Save the Date with Creative Expressions Vintage Typewriter Stamp set

Well, while I've got some internet I thought that I would try to catch up with some of the cards I've been making and been unable to blog! I have been busy crafting honest!

This is my next card using the "Creative Expressions Vintage Typewriter set". As you can see I'm still using up the ink sprayed watercolour paper! I just got the round the corner Martha Stewart stamp and couldn't wait to use it. I have a Tim Holtz mask that is similar and thought that the two would go together well...haven't had time to try this theory out yet though!

For my card I stamped the date stamp in aged mahogany distress ink and heat embossed it.

The rosette was made using seambinding coloured with distress inks and the letters were from the keypad background stamp. I decided to leave the stamp whole and just punch out the letters I needed. The finishing touch was a bit of stickles to give a bit of sparkle.

I am entering this card into the following challenges

"Sparkles Forum - Something that sparkles"

"Stamptacular Sunday - Must use a stamp, Autumnal colour photo inspiration"

"Artistic Stampers - must use a rubber stamp - Autumn Colours"

This week I received my order from Creative Expressions, so I have been playing with my new stamps making more cards....I will be blogging these over the next couple of weeks. I think I need to set up a facebook account as it doesn't look like I'm making anything over on the Creative Expressions facebook page at the moment...need to pin my eldest daughter down to show me what to do. LOL!

Aqua, white and glitter

The next challenge over on "the Lili of the Valley challenge site" is aqua, white and glitter. The glitter is not obvious on my card but it is on the stole...promise!

K is for Kitty

Just a quick post as I should be doing other things, but I just couldn't resist this challenge on the "Alphabet Challenge blog" For this card I used a Clarity stamp and distress inks. I think the "Purr fect day" stamp is penny black. I used various punches and some papers from ages ago...I've almost finished them, which is a shame as they were so useful.

Sorry about the picture quality, the light wasn't very good when I took this.

Tanda Teaser....and news of a win!

I'm late again posting the latest Tanda Teaser on my blog....I do have several good excuses for this, promise....

With all the excitement about the royal wedding I decided to set a Wedding related Teaser. My main image was a Tanda stamp, stamped in Pumice stone distress ink (one of my fave colours). This was layered onto a scalloped nestie that I had stitched tea dyed cotton lace onto. The background papers were purchased from the Treasury. Overall the colours have giving this card a vintage feel.

I had been admiring some of the Magnolia tag dies, but the thought of spending more money put me off. The tag on this card was my way of getting the same sort of effect, not quite as pretty but pretty enough.

I know I did promise some more pics of Wisley, but you will have to wait a bit longer for now. I seem to be spending all my time at the moment watering the garden...I can't remember when we last had rain and the wind has been so strong that even well established plants are wilting. It looks like the weather might change by the weekend so I am going to make the most of the time I have today in the veg patch...

Oh I almost forgot....I had a lovely surprise at the weekend. My entry in the Sir Stamp a Lot monthly challenge won first prize! It was lovely to get some good news for a change.

Well I'd better get back to my digging!

Sue
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Mother's Day

Morning, I hope all you mothers in the UK had a great day yesterday! I know I had a lazy day...tea and breakfast in bed, a big bouquet of flowers and treated to dinner in the evening. I was going to do a bit of gardening but we had a massive hail storm complete with thunder and lightning in the afternoon that put paid to that! Maybe gardening gets done today if things brighten up a bit.

Well being the day after I can share the card I sent to my mum, this also happens to fit in with the Challenge on "Really Reasonable Ribbon Challenge Blogspot" The Challenge was to use ribbon together with punches or dies.

For my card I have used ribbon, Martha Stewart punchs, Stampin' up punches, a Spellbinders die and Tim Holtz tattered florals die. The main stamp is a Leanne Ellis stamp coloured with copic markers and distress inks. The sentiments are LOTV and a custom stamp from Tanda. The Dotty stamp is my stamp available from the Treasury.

V is for Vehicles and a little story or two!

V is for Vehicles is the latest challenge over on the Alphabet challenge blog...I'm spoilt for choice as I've been making loads of cards that fall under that category over the last few days....all with Tanda stamps...but I'm saving those for future Teasers....well they are teasers...what can I say! LOL!

So I will just have to share this card....it's a digital download from Charmed Crafts.... for the boy next door who just passed his driving test! Images are coloured with Copics...backing papers are Papermania...I think?!

I have fond memories of being driven around London as a very little girl in my would be God mother's VW Beetle.("would be" because I was never Christened and she would have been my godmother if I had if you see what I mean)..she was Canadian and so was the Beetle.....we got a lot of very shocked looks from other drivers....surely this little girl couldn't be driving!!! it was a Hoot!... LOL!!!

That just reminded me of another funny story! This awesome lady took me to see Swan Lake at Covent Garden....we had seats in the Stalls and as I was only little...I took a cushion to sit on....in the days of the IRA the security guards were not going to let me take the cushion into the auditorium because it might have been a bomb....I got quite upset! I told them that there was absolutely no way that I was going to sit on a bomb and they were stupid to think such a thing....they let me though with my cushion. The ballet was magical...I still enjoy ballet to this day.

Punch it with Lili of the Valley!

The challenge for the last week over on the Lili of the Valley Thursday challenge blog has been Punch It!

I just made this card with a new Martha Stewart round the corner punch...I really wanted to get the flowery one, but decided that, practically speaking, the leafy one would be more universal in that it would be OK for guy cards as well as girly cards.


The tab was also a punch, namely Stampin up, apart from this dies were Tim Holtz and Spellbinders nesties. Colouring was with Copic markers and distress inks and stamps were Lili of the Valley and my dotty stamp. Papers were from the Treasury.

U is for Up In The Air

Over on the Alphabet Challenge Blog the challenge this week is "U is for Up In The Air". I thought that the new swinging Tatty Button stamp would be perfect for this. The image was coloured using copic markers. The papers and dotty stamp were all from the Treasury. The sentiment was a custom stamp from TandaStamps.

Tanda Teaser and Fave Colours

Sorry I've been a bit tied up hence the lack of blog postings...so I'm sorry if this is going to be a bit of a long post...but please read on.


Firstly a bit of info on the current Tanda Teaser.....this is a sample card that I have made for the Treasury in Kidderminster. I used distress inks (Shabby Shutters and Peeled Paint) to sponge the backgrounds using a Tim Holtz compass mask. The boot prints were stamped in Frayed Burlap, the crackle in Pumice Stone. The boot prints were given a wet look by using glossy accents. The compass was stamped in archival ink and then coated with glossy accents. The map was printed out from the computer, folded and stuck under the compass. Raffia was tied around the card to finish it off.
















The next challenge card to show today is for the "LOTV Thursday challenge". This week it is favourite colours. The card I'm entering for this is one I've just made for my Mum.


Blues and Greens usually make up my fav colours, but I was really happy with the blues and cream/browns on this card. The stamp of course is LOTV Love Grows. Mum and dad are both keen gardeners and their birthdays are days apart so I actually made his and her's cards using this stamp in different colour ways. Dad's card is a bit more masculine of course.


The flowers on mum's card were made using Tim Holtz's tattered floral die, the tab was an SU punch, the papers were from the V&A inspired collection, the border punch was of course Martha Stewart and the colouring was done using copic markers.

O is for Orange

This week's challenge on the alphabet blog is O is for orange...not a colour I normally go for, but just by chance Patty gave me some pretty fabby papers to make some sample cards for her. Orange just happened to predominant on a couple of the papers and I thought they went well with this new stamp.....a bit Bratz perhaps, but I reckon that they would appeal to the early teen market..I hope so coz DD2's friend is getting a very similar card for her birthday this weekend!

I've used distress inks for stamping (black soot and spiced marmalade), copics for colouring....the hydrangeas were coloured with distress inks and stamped with my dotty stamp....see previous post.

Stamps and papers are all available from the Treasury....again see previous post for details.

A Few of My Favourite Things

I just found a Challenge site for Lili of the Valley fans! And this week's challenge is a Few of My Favourite Things.....LOTV stamps are certainly amongst my favourite stamps at the moment and having just stocked up at the NEC I had to join in with this challenge.


My stamped image was stamped in distress ink and then coloured using copic markers. My favourite things in this are, of course, the stamps, the copic markers, ribbon, Glossy accents, distress inks, SU punches and Martha Stewart punches.

F is for Foliage!

This week's challenge over on the alphabet challenge is F is for Foliage. I made this card using Bloom & Grow papers from My Mind's Eye. The stamp is from Lili of the Valley, stamped in distress ink, coloured with copics and then distressed around the edges with distress inks. I used glossy accents on the roses and apple to give a bit of dimension.

The larger flowers were made by punching out 2 large flowers, 2 medium flowers and one small flower (2 medium and 1 small for the smaller flowers). I snipped into each flower to form the petals and then I used an embossing tool to curl the petals. The flowers were then stuck together and a dab of glossy accents was used to form the flower centres with gold accent beads.


Now for the important bit, the foliage....My foliage was die cut from one of the designer papers in the pack. I've been putting glossy accents onto small parts of my stamped images for a while now and I really like the enamelled look that it gives so it was just an extension of this idea to cover the leaves in glossy accents. I'm really pleased with how this looks, note to self...need to get some more glossy accents!

Ladies Only Tanda Teaser

The Tanda Teaser this time round is called Ladies Only! Of course men are welcome to take part, it is just that the cards/projects need to feature Ladies. For my card I used a mixture of Tanda stamps and Paperartsy stamps and dies.

The centre of my floral embellishment is made from a bottletop filled with a stamped image of the lady's eyes, accent beads and UTEE. Inks are distress inks, papers are Graphic 45. The ribbon was from Fantastic Ribbons.

C is for Cats!

If you read my blog yesterday you will know that I just make a load of sample cards for The Treasury, my local specialist craft store in Kidderminster. If you live anywhere nearby you should definitely drop in...Patty has the Range and Hobbycraft on the doorstep, which are fine if you want what's available everywhere else, but for the really good stuff and the unusual she is really worth the visit. I've also noticed that she is charging less than Hobbycraft for her metallic stazon!

One of the sample cards that I made for Patty features a little girl holding her cat...so it's perfect for the Alphabet Challenge this week...C is for Cats...

The stamp is from Wild Rose Studio. I've coloured it using...you guessed it, copic markers with sakura clear star to provide a tiny bit of subtle shimmer...The papers are Jinkitz...Stamp, embossing folder, papers and punches are all available from The Treasury...(01562) 510203.

Hope you are enjoying your weekend and getting lots of crafting time!
Sue
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Z for Zig Zag

This week sees the end of another alphabet with Z for Zig Zag. I just splashed out on my second Martha Stewart border punch and realised that it would be perfect for this challenge. I've used it for three projects today, but I can only share one of them tonight...the other two are for upcoming Tanda Teasers.

So my entry for Z for Zig Zag is the box that I made for a Birthday present for one of my daughter's friends. The present was...you guessed it, a necklace.....

Pandora's Box

"Tuesday Taggers" theme this week is Pandora's box.....how lucky for me was that seeing as I just made a pressie for one of my good friends and boxed it! I didn't photograph the pressie in the box..just the pressies and the boxes separately, so I hope that's OK.
The necklace, bracelet and ear-rings were made using sterling silver beads and freshwater pearls. Anyone who reads my blog and Zoe especially will recognise the card used for the box....this corrugated card is absolutely fabulous for boxes...unfortunately I think that my local card shop cannot get any more. They have a fabulous deal on end of line...10p per A4 sheet, but once it's gone it's gone!


Nancy looked absolutely fabulous at her party, at least 10 years younger than her real age! The words on the tags on her card were "Forty? Be forever young!" Very apt! It was a great party, her father in law sang for us all (he made the final 36 in the very first X factor and that was after he had throat cancer...What an inspirational guy!) His Tom Jones impersonation was brilliant! Then Nancy's eldest son, Dillan, played with his band, and they were great too. Her younger son had us all wowed with his break dancing...I think Sarah is regretting not going now! We tried to get Emma up to sing with Dillan too, but she chickened out! Nancy and I are hoping that Em and Dillan might perform together at the Mars Bar in Worcester in the near future....nerves and homework permitting!
Sue
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V is for Vintage

Sorry for my lack of blogging over the last few weeks....you know the saying...so much to do...so little time! About time I posted something and so I thought I would take part in the Alphabet challenge "V is for Vintage"....so here it is...really soft colours for a days gone by feel card......

The stamp is from Lili of the Valley coloured with Copic markers, distressing and stamping was done using Distress Inks. The punches are from various companies including SU.

Sue
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Heartfelt

I have to apologise, this blog has been a little neglected throughout August...seems that things got a little hectic and being away from home has not helped with the creative process...just as well I scheduled posts for the Tanda blog before I went away!

This card was made for the latest Tanda Teaser. I used a text stamp from Tanda for the background panel and for the heart. I overstamped the text with a psx rose heart stamp. All stamping/distressing has been done using Victorian Velvet, Spun Sugar, Pumice stone and Black Soot Distress Inks. A smaller psx heart stamp was used on the tag and on the cream background. To give the card a little lift, I heat embossed the heart edges, tag edges and the punched edges with versamark and stardust embossing powder. The ribbon was from Fantastic Ribbons.

I notice that the Alphabet challenge has got to R for Rose this week.....wonder if this will count....if you look very closely at the heart...you might just be able to see the roses.

After all the masculine style cards I've been doing it was nice to get all romantic and girly for a change!

Sue
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G is for Green

This week's letter on the Alphabet challenge is G....and of course G is for Green..but a little bird told me being green could be about recycling...only problem is I just blogged my recycled yeast tin yesterday so that will not count. So this will just have to do....


My Gorjuss girl is coloured with Copic Markers, the background papers are from the Arityicious Decadent Brocade CD Rom, the sentiment was a custom stamp from Tanda and embossing was done in a Cuttlebug embossing folder. I've used various punches and dies including Martha Stewart, SU, Joy and Spellbinders and edges have been distressed with Distress inks.











On the green front, the veg patch is beginning to come together.....here are some pictures.....these are of my beans and courgettes...taken about a week ago before all the rain...they are a little bit bigger now! luckily my water butts have filled up again...they were all empty last weekend! You might just notice the tomato plants too...two plum and 1 Cosack..I have 3 Gardeners Delight and 2 Sungold elsewhere. Tonight our salad was mainly out of the garden...I really recommend Sorrel...it's a hardy perennial, once you get it to germinate it seems to come through quite hard winters...it can be cooked like spinage..(I haven't tried that) or it can be used in salads...it has a fantastic lemony flavour and I thoroughly recommend it!! Doesn't take up much room in the garden too...so it is well worth the initial effort! Once germinated...just keep it well watered and stop it going to seed and you're sorted for years to come!

Paws for thought!

This week it's my turn to set the Tanda Teaser and I have decided to go with cats and dogs...not sure why as it is dry as a bone here....in some ways could do with some rain...(hayfever..volcano ash..garden) in other ways it's a good thing it's dry, namely a leaky roof!:)....just above this computer tooo!!!!:(! Think I typed too soon! Just heard raindrops outside!

The lovely Zoe will recognise this card....sort of....slightly different to the one I sent her for her birthday....but only slightly! the kitten is a Tanda stamp, stamped in Black soot with Weathered Wood around the edges. His eyes were coloured blue using a copic marker and the made to shine with Glossy accents.

I don't normally do backing papers...but I did love these blue ones...can't remember where they were from..(probably Papermania) ..but you can't get them any more :( .

Em's prom dress is coming on the drape is now attached to the bodice...just need to get the skirt on, the zip in, the lining and boning and then the hem done, then it's finished!...but she's scoffing biscuits every night when she gets in from school!!! The question is...will it fit her in June?

Better had or it might be a case of the Emperor's new clothes! LOL!

Sue

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