Some bits & pieces...

...that we made during our weekend away.

Rene had a cute Woodware stamp of a little patchwork elephant...

 ...she was on a bit of a roll with paper piecing the image as you can see.
I had picked up some clear stamps from the Range just the week before...

 ...and for just £2 the set contained a scene, a figure...

...and a small scene along with some sentiments. The large scene stamp was stamped directly onto the card blank...

...and jus a faint wash of colour was added to the sky.
The figure was coloured and then fussy cut...

...and the small scene was coloured with a bit more detail.
 I'm not too sure about the end result...

 ...but I think the stamps are wonderful and such a bargain for just £2.
This was a little decoupage topper that I had prepared but hadn't used...

...a bit of gold mirri to matt the topper and some PP along with some toning ribbon and a quick & easy Christmas card was added to my stash.

The lovely thing about the craft weekend is that you can do what you like, when you like.

Everyone had a good selection of crafting goodies with them and there was card making, scrapbooking, knitting and crochet going on throughout the weekend......................................

Tomorrow is...

...the last day of January 2017.

Really!!!

Just where did that month go to?

Although I didn't make any resolutions this year, I did intend to be a bit more organised with my Christmas makes and so far I've been doing pretty well with the knitting & crochet but there was a distinct lack of cards so a rummage in my bag of sale purchases and a bit of card making in front of the TV resulted in...

 ...a quick but fun Naughty Pudding...

...quite a few layers so this wont be going in the post. There are even some googly eyes to add to the fun factor.

So January draws to a close and I have one card done & dusted.

I want to have a play with my Card-io stamps but just as January has flown by, so has my crafting time. I really need longer weekends & shorter weeks...........................................................

The Olympics start today...

...but I'm still making Christmas cards.

August 5 2016 and the games open in Rio - a very different location to the games in London four years ago. We had some lovely weather (and the usual British "wet") in 2012 but temperatures then were nothing to compare with what folk will experience over in Rio. It will be HOT !!!

So to cool everyone down, I'm sharing some snowy creations that I've added to my pile of Crimbo cards.

Craft Creations have released some lovely Christmas toppers and they also have this card kit...

 ...which includes 4 card blanks but loads more stuff too. Allowing you to make more than four.
The kit has 8 printed aperture designs which are all foiled...

...even after making your four as the pack shows, you still have four left to play with.
The central design uses a topper behind the aperture...

...and there are decoupage pieces to enhance the topper which you can use as intended or keep these for use elsewhere. There are also a good selection of sentiments.

With the use of some additional CS and a little planning, 4 can easily become 12. So you could add to your Christmas card stock without too much effort - always handy when time is at a premium. Kits can be a good starting point (especially if Mr Mojo is still off on his holidays) and you can adapt them to suit your needs and have a play around with them to suit your style.

Cool down with some Christmas crafting whilst you catch up on all the heated activity over in Rio..................................................................

Embossing powder...

...and bleach.

This was project number two from Saturday's workshop.

The base decorated layer for the card was created by stamping the butterflies randomly over the surface with Versamark...

...the sprinkling with black embossing powder & heating. The background card was the vibrant green you see here so you may be wondering how the 'colouring' on the butterflies was achieved. That's where the bleach comes in. Using a very fine paintbrush and some thick household bleach, the parts of the image without embossing were carefully painted - I say 'carefully' as just slapping the bleach all over will dull the embossing.

So now you are wondering about the 'texture' - after all, the workshop was "Colour & Texture".

Some additional butterflies were stamped, embossed and bleached...

...on a spare piece of card. Then as you can see here...

 ...they were carefully cut out and curled.

A bit of matt & layering to create the card...

...and the cut out butterflies were attached to the 3 'whole' butterflies. This next photo shows the card slightly from the side...

...and you can see the raised effect but the next phot with the card laying down...

 ...really shows of the depth & texture.

Just as a little finishing touch...

...the bodies of the butterflies were accented with some mini self-adhesive gems.

I have to say, this is the first time that I have 'painted' with bleach - I've stamped onto dark CS in the past using bleach instead of an ink pad - but this was quite a different effect and one that you can control quite a lot. If you want to create the effect of shading, just let the first 'bleaching' dry then paint over the areas that you want paler with another layer of bleach.

It was at this time we had a break for lunch so Hilary & I headed to the café - Mediterranean Chicken on Rice and pressed Apple & Raspberry juice to wash it down...yummy.

We then headed back for the final project of the day - which I'll show you another time........................................................................

Using up some stash...

...making Christmas cards.

This easel card was made using a design that came on a project ideas sheet.

The base was created from one complete and one half of some Christmas green card blanks...

 ...and I chopped up a Christmas red card blank for the first matt. The embossed panels were just leftover bits of CS embossed using my "Moonlit Berries" folder from the 2013 'Wrapped in Joy Collection' by Couture Creations (I love this embossing folder)...

...a bit of die cut decoupage and some lovely tartan ribbon and it's all done.

Now that we are into October, many crafters are finally thinking about their Christmas cards but sometimes the old Mojo can do a disappearing act (trying to cling on to the last remains of Summer). So if you find yourself in this position, flick through a few craft magazines - you don't have to have all the materials that have been used on the original idea...just look at the design and the layout. If you like the basic design, have a go a making a few with whatever scraps you have to hand - before long you will be polishing off those Christmas cards at a rate of knots..........................................

A birthday card...

...for an 80th Birthday.

I was asked by a colleague to make an 80th birthday card for her Dad - the remit was very sketchy..."He does a bit of gardening"...

I struggled to come up with something but in the end went with an easel card made to look like a garden shed...

...the shed was made from a sheet of Carta Bella PP from their "Sew Lovely" range - Woodgrain. This PP was the perfect weight and had a lovely texture to it that made the woodgrain seem very real.
Most of the other items on the card come from the Craftwork Cards "Potting Shed" range...

 ...the dotty PP with the thistles in the corners was used on the base. Card Candi added colour & texture in the corners and was added to a cluster of mini rosettes to create a hanging basket...

 ...the greenery was added by hand using a Distress Marker. The wheelbarrow...

was die cut decoupage and was luckily the right size.

All the sentiment panels came from the Potting Shed paper pack and the '80' was actually silver peel-offs coloured with a copper coloured Sharpie pen (why is it you never have the right colour for things like this?).

To be honest, I wasn't sure about the finished card - after all, 80 is a pretty big deal for a birthday. However, my colleague loved it and so did her family and as the party was yesterday there is no problem sharing it now.

Do you have problems coming up with ideas when the remit is vague?.........................................

Aurora Wings...

...Sprite challenge.

"Sprite Delight" is challenge #5 over at the Aurora Wings challenge blog and the lovely folk over there have even provided a lovely Sunflower Sprite for folk to use.

Here is my coloured sprite...

...waiting to be made into a card.
I haven't made any 'fussy' cards for a while but felt this image would work...

...with a bit of embellishing and layers.
The background paper is some handmade paper containing petals & leaves that I had in my stash...

...and I added some burlap behind the image. The bow was made from the strands that I removed from the fabric to give it a frayed look.
This card will need a box as there is plenty of layering on the decoupage...

...I had seen lots of sunflowers at our local country park and they were surrounded by beds of daisies and other cottage garden flowers so this wheelbarrow full of flowers seemed to fit the bill.
A bit of ribbon, some vintage leaves...

...and there you are - one little sunflower sprite at home in the garden.

The Aurora Wings DT have made some lovely samples to inspire folk so do hop over and take a look. Better still, why not have a go yourself..............................................................

"Best of British" is...

...the latest range of Forever Friends from DoCrafts.

Due to hit the stores on general release in June - HobbyCraft have the range exclusively for a couple of weeks before the general release.

Red/White/Blue is very much in attendance but a bit softer than a lot of the ranges on offer at the moment...and of course there is the cute Forever Friends bear.
I grabbed this decoupage kit on my way home from shopping today (umm, a few other bits also fell into my basket but you'll have to wait to see those LOL). It make up into a lovely card that is suitable for so many occasions.
The main decoupage is the bear but there are a couple of bits of the background that are also embellished with a few layers.
I decided to use this sentiment that came with the kit as it is fairly neutral and will suit a variety of occasions.

There are some lovely stamps in this range and the images will work so well for invitations etc. for forthcoming Jubilee parties. They will also be fabulous for decorating scrapbook LOs or mini-albums containing photos of the Jubilee events that many of us will be enjoying.

There was loads of stuff left over in this kit so I think I'll have a bit of a play and see what else I can come up with...................................

What's hiding in...

...your stash?

To be honest, I dread to think what is buried in amongst all that lot...some long lost treasures and probably a fair number of 'horrors' best left buried LOL.

Anyhoo, whilst rummaging for some A4 CS the other day I came across a couple of decoupage sheets that I thought I had used ages ago (I obviously bought doubles **rollseyes**) so last night I made up a couple of cards - afterall, they were probably about to celebrate their 4th or 5th birthday **hehehe**
With Valentines day fast approaching I thought this little bear was very appropriate...
...and just look at all those layers.
This little miss is so sweet - perfect for a Mother's day card.
I just love her pretty bonnet.
Lots of detail and again loads of layers.

So that's two cards made and a bit of stash used up - wonder what I'll find next.......................................

All Boxed up...

...and ready to go.

This weekend was the last Members Weekend at Pinnacle Crafts for 2011 - so a last chance to grab a bargain at 30% off,

I grabbed a pack of Hunkydory boxed Christmas cards and this is the first that I have made.
The printed images on all the sheets are beautiful.
Everything needed to create 6 of these cards is included in the kit...including the acetate sheets for the 'window' of the card.
Isn't this a lovely Santa...
The box part of the card even has a built-in support so that it can stand up.
There are also a variety of sentiments included in the kit so there are plenty for use with other projects.

I think I will use a couple of the boxes for my own designs and use the decoupage provided on some other cards. Beautiful quality materials and certainly fab value for money. For folk who want something a little more special but don't have a lot of time, this kit is ideal as it can be used 'as is' or embellished in what ever way you wish. I was very pleased with my purchase......................

No Christmas Craft Day...

...today.

Poor Dawn (Bareham) who runs the monthly card workshop has been unwell so unfortunately the Christmas craft day had to be cancelled. Rather than cancel my day off I've just had a mooch around.

Boy has it been cold today...despite a bit of sunshine the temps never made it into double figures here so it was rather brrrrr!!!

A wander around Barleylands and a bit of lunch was followed by a wander around Wickford and then home.

As I had been intending to spend today crafting, I thought I'd better make something...you know...show willing LOL

This is a card that I've made from a Hunkydory kit that I picked up.
Very quick and easy as everything is die-cut ready and just needs putting together. This is just one of 4 cards in the kit. All are beautifully foiled in either gold or silver and there are lots of bits left that can be used on other cards.
There are a variety of sentiments that you can chose from either coloured like the image (as in this case) or matching with the card blank.
The image is a die-cut pyrimage scene which fits perfectly in the aperture but this could be used on another card and the card blank could be used to frame another image of your choice.

Sometimes it is nice to just be able to make something without having to think too much about it - this kit certainly fits that bill..........................

Baubles...

...or Christmas things that hang.

Challenge 42 over at "CHNC" asked for baubles or things that hang. This is the card I came up with...
The base card was a 6x6 inch smooth white CS card blank. The front was completely covered with PP and a topper attached in the lower right-hand corner.
The background PP is from one of this year's paper packs from DoCrafts - Enchanted Christmas. It is like a close-up of a Christmas tree with baubles and lights.
The topper is from last year's DoCrafts range - Henbury Lane. It is a foiled decoupage topper of baubles and it has the sentiment 'On the 12th day of Christmas'.

I was in two minds as to whether I should glitz-up the background paper or not...especially as the topper is foiled - I'm still undecided. I might add some Stardust gel pen to the twinkling lights; I'm not sure. What do you think?......................

Excuse me whilst I...

...SCREAM!!!

My internet service and Blogger must have had a fight, spat, whatever and they are not playing nice. Everything is running very slowly and whenever I try to do anything it seems to trigger 'hissy-fit' time and I get that silly rotating circle and a 'not responding' message. It is making it very hard to do anything on Blogger.

I didn't have time this morning to post a card that I made for the Paper Shelter challenge 'We love animals' but didn't think it would be a problem as I would have more than an hour when I got home from work to do it before the deadline...think again. I finally got onto the Paper Shelter site 4 mins after the close of the challenge grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

I'm not having this kind of problem accessing anything else via t'net so it has got to be something to do with Blogger. Anyway, rant over and here is the card I made...
The base card was made some time ago to try out the mechanism (I had attended a card workshop and we had made this style of card and I was trying to remember how...) but I never decorated it. If you are wondering what kind of mechanism...
...it's one of those magic slider thingies.
The panels have been decorated with stamped images that have been 'water-coloured' using a variety of Marvy & Zig pens.
Isn't this just the cutest image.
The main panel on the front of the card was also decoupaged (just the 3 mice and only one layer).

There are a few of my favourite challenge sites that I will be giving a miss this week as I do not have suitable images for the themes set (LOTV is one) but I have a few cards on the go and plenty of digi images that I need to get coloured so I think I've got plenty to keep me occupied.

Thank you for dropping by...........................