep right through until 9am which is very unusual for me.

I spent yesterday making cards for the shop so nothing exciting to show. Instead I am posting some more Christmas cards done with my favourite stamps from last year.

I am sure the stamps used for the following cards need no introduction but they are from Elusive Images. I dread to think how many of their Christmas stamps I bought last year......lol!!! These two cards are made with a set called Pear Tree which I love.

So here I have stamped and embossed the pear and script image in gold and then used H20's to add the background shading to the script and to paint the main image.

This was done just as I was starting to collect the H20's and I remember being absolutely amazed that I had actually painted this because a painter I ain't.

The vertical Merry Christmas is from the Stamp'n'Stor range by Sunday International and the Noel stamp is from Hampton Art.

The front of the card was trimmed to DL size and then I attached the red card inside after stamping the greeting.

Here I stamped the small pear image with brown Stazon all over a card blank and then painted them in using a waterbrush and Marvy le Plume pens. Once completely dry I chalked around the edges with a light and a mid brown chalk.

The layered circles were cut with a circle cutter (The one that looks like a compass with a blade). The script background was stamped in Stazon. The stamp is just a single line so it was stamped repeatedly.

The tree was stamped and embossed in gold onto a piece of green card and attached with foam pads.

The partridge was stamped and coloured then cut out and attached with foam pads.

Merry Christmas is from Rubber Stampede.

Well I am off to do some Cricut-ing as I have run out of a few things. I've got a horrible feeling I am on my last mat but hopefully it will last until I have done.
Whatever you are doing........have a fab day.
Bye for now
Sheila-x-

Daring Cardmakers-Buttons

Oh boy.......am I feeling chuffed with myself or what?............lol!!!
I think I have cracked it now with the new scanner and my pictures are coming out really nice.
These are my two cards for the DCM dare this week.
Here is the brief-:

Hi its Keryn here and it's my turn to set the dare this week. But before I do that thanks so much for the fabulous cards you've made for Jo's Frilly Dare and the Dots and Dashes little extra. We really enjoy looking at your cards.
I know you've all got buttons stashed away somewhere, whether they've been purchased at a cardmaking store or you thriftily snipped them off DH's old shirt. I'd like you to find those buttons and use them somewhere on a card. They can be real buttons, craft shop buttons, die cut buttons, faux buttons or another type of button, surprise us all.

Just a couple of really simple cards this week the first one is K&Co paper plus a mystery paper..........I had used the part with the manufacturers name on it.

Dunelm blooms with a handmade chipboard button tied on with ribbon which I then decorated with tiny flowers and pink gems.

Diecut letters are Zipe'mate.

This card is made with some of the embellishments from one of the kits I was telling you about yesterday so this will be a sample for the shop.

The swirl background is cut from one of the card blanks in the kit and I added a band of white glitter card to it.

All other items including the ribbon and buttons are in the kit which is from a company called Imagine That.

I provided the blue square card to mount it on as I am not over keen on printed cards. Using them like this though does mean that you get more mileage from the kit.........yesterday I made two cards from one card blank and still had a piece left big enough for another card.

I didn't get time to go out and get the rest of the blog candy today as I gritted my teeth and went up and got the painting done. My knee is absolutely screaming now but at least it is done and out of the way. Sunday I will paint the walls and lay the carpet unless hubby decides he wants to go out somewhere. I know he would like to go up to the Lake District but it is so warm that I don't really want to take Smudge all that way in the car just for a day trip and I couldn't bear to leave him at home on his own.

Right........well I feel the need for a cup of tea and a bit of time with my feet up now.

Have a fab weekend

Sheila-x-

Up To My Ears In Blooms!!!

Good grief.......just look at the time. 4:40am and I am wide awake again and up to my ears in blooms and blossoms making cards for the local shop.
I had a lovely day at the shop today. No workshops so I was able to sit and make up some samples but this time I wasn't stamping. A few weeks ago we had some kits in with 15 cards and envelopes and enough Christmas embellishments to make more than the 15 cards included but they are not moving so I thought if I did some samples maybe that would show people just how nice the kits are. Well blow me I had no sooner put the cards on display than I sold a kit. Obviously the bits and pieces can't look their best just lying in a box......even though the box is gorgeous. Very sturdy so I shall be using mine for storage when it's done with.
I managed to get some of the bits I wanted for my 20,000 hits Blog Candy giveaway but I will need to nip out tomorrow and get some of the things I couldn't get.



As the cards I am making for the shop are just ordinary birthday cards etc I thought they'd be a bit boring for the blog so I am going to share over the next few days some cards made last year with my favourite stamps and other techniques.

Today I am starting with what must be my all time favourite stamp.......the Angel Chorus Collage stamp from Rubber Stampede. This is the simplest of the cards I have done with this stamp.

The cardstock began life as a piece of nasty green mottled card which after bleaching turned into this gorgeous turquoise mottled card.

I simply stamped and embossed the image in silver and then added Stickles Glitter Glue in either Diamond or Crystal.......most likely Crystal as that was my favorite last year.

I then cut closely around the image and mounted it onto a darker piece of card.

For this card I stamped and embossed in silver onto a piece of navy blue card and bleached out some areas of the image. I then painted the bleached areas with H20's and also added some glitter glue.....again this was probably Stickles Crystal.

Also added a couple of punched snowflakes with gem centres. Here I have stamped the image in black Stazon and then painted with H20's.
The image was then cut into four pieces and each piece was triple embossed.
Layer one was clear embossing powder layer two was Stamp'n'Stuff Crystal embossing powder and then a further layer of clear was added. The effect IRL is quite stunning as the glitter is suspended in the embossing rather than totally covering the image.
The four pieces were then arranged onto a piece of thick black card and atttached with a strong carpet tape to stop the stamped pieces from curling.

I hope you like them. I will probably be using this stamp again this year at some point as I do love it.
Back to the blooms then for me......after a nice cuppa I think.
Hope you are all having sweet dreams.
Sheila-x-

DCM-Little Extra-Dots and Dashes!!!

Now then, maybe you need a little extra challenge in the middle of the week - well, if so, as usual we have something to amuse you....
Dot Dot Dot Dash Dash Dash
We'd like you to make a card featuring dots and dashes, spots and stripes - that's it, a nice easy and fun little theme for you to play with - just make sure you get both spots AND stripes on your card. We'd love to see your dotty, spotty, stripey creations so please come back and leave a message when you're ready to share.....

Here is my effort for the Little Extra dare from DCMthis week.
The background paper is handmade using first an ink pad to add colour to a piece of linen effect card. Lines and dots have then been added with a Dottariffic pen.
For the small background and flower I coloured another piece of card and stamped the flower using black Stazon. I then added a couple of layers of clear embossing powder to it for contrast and attched it with a brad to the small background.
The black layer is cut using my Fiskars Sunflower decorative edging scissors and is pierced.
After layering I have finished the card with some small black dots.


Well the ladies in the two classes today worked very hard. It tired me out just watching them........lol!!! DD was a fab shop assistant and tea/coffee lady for me and we had a brilliant day. I was really chuffed that five of the ladies were inspired enough to purchase sets of my stamps.......the others already had them.
The whole day was filled with chat and laughter and we had a great time.
I won't be at the shop today so I will hopefully get the painting done plus a few other urgent jobs so I may not have time for any cardmaking. I have also promised DD that I will watch a DVD with her tonight called The Reaping which I am sure is going to scare the pants off me.....big wuss that I am.......lol!!!


As usual I have made a heck of a mess so I am off to tidy up......yes I know it's gone 4am but I did have a sleep from 7pm to 10:30pm last night so am wide awake now.
Bye for now
Sheila-x-

I Blinked And Missed Monday!!!

Well it doesn't seem like five minutes since I got out of bed this morning and here we are at blogging time again.
So much for getting my painting finished. DD had just come in from a night shift and normally only sleeps until about 11am after her last night but today she slept until 2:30pm. As her bedroom is right next to the bathroom I couldn't be up there messing about while she was sleeping and then by the time she got up it was to late to start really as DH and DS were due in and would be wanting showers. I am at work tomorrow so now have it planned for Wednesday.....if I am not required at the shop and if anything stops me I am going to scream very loudly in frustration so get your ear plugs ready........lol!!!


I have two classes tomorrow and no boss so DD is coming to the shop to do the serving and coffee making duties. Both classes will be using my Holly Doodles and Dot and Stripe Christmas stamp sets from Tandastamps. Both classes have already done some of the cards so I am using a card designed by my boss for one of them. I have made a mock up in my own choice of papers and embellishments and just wanted to show you how different they look.
The first card is Deb's and she has used gold card to make a trifold card. One flap is folded over the front and trimmed. The flap has then been covered with paper.
One set of holly leaves is stamped and embossed straight onto the card and the centres have been removed with a craft knife. The same stamp has then been used to stamp onto gold card and also heat resistant acetate. The leaves are cut out and then used to make the embellishment which is finished with a bow. I did my dry run copy in different papers just to show how the same design can look completely different. While typing I have just noticed I made a bit of a boo boo when I was scanning. The inside back flap of both cards is also covered with paper. Deb used the same as the front and mine has a green distressed paper which shows through the cut out holly leaves but noggin here when she is scanning uses a piece of card as a spacer and that is what is showing through the cut outs. There is no hope for me.........lol!!!
DD kindly fetched me some small buttons when she got up and I have used those for the berries rather than glitter glue.

Just want to say a couple of thank you's. I am very touched and grateful to everyone who visits my blog and takes the time to leave a comment but I was really touched by the message 'pattyjo' left me on my post yesterday. After the last horrible couple of weeks it really made my day........thank you.

Also thanks to Hazel who has been and gorn and bought a set of Holly Doodle stamps. Hope you have loads of fun with them and I can't wait to see your cards.

I am just off for a bath now and a read of a new book which I have yet to decide on. I finished my other one while I was eating my tea. Good job we still have a pile of new ones to go at.
Bye for now then.
Sheila-x-