Pretty...

It's been a while since I blogged anything that I've created it seems! For my birthday, I received the Tim Holtz rosette die, and tattered banner die. Now. I've made many rosettes in my time... fiddly little things... certainly not so time consuming with this die, however, not sure I'm liking the perforations it puts into each fold - more than a little distressing and they have trouble holding up! The end result is pretty tho:

I used dictionary paper, sprayed with a little chalkboard (another birthday acquisition!), then popped a little die cut and tattered banner on top - cute! there's no sewing involved here, the sheer material is simply gathered on the back using double sided tape and a little hot glue. With the piece of gauze left over, I created the 'beribboned' rosette. The seam binding has been sprayed and dried in a crinkly fashion, before being fashioned into a double messy bow. Hope you like! xxx

What a Lucky Girl!

So, today, I am officially past it... 40, by 4 years that is. I'm blessed with a very generous family, who love to pander to my every crafty need... look at the wonderful stash I've received this year:

The small child wasn't a birthday gift - I received her 13 years ago on Mother's day! I think the most exciting gift has to be the Cinch v.2 - guess what I shall be doing all afternoon! xxx

Look What I've Got!!

So, I figure that I don't know ANY paper crafters that don't love ledger paper... whilst browsing around on the web, looking at lovely stash, I stumbled upon this:

it's the new Ledger Paper Pad from Prima. This is Pad 1, and is full of beautiful pastel pages. There is also a second pad which is much more primary in it's colours. Of course, I NEED them both, (and at £14.99 they are good value for 48 pages!) but this is the only one I can find in the UK at the moment. I found it at emerald crafts.co.uk - great shipping charges too. Go grab one!

It's Challenge Time!

We're coming up to the September monthly challenge hosted by Crafty Individuals HERE
This month, the theme gave me a perfect opportunity I thought, to create a door hanger for my step daughters newly decorated bedroom... see if you can guess the theme:

I've used the new stamp set by Crafty Individuals (CI-328), which is filled with wonderful little sewing images, as well as a rather lovely vintage receipt... can't have too many of those! I'm particularly pleased with the little button cards. Once I'd stamped them, I added six little buttons with cotton thread - sweet!
So go take a look over at the Crafty Individuals blog on the 1st of the month to find out what the theme is - you'll find lots more inspiration, why not give it a go! Hope you like. xxx

They Wash Up So Well!!

Connie's birthday gift this year was a make over and photo shoot with a friend.. (she chose her step sister Beth - phew!). So off we went this morning, armed with 5 changes of outfits for both, and more props than I could carry. Whilst they had the most amazing time, I spent most of the 4 hours in a cold sweat, waiting for the hard sell to begin... at £55 for 1 photo, I knew it was going to be hard! Here's one I took of them whilst we were waiting for the photo shoot pictures to be ready to view:

Aren't they both beautiful?! So in we went to the viewing room - nice music, pleasant staff... and the option to own all 160 photos for... wait for it... are you sitting down?? £800!!!! Well. Really. I mean. Come on. As if!!! We knew that Connie and Beth were allowed to choose 1 photo each as part of the package, no extra cost, so I blushed, pleaded poverty and said that I'd like 2 further photos, and that was it. She took it quite well!!! Watch this space for a particularly stunning layout when they arrive in 5 weeks time!!

Ta Da!!!

Well, I've had great fun today, playing with the photo that I showed you yesterday. The layout didn't come together as easily as I'd hoped, but I think that I'm pleased with the finished result:

The number borders are created with a Studio Calico stamp - with the '13' addition using Thickers.
I'm particularly pleased with the flower embellies - made from scallop die-cut patterned papers, some bakers twine and some brads (sadly, I can't take the credit for these - something I was inspired by in the magazine 'Creating Keepsakes'! I printed out the journaling onto kraft cardstock, and cut into strips, to cover a 'black space' in the photo. Then, a few additions from My Minds Eye (Happy Day sticker), October Afternoon (black typewriter keys), Crate Paper ('beautiful' sticker) and Basic Grey (small black sentiment) to finish the page. Hope you like! xxx

All Carded Out...

It feels as though all I've done for the last few weeks is to make cards... Beth's Birthday, cards for my FIL to give to my MIL for her birthday and their anniversary... not to mention cards for our branch of the family to give to her! So here are the Woods/Smith contributions to Doreen's birthday greetings:

Slightly fancier than the cards that I made for Beth! I used the new 6x6 paper pads from My Minds Eye - Lost and Found 2... I'm in love with all four of the new collections - a great mix of sophisticated and fun designs.
Talking of Beth's birthday, take a look at this great photo:

Isn't it cheery?? So... watch this space... time for some scrapping! With such a happy photo, it should be a doddle!