tales of a craftaholic

All Grown up

2011-10-16T16:38:00.000+01:00

My new kits arrived from The Scrap Room and they are gorgeous as always. I just loved the Jillibean Soup papers and was itching to play with them. I decided to enter the Sketch Challenge on the Scrap Room blog, here is the sketch

and here is my take on it

AS WINTER BEGINS........

2011-10-05T20:58:00.000+01:00

about the only thing I like about winter is that I get to craft......somehow those long, dark nights gives me an excuse to stay indoors and play with paper :) This layout is made from one of my many kits that has been lerking on the shelf begging me to play with it.......Tammy from the the scrap room always picks such wonderful papers, and these are no different.

The photos are from my aussie adventure (prepare yourself for loads more), the beach was simply stunning and I so want to move to a country where its still warm enough to frolic in the sea long after the sun has gone down!!!

Black and white..........

2011-09-27T21:01:00.000+01:00

sooooo need to change my blog layout......had the same one since 'pa fell off the bus' and me thinks its time for a re-vamp!!! that said I will need to remember how I set it all up in the first place!!! But at least I am back crafting......this is the layout I taught at the lovely Jess Enniscorthy workshop

I was scrapping my Beca's beloved teddy.....this wee Zebra has been her favourite teddy since she was a baby! He is her constant companion and her comfort when she is sick or sad......its not often that he is abandoned but on this occasion she was learning to 'skate board' and he was left near by to watch. I had to scrap him as he is a permanent fixture in our family :)

as he was black and white I opted for black and white theme with the papers, plus a little embossing on black cardstock for something a little different.

2011-09-25T21:00:00.000+01:00

MY FIRST MINI ALBUM

I can't believe that I haven't been blogging since February!!!! Bold me......but then again I haven't been exactly crafting either!!! For some reason life kept getting in the way.......hate that!!! But am finally back in 'plays with paper' land and getting myself all inspired for the GBCE

I have been admiring mini albums on the various blogs and forums and ordered a couple of kits for Crafty Queens and when they arrived in the post I was itching to get started. The kits were jam packed with all manner of goodies from a canvas mini album to flowers, papers, masks and all manner of little trinkets!!! I spent a week working on this album.......my first......and I am super-proud of the results. The piccies are the few snaps I have of me and my sister as children......the problem with moving halfway around the planet is you have to leave so much behind......but these pictures remind me of love, laughter and........home

2011-02-24T20:35:00.001Z

HEY YOU

So I love Basic Grey......they do the most awesome lines of papers and when my kit club offered the chance to join the 'Page of the Month' club, I was there like a bear with bells on!!! I have been a member for a year and have NEVER been disappointed with a kit!!!

So when the January kit arrived, I fell on it with glee!!! January's kit was the yummy Curio line and the kit included 2 sheets each of 7 patterned papers, not to mention element stickers, mini monograms, clips and other pieces as well as a layout guide!!!

so I dragged out the cutters and double-sided tape and scrapped these piccies of my son when he was a itty bitty baby!! I used to put him in 'baby jail' aka his playpen so I could clean up and he would always pull himself up and lean over the side babbling away in baby speak!!

thanks for peeking

2011-02-12T11:27:00.000Z

LUCKY

boy oh boy its been ages since I was blogging......but then its been ages since I was crafting for some reason!!!! But I am back, and happy to be crafting!!!!!

The papers I picked are the gorgeous Fancy Pants Happy Together line that came as part of my January kit from The Scrap Room I decided I wanted to do something with circles so I used a doily that I got in the pound shop and then cut various sized circles to mount my photo on....added some punched flowers, topped with buttons and some scrappers floss and I was done!!!

Thanks for peeking!!!

2010-10-19T20:19:00.000+01:00

So Thankful....

My Basic Grey Page of the Month kit for October arrived from my scrappy club The Scrap Room I am a HUGE fan of Basic Grey, it was the first line of paper I bought when I started scrapping and would now be the mainstay of my paper collection!!!

This months papers were the gorgeous Pyrus collection and the sample layout that came with it was stunning so I set about scrap lifting it :o) I love the POTM kits as it contains everything you will need to create a layout and there is always loads left so that you can do another layout or 3!!!

2010-10-18T19:42:00.001+01:00

Gorjuss Girls meet Basic Grey...........

So its been a while since I made cards but the old mojo kicked in last night when I came across some gorjuss girl images that I had coloured in using Distress Inks (love this technique). This little lady is one of my favourites, she is just sooooo pretty and I figured that the orange was bright enough so after a root through my stash I decided to mount her on some Basic Grey Basic Manila paper that I got from Cardz n Scrapz. I added some ribbon and a cherry blossom and she was finished.

I then teamed another of the wee girls with some Basic Grey papers from the Basic Grey Lemonade collection (also from Cardz n Scrapz), added some gems and ickle flower blossoms and another card was done.

thanks for peeking!!!

2010-10-16T15:46:00.002+01:00

Look who is 3

Been scrapping up a storm lately just never seem to get the right light to take a decent picture!!! This is one of my recent makes, the pictures are from my son's birthday last year! I know.....shame on me for only scrapping them now!!! The layout is based on a sketch from Julie Bonner and the papers are from my October scrappy kit from The Scrap Room The papers areTeresa Collins from the gorgeous Celebrate line

Thanks for peeking :o)

2010-09-29T22:53:00.001+01:00

......Because.......

Ok so its been a while since I was blogging.....AGAIN.....and then doesn't blogger / my lappie go and throw a hissy fit so I just couldn't upload a picture!!! anyway after much wailing and gnashing of teeth I finally was able to upload a pic of my latest layout!!!!

This is a layout using the absolutely GORGEOUS Fancy Pants papers from the My Family line. They arrived in my latest kit from The scrap room and I just couldn't wait to get scrapping with them!! I picked some pictures of me and my son when he was a littlely!!! I remember this picture as it was the first time I went out at night since he had been born and I was torn between going out and staying in with my little fella!!!

I cut various size squares of paper and inked them with Rusty Hinge Distress Ink, I added a few torn strips and some card candy (love those little yokies) and the quote which came with the fancy pants papers was enough journalling as it sums up how I feel about my sweet boy :)

........Because just being together is enough..................

2010-09-13T19:04:00.000+01:00

Finally......

Oh my I can't believe how long its been since last I put up a blog post!!! My little patch of the web is seriously starting to gather dust!!! Sadly it has been that long since I did a reasonable nights crafting as well!!! Don't you just HATE it when life gets in the way of more interesting things like crafting!!!

Thankfully my friend Jess asked me to teach a scrappy class at her last workshop which got me out of my scrappy drought as there was no way I was gonna embaress myself infront of a room full of women :o)

I decided to teach a framing technique that I learnt at the GBCE last year. It is something that I use alot and is soooo quick and easy. I covered and decorated my frame, mounted it on some lovely brown bazzil cardstock which was then mounted on a piece of patterned paper that I distressed and inked. I stamped my title on some cream cardstock and mounted it on foam pads with some ribbon threaded though it for effect. I used my new Hero Arts journalling stamp to write a wee message on the side.

Finally back to scrapping and oh how I have missed it......crafting trully is required to keep one sane :) Here is hoping its not another two months til my next post!!!

2010-07-05T22:01:00.000+01:00

Because....

So I have been itching to dive in and use my July kit from The Crafty Alley The kit is absolutely GORGEOUS and full of all things Prima!!! This sheet of paper is my absolute favourite and I decided to really go to town on it with a piccie for my wedding album!!!

The pic is of my sister walking me down the aisle in the church in Prague. We were both a little sad as my dad passed away a few years ago so couldn't do the honours, but bless my big sister she travelled halfway round the world to be there for me!!!

I distressed and inked the edges of the page with distress inks. The photo is mounted on the frame in the page, I added the lace, ribbon, flowers, leaves and gems....ALL from the kit (did I mention it was awesome) and then some simple journalling about why my sister is the best!!!

am now itching to use the rest!!

2010-07-01T23:30:00.000+01:00

Black and White

One of these days I will learn how to take a decent (and straight) photo of my creations.....but then given that I don't have a straight eye and I always stick things a little wonky, its probably better that the photos are a little wonky themselves!!!

anyhoo enough babble.....more crafty bits. So my new Hero Arts goodies arrived the other day and I have been playing with them and am still in love with their stamps. Was having a hop about the blogs and have seen a few black and white cards and thought that my new Exotic Bloom stamp from Hero Arts would work well with this. I stamped it in black stazon, added a sentiment (also Hero Arts), mounted it on black card stock, which I mounted on a white card and added a few black gems and voila.....card done in 10 mins!!!

thanks for looking :o)

2010-06-30T13:55:00.000+01:00

One for the Girls

So I am in love with flowers, especially on cards, just can't get enough of them, even though finding envelopes to fit the cards is a bit of a drama!!! So when one of the girls Katie mentioned on the Cardz n Scrapz forum that there was a new challenge blog Pocket full of posies dedicated to flower lovers starting I just had to go and take a peek.

Challenge 1 is called 'One for the Girls' and had me itching to use this Greetings Farm stamp.....she is just soo sassy and cute and oh so girlie!!! I coloured her in with my promarkers and then decided that I was gonna use the GORGEOUS Persimmon Collection papers which somehow looked good with her. I added a rose and some cherry blossom blooms (suitably stickled ) and punched some rose leaves using my Martha Stewart punch. Somehow she didn't need anything else.

If you are a flower lover, hope over to the blog as there are some STUNNING flowers up for grabs!!!

Thanks for looking :o)

2010-06-28T10:01:00.000+01:00

Crafty Alley Challenge 3

The challenge over on the Crafty Alley Design Team Blog this week is a sketch. I love working from sketches when the old mojo goes walkies as it gives me a place to start!!!

After having a root about in my stamps I decided to use this girly stamp from the Greetings Farm. Another root yielded my new Tim Holtz papers so I knew that these would be my papers. I coloured her in using my Distress Inks (love this technique!!!) and then inked the edges and mounted her on some cardstock. I distressed and inked my papers a little and then added some ribbon, a flower and some card candy and my take on the sketch was complete.

thanks for looking :o)

2010-06-24T08:04:00.000+01:00

CnS June Challenge

This is my entry for the June Challenge over on the Cardz n Scrapz forum. The challenge was set by Di and had to include an animal (real or cartoon), the colour Yellow and 3 buttons.

I haven't used my Forever Friends stamps in a while so decided to use this one as my animal :o) I coloured her in with Distress inks and made the ballon yellow. The patterned paper is from the Basic Grey Sugar Rush collection and the glitter card stock is from my stash. I added some glossy accents to the ballon, my 3 buttons and a sentiment.

Thanks for peeking

2010-06-23T23:08:00.000+01:00

Basic Grey Page of the Month

June

I am a huge fan of Basic Grey!!! Love their stuff, their papers are awesome and their embellies are always deadly so when my kit club offered the chance to join their Page of the Month club I leapt at the chance. As we are joining a little late in the game we are playing catch up but I don't mind.....you can NEVER have enough Basic Grey!!!

The June kit was the GORGEOUS Capella line and I loved the designers layout so much that this is my take on it. The pictures are of my daughter taken within the first 24 hrs after she was born. Alas I soooo have to learn how to take good pictures as the photo doesn't do this layout justice but I really loved the end result.

thanks for looking :o)

2010-06-21T13:56:00.000+01:00

Flatmates

So I got my new Scrap Room kits this month and feel completely IN LOVE with the absolutely GORGEOUS Websters pages!!! Oh my god I swear I spent the day stroking them, they are from the stunning Lullabye Lane collection and I just knew I had to scrap them first!!!

The particular page I picked is the one with the frame on it which is just gorgeous (I keep saying that I know) so I decided that as the design on the other side was awesome as well (don't you hate it when you want to use both sides!!) that I would cut out the centre of the frame and reverse it so I could use both sides!!! I mounted the frame on some brown bazzil card stock and used the reverse cut out as part of my photo mat. I added some floral peachy lace trim, some little pearls in the flower centres and a little ticket is tucked in the corner with my memory of this photo of me and my flatmate Kathleen.

I am so gonna buy some more of this paper line, it is just the most stunning paper I have seen in a while......I am in LOVE :o)

2010-06-09T18:31:00.000+01:00

Shades of Blue

So I have been on a promarker buying spree recently and for some unknown reason I bought loads of different shades of blue!!! So when I came across these Magnolia papers I decided they would be perfect to use as a backdrop to a stamp coloured in with some of my new blues!!!

I love this Tilda stamp she is just to cute (and easy to colour) and perfect for the birthday card I am making for my niece. I coloured her in, edged her in ice grey and added some stickles for effect. I added some ribbon, pins and pearls and the card was complete.

thanks for looking

2010-06-04T19:21:00.000+01:00

Class Of '92

Woo Hoo my mojo seems to have found its way home and I have been scrapping up a storm!!! This is another piccie from my past. It is a picture of me and the girls from my year that were chosen to be school prefects. I was very proud to be a prefect and honored to be chosen especially as I hadn't been at the school very long. The picture was taken on the steps leading down to the sports pitch.

I chose some American Crafts papers from the Dear Lizzie line that came in my May kit from The Scrap Room They are just sooo pretty and girlie and somehow very appropriate for a girlie picture. The rose ribbon is also from American Crafts and just soooo pretty. The photo is mounted on some pink card stock and I have put it in an american crafts photo sleeve and added some journalling on the reverse side

I finished the layout off with some crochet flowers that came with the kit and some buttons from my stash.

Thanks for looking

2010-06-03T11:17:00.000+01:00

Memories

So I have been taking a walk down memory lane over the last few weeks as I came across a few photos from back home. I just had to scrap them as they are the only photos I have and I needed to preserve them for my children to see!

These are the pictures taken of me, my mom, my sister and her 2 children about a month before I left home for the Emerald Isle. I followed a sketch from one of the challenges over on The Scrap Room Blog. The papers are from my April FOTM kit from The Scrap Room The paper line is October Afternoon Thrift Shop.

I opted for a nice clean layout with just a few buttons and a tag to finish off the layout. The quote is something that I felt was sooo true in this case as my family and I live on opposite ends of our fair planet but they are always in my thoughts and I am who I am today because I grew up in a wonderful family environment :o)

2010-05-16T09:31:00.000+01:00

224

I was having a look through so old photos and came across this picture of me taken about 10 years ago now when I first arrived in Ireland. I am sitting on the steps outside my first flat that I shared with my best friend. I remember how excited and yet afraid I was on my first trip abroad.....I also remember how cold it was :o) After growing up in Africa the Irish summers are just NOT warm :o) Alot has happened since that day, some good, some bad but all of it worth while so I was driven to scrap that picture to always remember where my Irish adventure began......I have sooo many good memories about that place!!!

My new kits had just arrived from The Scrap Room and I absolutely LOVE the new Pink Paislee line called 'Queen Bee' so I decided to use these papers. I cut strips of patterned paper which I added a zig zag to using one of my Martha Stewart punches I got over on Cardz n Scrapz I cut and mounted my photo using my new megabilities nesties (these are the dogs pyjamas!!!) and added some jeweled brads and paper buttons using yet anothe Martha Stewart punch!!! I added the title 224 which was the number of the house our flat was in. At the top I added a strip of pleated material also from Pink Paislee! and finally I added some hidden journaling under the photo and the layout was done!!

2010-05-13T10:35:00.000+01:00

Something a little different

I am a HUGE fan of Jennifer Mcguire I love her scrapbooking and card making style and she does really brilliant how-to videos. So when I saw her demo a technique she called pearlized stamping I just had to try it out :o) Especially as she used several things I love like Hero Arts stamps, Tim Holtz Distress inks and perfect pearls!!!! This is my take on the card that Jennifer made.

I randomly inked my background hero arts stamp called Silhouette Grass with the following Distress Inks (peeled paint, bundled sage, tea dye and wild honey), I then sprayed it with some water mixed with perfect pearls and stamped the image. It looks a little weird and watery but when it dried it was just GORGEOUS and all shiney (which doesn't show up to well in the piccie).

I then distressed and inked the edges of the card with more Tea Dye distress ink. I mounted the image onto some green card stock and added some string and a button. This was then mounted on a cream card blank to which I added my Thank You sentiment which I stamped using the Just Rite stamps I got from the lovely Marina of Cottage Crafts in Craanford.

Thanks for looking ;o)

2010-05-12T13:46:00.000+01:00

Communion Cards

So the marathon card making session continues :o) This time it was for my niece's communion, I had to make several cards from various members of the family so again they had to all be different. Don't get me wrong I rarely make the same card, I like to do things a little different but these had to be completely different from papers to stamps to layout etc. Again I had help and inspiration from many crafty friends to whom I am eternally grateful!!!

In the first card above I used the handmade rose technique and ribbon threading that I learnt at Jackie's workshop. The roses are SOOOOO easy to make and look so pretty. This one is made using white paper which I inked and stickled!!! The image is called 'Spring has Sprung' and she is part of the Sugar Nellie range from Funky Kits. As is the image on the card below, she is a Gorjuss Girl and one of my favourite girlie girl images!!

The next card is made using a whiff of joy stamp that a friend Pam kindly stamped for me. LOVE this image, it is sooo gentle and pretty. Plus I got to play with my new roses embossing folder which I inked with my distress inks!!!

And finally a some more religious cards, the first of which I did in white and silver, using a bible that another crafty friend Jess kindly cut out for me.

The second one is made from a kit I got at Jess's workshop last weekend!!!

thanks for looking :o)

2010-05-10T09:42:00.000+01:00

CONFIRMATION CARDS

boy its been a while since I was blogging!!! My niece and my two nephews had their confirmation on the same day and I made loads of cards for them from various family members. No easy feat cause they all had to be different!!! Tis a time when you really appreciate your crafty friends as thanks to some wonderful crafty girls on one of the forums I belong to who helped me out with stash, ideas and inspiration I managed to make about 16 different cards for the same wee kiddies. Here is a selection of cards, starting with the easel card I made for my niece.

and here are some more

thanks for looking :o)

2010-04-26T18:19:00.000+01:00

Crafty Angels - Summer

This weeks challenge over on the Crafty Angels Blog is summer and given all the lovely sunny weather we have had of late I was in the right frame of mind to think all things summery!!! I love this Sarah Kay image, she is called 'Elodie in her Garden' and she is one of my favourites!!

I decided to use yellows and browns, these are colours that remind me of summers back home in Zim where the summers are dry but the flowers are beautiful and bright. I coloured her in using promarkers and then cut her out using my new megabilities, I lightly inked the edges with distress ink, then mounted her on some brown card stock that I had embossed using my swiss dots embossing folder.

Ever since I came across a turtorial on how to make cards with my nesties I have loved making them, so I decided this image would be perfect on a nestie card!!! I cut out some yellow cardstock using the largest of the megabilities and then glued it together with some ds tape and added some brown ribbon from my stash for effect. I added some flowers and shiny brads from my stash and a little glossy accents to finish off the card.

thanks for looking

2010-04-19T19:40:00.000+01:00

Crafty Angels - Weddings

This weeks challenge over on the Crafty Angels blog is weddings!!! Now wedding cards are not something I make often so I had to sit down and have a little think about this. I went rooting thru my stamps and came across the lovely oh so romantic and mousey penny black stamp and knew that this would be my centre piece!!! I love penny black stamps and Crafty Angels carry a fab selection of them so be sure to have a nose about!!

I opted to do a soft and simple setting for my mice, I coloured them in with promarkers and mounted them on a scalloped square (don't you just love the nellie dies) cut in some yellow co-ordinations cardstock. I embossed some hearts on a piece of white cardstock which I gently chalked and mounted on some more yelloe cardstock and finised it off with the Perfect Day sentiment and some yellow ribbon. I punched some hearts in the corner of the card with my new fiskers punch.

Don't forget the Design Team are keeping their peepers out for the top 3 and an awesome Greetings Farm stamp is up for grabs.

2010-04-13T13:22:00.000+01:00

Baby Girl Card

So decoupage and I are not always friends!!! All that fine cutting is a nightmare for me....always end up chopping off bits I shouldn't. So used to avoid it like the plague!!!! That was til I discovered the lovely Sarah Kay die cut ones.....they just sort of pop out.....easy peasy and ment for me!!!

This is the card I made for my niece's first birthday, I love this image (I have the stamp as well....how sad am I ), I mounted her on an oval cut out with my nesties that I had embossed and lightly inked. The paper is some tissue paper I found lerking in a press, don't you just love those little finds!!! I added some prima flowers and some gems to finish it off

thanks for looking

2010-04-12T10:09:00.000+01:00

CRAFTY ANGELS - My Favourite Things

I was really chuffed to be invited to be a guest designer over on the Crafty Angels Blog for the month of April. This weeks challenge is 'My Favourite Things' set by Evonne and she wants to see some of your favourite things be it a layout on your favourite things, your favourite embellishments or papers.....the choice is yours.

There is also an awesome prize up for grabs from Crafty Angels in the form of this fab Greetings Farm stamp....go on you know you want to take this little cutie home!!!

For this challenge I opted to use a few of my favourites.....my favourite crafty style (Scrapbooking), my favourite subject (my kiddies, in this case my son) and my favourite technique (distressing). I distressed and inked my cardstock with one of the new range of Tim Holtz Distress inks available in the Crafty Angels store, I used Rusty Hinge but there are 12 GORGEOUS new colours for you to choose from. I mounted my image on a Fancy Pants die cut paper and added some simple journaling and buttons to finish it all off.

Thanks for looking

2010-04-11T21:16:00.000+01:00

RESIST EMBOSSING

One of my favourite blogs is Jennifer Mcguire's blog. She does absolutely awesome cards using loads of different techniques so when I watched one of her How To videos on this technique I had to have a play. Especially as I had just ordered a whole heap of Hero Arts stamps (a new stamp obsession is born) which included some of the stamps used by Jennifer and Tami Hartley.

The first card I made is using the gorgeous Hero Arts Silhouette Meadow Flowers stamp which I embossed and inked using my Tim Holtz Distress inks (Peeled paint, Milled Lavendar and Dusty Cord). I layered this image on some purple and green cardstock, added some ribbon and stamped the sentiment (also Hero Arts )

The second card was made using the Hero Arts Poppy Background stamp, which I inked using my Tim Holtz Distress Inks (Barn Door and Peeled Paint), I mounted the image on some green card stock, then mounted it on some Penny Black paper from my stash. I added a few pearls and used the same Hero Arts sentiment. Below is a piccie of all my new Hero Arts goodies (plus my beloved Hedgie Stamp from Penny Black)

2010-04-09T09:47:00.001+01:00

FIRSTS

I recently joined the Yellow Scrapbook Club that Kerry from An Siopa Bui set up and when the first kit arrived I had to sit down and scrap.....the papers were AWESOME so softy and pretty and there were lovely buttons and ribbon in the little embellies bag. Kerry had also setout a really lovely layout to use so I got scrapping.

I had some pictures I had taken of Beca on her actual first birthday and decided these would be perfect for this double layout. Some of the photos are mounted on the pages some are on little tags that can be removed for a closer look. The layout is entitled FIRSTS as Beca had a few firsts on this day. The journalling reads

Today was a series of firsts

your first birthday
your first taste of birthday cake
the first time you ran a HUGE temeperature
your first bout of tonsilitis

may we share many more firsts with you

2010-04-01T22:16:00.000+01:00

SO BUSY

I love these pictures of my daughter, she is obsessed with the laundry basket and you can guarentee that as soon as I have unloaded the tumble dryer she will sit happily 'helping' me sort the washing!!! So I got the camera one day and captured her busy!!!

I love these papers, they come as part of my double-shots kit from The Scrap Room I tore and inked the papers with some Tim Holtz Distress Inks. I painted a frame with some Crackle Paint and framed one of the photos which I then mounted over the papers. I finished the layout off with some buttons, gems and flowers and did my title in some American Craft thickers.

2010-03-29T11:01:00.000+01:00

BUGABOO BLOG CANDY ALERT

To celebrate the past three months Jodie from Bugaboo Stamps has this gorgeous collection of blog candy on offer. Have a toodle over and have a peek for yourselves!! She is also including a gift certificate for her wonderful digi images!! Candy is on offer til April 15th......go on, you know you want to!!!

2010-03-17T15:41:00.000Z

BUGABOO COWBOY

I decided to enter the sketch challenge over on the Catch the Bug Blog I decided to use one of the GORGEOUS Bugaboo Cowboy digi stamps. This little fella is one of my favourites and I decided that he would be perfect for the card.

I coloured my image in using promarkers and mounted him on some distressed co-ordinations cardstock. I added some red checked paper from my stash and punched down the one side with my Martha Stewart star punch. I mounted this on more distressed card stock and added some red card candy to finish the card off.

Thanks for looking!!

2010-03-17T15:15:00.000Z

SCRAPBOOK DEMO

This is the layout I made during my scrapbook demo at Jess's workshop in Enniscorthy this month. I opted to create a nice simple layout to show how easy it is to pull together a simple layout without having to cut and measure lots of different papers.

I decided to use a picture of Rebecca when she was only 3 days old as she snoozed in her cot. I tore and inked a piece of gorgeous patterned paper from Bo Bunny (love this paper line). This was mounted on some pink bazzil card stock which I also distressed and inked with walnut stain distress ink. I layered some prima and papermania flowers and buttons. I also scattered some buttons on the page. Finally I tore the bottom edge of the paper and added some ribbon.

The title is UNIQUE which is what my wee baby is. I felt no journalling was required, what more can I say, she is her own little person whom I love more with each passing day!!!

thanks for looking

2010-03-16T13:59:00.000Z

SOMETHING VINTAGE

The latest board challenge over on the Cardz n Scrapz forum is with a vintage feel. The recipe is VINTAGE, using a distressing technique (Tim Holtz at the ready) and there must be at least one flower on it!!! Now I was thinking in the scrappy line then changed my mind at the last second and decided to do a card!!!

I opted to use the gorgeous papers from the Papermania Chatsworth collection. Having picked my papers I rooted through my promarker collection and opted for a nice simple colour scheme of Blossom and Shale. I distressed the cardstock the paper and the image are mounted on and lightly inked the edges using my Milled Lavendar distress ink. The digi image was the only really vintagey stamp I had but me thinks she is gorgeous!!! I used the lovely Martha Stewart doily punch to give the card a little frill!! I added some ribbon and some paper roses in the corner to finish it off.

Thanks for looking!!!

2010-03-09T08:28:00.000Z

ROSIE POSY

Am still happily playing with my new Lili of the Valley stamps and this little cutie is Rosie Posy and I just love her!!! she is sooooo cute!!! I love making easel cards and decided that she would be perfert for this type of card.

I coloured her in using my promarkers then cut her out using my nesties. She is mounted on another nestie cut out which I inked with distress inks (did I mention I am addicted to distressing!!!) I used some gorgeous papermania papers in lovely shades of purple and finished the card off with some fab paper roses, some gems and a bit of lace ribbon.

thanks for looking :o)

2010-03-08T10:01:00.000Z

BABY BIRTHDAYS

So my new stamps from Lili of The Valley arrived and they are just so cute!!! Couln't wait to play with them, so I got stamping!! My niece Robyn's first birthday is fast approaching and the baby girl stamp was just perfect for her!!!

I stamped and coloured the image in using my promarkers, I then cut the image out using my circle nesties and inked the edges using my Tim Holtz Worn Lipstick distress inks (one of my favourites). I then cut another circle in pink card stock and distressed and inked this as well. Used a simple backing paper from my stash which I distressed and inked as well (HELP I am a distress junkie). I added a lovely paper rose, a little white ribbon (had to add something NOT pink LOL) and some....yes you guessed it....PINK gems. I added a happy birthday sentiment and the card was done

so inspired by baby birthdays I decided to make another card using my male baby stamp.....isn't he just the cutest??? I coloured him in promarkers and cut him out using my deckle edge nesties. I inked the edges in red and mounted him on some cardstock that I had sanded! I added some red eyelets and then mounted the image on some red checked paper which I had mounted on more sanded cardstock

thanks for looking :o)

2010-03-08T08:31:00.000Z

JUST BECAUSE.....PAPER PLAY CHALLENGE

I have always loved the look of cards made using Nesties but wasn't sure how to make them. One of the girls Deirdre on the Cardz n Scrapz Forum always does gorgeous ones and she kindly posted a link to a tutorial for them and boy are they fun.....prepare to see ALOT more of these!!!!

I decided to enter this weeks challenge over on Paper Play Challenges Blog This weeks challenge is Just Because!! I liked this idea as it made a change from making Birthday cards LOL!!! I decided to try out the tutorial on Nesties cards using my Labels 8 nesties (love this set!!) and am using one of my new Lili of The Valley stamps called Teddy with a Flower. I opted for a simple, bright, clean card. So stamped and coloured my image with Promarkers, cut him out using my nesties. I inked the edges using Tim Holtz Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink and the mounted him on plain yellow cardstock that I had embossed with my swiss dots cuttlebug folder. I added some gems, some glossy accents to give the flower a bit of definition and chose the Best Wishes sentiment.

thanks for looking :o)

2010-03-01T20:06:00.000Z

SOME BABY CARDS

I was having a toodle on some digi stamps sites the other day and came across this cute image on Bugaboo stamps One of the girls on the CnS forum Deirdre has done some fab cards using the images from Bugaboo so went to have a look and just fell in love with this image......it is sooooooo cute. I couldn't resist making a card with it. I think the image is so lovely that I went for a simple card layout, mostly white with a little hint of pink!!!

here is another card I made with another baby image from Bugaboo

isn't this just the cutest???? something so peaceful about the image!!!

I love using clear embossing powder over coloured ink, so decided to go this route with yet more baby stamps (don't ask me why but I am obsessed with baby images at the mo)!! The stamps are lovely simple stamps that I got from Marina at Cottage Crafts in Craanford when she was at Jess's crop the other week. here are the results, one for a boy

and one for a girl

unfortunately they didn't photograph well but they really do look fab up close (hmmm.....modest me)

thanks for looking

2010-03-01T14:23:00.000Z

SPRING HAS SPRUNG

The latest challenge on the The Cardz n Scrapz Forum is a 'spring' challenge!! I decided that this was the perfect chance to use my spring has sprung stamp from sugar nellie. Love this stamp, it is just sooo gentle and pretty and given that I live in a sheep farming area, somehow the little newborn lamb does remind me of spring.

I decided to use green and yellow as my main colours and double mounted my image on some co-ordinating cardstock and then onto some white embossed card. For backing papers I opted for some gorgeous papers from the Basic Grey origins line and finished off the card with some gems and a little yellow ric rac!!

thanks for looking

2010-02-25T19:28:00.000Z

THIS AND THAT

Been busy making cards this week, the first is a card I made for my first card swap, the theme was pockets, so I made this pocket card using Basic Grey papers (I 'heart' Basic Grey)!!! Here is the inside of the card

Then I made a card for my nephew, his birthday is later in the year but given that boy/man cards are soooooo hard to do, I thought I would get it done now while my mojo was in full flow.....tis made using a Greetings Farm stamp, some corrugated card and Basic Grey papers (I think I mentioned I love Basic Grey)

The finally I made a card for Angela as part of the CnS Birthday card club. I got the idea for the dress with a pleated skirt from a Papercraft Inspirations magazine. The papers are.....ummm....you guessed it.....BASIC GREY

2010-02-22T19:03:00.000Z

WHAT NOW???

Was rooting through my stash over the weekend and came across the gorgeous papers from Basic Grey Lemonade line and I just had to use them, they were so bright and cheerful. I decided they would be perfect for the above picture of Rebecca in her activity centre.

I used the sketch layout from the Week 7 challenge over on The Scraproom blog and decided to make a frame for the photo using a technique I learnt at the GBCE in Athlone. I decorated the frame with some ribbon and gems and a butterfly (I love that punch) and then mounted the frame on some patterned paper which itself had been mounted on some cardstock that I had scalloped using on of my Martha Stewart punches.

I love how bright and cheeful the layout looks

2010-02-12T18:40:00.000Z

MY FIRST RIBBON CHALLENGE

I entered Ribbon Challenge 12 over on Crafty Ribbons the theme was Cherry Pie and we recieved a gorgeous selection of Cherry ribbons as well as some co-ordinating plain ones. In return we had to submit at least 2 projects along a Cherry theme. I really had fun with this challenge.....I made the above card using the gorgeous (yet simple to colour in) Fruity Fun stamp, I double mounted the image on red and yellow card stock, added my cherry ribbon and some co-ordinating red ribbon over it and added a simple sentiment.

Next I made a door hanger. I love baking and figured this was a good theme for me cherry ribbons. I made the cup cake using some corrugated card and some scalloped ovals. I added some ribbon and gems to finish it off.

Finally I made a notelet gift bag and 4 notelets to go in it. For the bag I used a sheet of cardstock which I inked around the edges. I used my ribbon for the handles and to add a little detail round the side. For the notelets I hand made some cherries, added some co-ordinating ribbon and a simple sentiment.

2010-02-08T16:45:00.000Z

FREE SPIRIT

I love these pictures of my daughter, she is just so funny sometimes!!! Been wanting to scrap them for ages so when I came across the Bo Bunny Gift of Love papers in my stash I decided that they would be perfect with the pictures. Especially when I saw the tag that said 'Free Spirit' with the papers cause Beca really is our free spirited child!!!

I did the layout for the week 5 Challenge over on The Scraproom Blog For this weeks challenge we had to do a layered flower which I love doing so I was a happy camper!!! I am a huge fan of distressing and have been itching to play with my new Tim Holtz distressing tool. I know some scrappers can distress with a makeup sponge but this just didn't work for me.....ink blobs every where......so I got out my new tool to give it a test drive and it is the dogs pyjamas.....ink perfectly distributed on my distressed edges. Got a bit carried away and inked the edges of the journalling and the photos but me likey the effect very much!!!!!

My layered flower is a mixture of flowers from my stash and is held together with a brad I made using the I Top.....how cool is that little yokie!!!! I added some buttons and gems and my layout was done.

2010-02-03T21:35:00.000Z

LOUISE'S YUMMY BLOG CANDY ALERT

Ok fellow bloggers take a look at the lovely blog candy that Louise has on offer on her blog isn't it just to die for. I LOVE the new Papermania Honey and Hugs range and she has a few extra goodies in there as well. Not to mention all the other fabby creations she has on show, I am still drooling over her altered recipe box which is just stunning. Take a toodle over a have a peek!!!

2010-01-31T22:18:00.000Z

BLESSED

So the scraping is still going well, thankfully the old mojo hasn't desserted me yet!! This layout is for the week 4 challenge over at The Scrap Room Blog For this weeks challenge we had to place a verticle title, which is something I quite like and has cropped up on a few of my layouts over the last year.

I have been wanting to scrap some pics taken after my son's birth for ages.....just haven't as while he is the cutest thing on the planet I look like I was dragged through a bush backwards.....but strangely enough I have never been happier!!! Anyhoo the papers are from Making Memories and came in a kit I got from The Scrap Room. The title is done with American Crafts thickers.....I LOVE their thickers, they have soooo many types and colours there is always ones that go with a page!!!

I added a Prima gem stone flourish and some buttons and decided that apart from a little journal tab in the corner, the layout needed no extra bells and whistles as its the photos that I want people to see!!! My baby boy is not a baby anymore but he still blesses our lives every day!!!!

2010-01-28T19:44:00.000Z

A JUMP ON MOTHERS DAY

Ok so I have a memory about as useful as a chocolate teapot and every year I am always late getting my mum a card. So this year I decided to get a wiggle on and make her a card in advance that way I have some hope of getting it to Australia on time!!!

The papers are from the paperbox, they have a lovely shimmer to them which doesn't show in the photo. I chose blue as this is my mums favourite colour. I based this card on a sketch for a forum challenge. I tore the strip that sits in the middle of the card and inked the edges in a lovely baby blue. I punched some 3d butterflies using the fabby papermania punch.....LOVE that punch and a added a few pearls to them for a bit of bling. I did some stitching around the edge of the card using some gorgeous organza ribbon

I stamped my sentiment in pale blue ink then embossed it with clear embossing powder and my card was complete.

2010-01-25T22:55:00.000Z

Birthday Season Begins!!!

At a crop last year I made an easel card and loved it, but never got around to making another so this evening I tried my hand at another and was really pleased with it. A few tweeks are required but all in all it came out grand....though I have to figure out how to take a proper piccie of it.

Tis birthday season in my family again so made this one to add to the birthday stash so I am ready for the rake of birthdays which are coming up. I used my new greating farm stamps. She is coloured in using Cocoa, Blossom and Rose Pink promarkers. The papers are Basic Grey from the porcelain line.....LOVE this line its soooooo girlie. I cut out the stamp and mounted her over some pink ribbon. I added some gems and a simple Birthday sentiment to finish the card off.

2010-01-25T22:39:00.000Z

PfP WEEK 35 - Girls Girls Girls

Its a while since I was making cards, think I had a card overload at Christmas.....however, I was itching to tinker so I toodled over to the Passion for Promarkers challenge blog to get myself motivated with some kind of challenge and as luck would have it, it was an ANY colour week....woo hoo, so it was looking good, the requirement was 'girls girls girls', and given 90% of my stamp collection is of the girlie variety I decided this was the challenge for me.

I was having a root thru my paper stash and came across my new Basic Grey Origins 6x6 pad and decided that I would use colours from this pad. I love my Daisy stamp from the Sugar Nellie stamps so decided that I would use her. I coloured her in using Cocoa, Yellow and Lemon promarkers as the predominant colours and cut her out using my new label nesties. I mounted her on some chocolate cardstock, over my Basic Grey papers and then decided to stamp a simple sentiment and add some gems to finish the card off.....less is more with this card!!!

2010-01-24T14:26:00.000Z

CHANGES

This is my newest layout which I did last night when I got home from my crop. There are no photos just some articles from two newspapers to mark a big change ahead for me and my family. My company announce on Tuesday morning.....via a powerpoint presentation I might add, that my job along with 195 others in Dublin was 'surplus to requirement', ie we can get your work done cheaper else where so sorry peeps but you are out on your ear!!! I know its the way of the world these days but as we are still in a recession and jobs are thin on the ground I am not looking forward to joining the unemployment queue in the next few months!!!!

Anyhoo, I am a scrapper and this is an important milestone in my life so I decided a layout was required to mark this event. Given that it is a dark subject, I decided a dark and dirty layout was required. I picked some gorgeous Pink Paislee hallowean papers for the occasion and the sketch is based on the latest sketch challenge over at The Scrap Room Blog I used a fab Maya Road plastic circle overlay and then cut out and inked my papers.....suitably edged in black ink!!! I added some gems, buttons and American Crafts thickers to finish the layout.

It is not my usual neat and clean layout but somehow it reflected my mood at the announcement!!!

2010-01-24T14:13:00.001Z

FIRST CROP OF 2010

I attended my first crop of the year in Wexford town yesterday. Been going to South East Crafters crops since it began last year and always have a great time. Laura does a great class, we craft, we chat and we shop.....what better way to spend the day??

This month we were using various distressing techniques and made the fab layout above first. We used GORGEOUS K and Company papers and I distressed the edges of both the paper and the card stock with my trusty nail file. We then inked the edges with Tim Holtz distress inks and used some liquid pearls to make a flourish on the paper. We then added a circle and a border to which I added some fab cream lace I bought before I mounted my photo and added some pop up butterflies (how fab is that papermania punch !!!) To finish my layout I added some buttons from my stash and some American Craft thickers. Tis another layout for my wedding album done.....Yippee!!!

For the second part of the class we made the card. Again using K and Co papers which we distressed as well.....this time I tore the papers instead of using the file. Again we inked the edges with Tim Holtz inks, added a cardstock border, complemented by more cream lace. We stamped a tree image in brown chalk ink and finished the card off with some card candy and a stamped sentiment. We also added another of them cute butterflies !!!!

2010-01-17T22:16:00.000Z

AU NATUREL

In keeping with my resolution to do a scrapbook layout a week, I have been busy putting together my latest layout. I did this layout based on a sketch over on The Scrap Room Blog , tis for the week 2 challenge. As I am currently working towards finishing my wedding album I decided to use one of my wedding photos this week. The photo is of myself and my little flower girl Erin, kinda chilling out against a tree in the park on the way to the church.

I fell in love with the papers which came as part of my doubleshots kit thanks to The Scrap Room , the scrapping kit club I belong to. Tammy always puts together awesome kits and these papers from Upsy Daisy Designs are just GORGEOUS, the photo really soesn't do them justice.

I based the layout on the sketch, tore and inked some of my edges.....something I love to do. I used one of my martha stewart punches to give a bit of detail to one of the edges as well and then threaded some ribbon thru it. I added some fab lime green flowers and added a simple title. So thats 2 layouts down and 50 more to go........wooo hoooo

2010-01-11T17:11:00.000Z

FIRST LAYOUT OF 2010

Finally my mojo has returned and I have started scrapping again.....was beginning to seriously doubt my craftyness!!! I was inspired by the week 1 challenge over at The Scrap Room this weeks challenge was to set some goals for the year.

I loved the idea and after a root through my paper stash I came across the gorgeous Jenni Bowlin papers and set about scrapping my first page of 2010. I tore and inked my backing papers, then cut the die cut paper in half and wrote out my journaling. I used a picture of me from our honeymoon in San Francisco (have very few pics of me, I am usually behind the camera!!!). Added the tag, some black ribbon and some jenni bowlin buttons and was pretty happy with the result.....here is what I hope to achieve by the end of 2010

Learned- To be more patient

Changed- my attitude and outlook on life

Figured out- how to use my camera properly

Completed- a scrapbook layout a week, I have two beautiful children to scrap about!!!

Stopped- being neurotic everytime one of my children sneezes!!!

Started- to be a better domestic goddess.....

Acquired- some willpower when it comes to chocolate!!!

Given up- trying to be something I am not....need to just be who I am

Visited- the treadmill more often....tis for exercising NOT for hanging coats on!!!

Left behind- a few pounds and Size 14 jeans

2009-12-11T19:48:00.000Z

MY CHRISTMAS CAKE

Oh boy its been a while since I was blogging!!! Between work and sick kiddies I haven't been crafting much and been blogging even less!!! Can't believe Christmas is nearly here, boy has the year flown by!!! Besides playing with paper, I LOVE baking and have discovered a love of decorating cakes. It started last year when I made my son's birthday cake and my first Christmas cake and it has just continued!!!

This year I decided I was gonna learn how to do the basics properly so I signed up to do some classes at the the cakebox and went to the Christmas Class last week where we learnt how to sugar paste a cake. We then learnt how to make a garret frill which I did round the side of my cake which you can see in the picture below. My son is obsessed with Santa so I opted to decorate my cake with a santa head made using sugar paste and a mould and I painted it. I then splashed royal icing on the cake and mounted him. We were also taught how to do simple piping which I did around my frill

The red bled a little but I was soooooo pleased with how the cake looked. I wasn't brave enough to pipe my sentiment as I have never piped before so the tutor kindly did it for me!!!! I finished the cake off with a sprinkling of edible glitter!!!

2009-11-22T19:37:00.000Z

ERIN'S BIRTHDAY

My niece Erin turned 12 today. She really enjoys paper crafting so I had fun making her birthday card as I knew she would enjoy the card. I also got her a card making starter pack as a pressie as I know it is something she likes to do.....she always makes me cute little cards or notes.

I picked the Little Miss Attitude Gorjuss Girl stamp as the image as this is just sooooo Erin!!! I coloured the image in using promarkers. Was at a card making class over the weekend with South East Crafters and LOVED the card layout we used, so I decided to use this as the layout for my card. I picked some gorgeous papers from the MME Bloom Grow 6x6 pad, I double mounted the image and the papers on some orange Bazzil cardstock. I finished the card off with some orange ribbon, some little butterflys and some green gems.

thanks for looking

2009-11-19T08:53:00.000Z

FAMILY BIRTHDAYS ABOUND

Most of our family seems to be born around the end of the year!!!!! From the start of November till just before Christmas it feels like there is a birthday every week!!! Not that I am complaining as it gives me an excuse to make cards!!

This card is for my niece who turned 8 this week. I am a big fan of the Manga stamps from Funky Kits and this Manga Girl reminded me of my niece. I coloured the stamp in using my promarkers, I used Cinamon for the hair, blush for the skin tones, cool aqua and rose pink for the clothes and slate for the shoes. I cut the image out using my oval nesties and shaded around the image using pastels. I used some gorgeous papermania papers from my stash and finished the card off with some gems and ribbon!!

2009-11-13T19:54:00.000Z

A GORJUSS BIRTHDAY

A friend asked me to make a card for her daughter, she wanted something bright and after going through some of my stamped images she picked the above Gorjuss girl!! These are some of my favourite stamps at the moment so I was quite happy to play around with my promarkers til something looked right. She picked the Pink Paislee paper which made colour choices a bit hard.....so orange it was. I coloured the image in then misted some maya road mist over some corrugated card, I added some orange ribbon and buttons and the card was done!!!

2009-11-13T19:36:00.000Z

PfP Week 25 - Sketch

This weeks challenge on Passion for Promarkers blog was a sketch challenge, so as I needed to make a birthday card for a friend I decided to kill 2 birds with one stone and do the card with the challenge in mind!!

I used one of my gorjuss girl stamps and as the challenge was any colour I used my favourite colours (purples with a splash of pink)!!! I mounted the image on some purple shimmer card stock and added some pink gems. Found some fab paper in my stash for the backing and added a bit of purple ric rac and a sentiment and the card was done!!!

2009-11-10T19:03:00.000Z

A TILDA BIRTHDAY

Been busy making a birthday card for my SIL's birthday next weekend. Wasn't sure what type of card I wanted to make, so I stamped a couple of images and played with my promarkers (still trying to get the hang of shading). I really liked the way this Tilda image came out, tis really girlie. I found some GORGEOUS Basic Grey papers in my stash from the Sugared collection I think and teamed them up with a really deep pink bazzil cardstock. Added some gems , some fab green ribbon and buttons and the card was finished!!!

2009-11-07T14:28:00.000Z

Winter House

I just LOVE this cuttlebug embossing folder, it is magical!!! I ordered it the other week from Oh My Crafts and when it arrived I just HAD to use it. Tis one of those folders that really doesn't need to much else. I embossed it on black card stock as a friend of mine Laura recommended and used stickles to highlight the snowflakes, I mounted it on silver card stock and then onto a white card and added some punched out snoflakes and some jems to finish it off. I think it is very effective (alas the photo isn't great!!!)

2009-11-07T14:19:00.000Z

Tali's Birthday

Tis Tali's birthday this weekend and I had been undecided about what type of card I would make him until i saw the cute 'Mouse with a cake' image on one of Dianne's cards. This gorgeous Stampavie stamp had to be mine, so I toodled off to Cardz n Scrapz and bought the little fella. I coloured him in with promarkers and double mounted him on some glitter card stock. I used some simple backing papers and some string and a button to finish off the card.

Isn't he just the cutest????

2009-11-07T00:04:00.000Z

Penny Black Challenge 73

This weeks challenge was White on White, definately not an easy one but I was dying to test drive my new hedgie stamp (love these little fellas) so I decided to give it a go.....not having a single piece of patterned paper in the house that was just white I decided that I would just have to emboss some cardstock and see where inspiration lead me!!!

Given that the wee hedgies were singing, I decided to use the music embossing folder, I inked the cardstock with versamark and dusted pearlex over it to make it shimmer. I coloured my image using promarkers and mounted it on silver card. I tied some gorgeous white ribbon on the card, added a sentiment and some gems and made another Christmas card for my ever growing stash!!!

thanks for looking

2009-10-31T09:42:00.000Z

PfP - WEEK 23

This weeks challenge on the Passion for Promarkers Blog allows you to use any colours, the only criteria is that there is an animal on the creation somewhere.

My son's 3rd birthday is coming up at the end of November, so I decided to make his birthday card last night with the fab new 'Party Dragon' stamp I got from Crafty Angels. How cute is this little fella??? As he is technically an animal I figured I would enter the card in the challenge as well.

I stamped my image using memento ink, then coloured the wee dragon in using Apple and Meadow Green promarkers, his T shirt and ballon are done using a combination of Blue Pearl, Cornflower and China Blue (love these blue shades, they blend so beautifully together). I shaded around the dragon image using blue pastel chalk. I then double mounted it on green then blue glitter co'ordinations cardstock. I embossed some white card stock using my cuttlebug numbers embossing folder and used some green pastel chalk to bring out the numbers.

I mounted the embossed numbers on some blue shimmer cardstock from the pay per box stand. I stamped a happy birthday sentiment on some white card stock, shaded this with blue pastel chalk and double mounted this the same as the dragon and attatched it to the card with some shiny string.

thanks for looking!!!!

2009-10-27T11:06:00.000Z

BIG BROTHER, LITTLE SISTER

Getting either of my little people to stand still long enough to get a decent photo is hard enough so getting both of them still, TOGETHER and looking at the camera is a major coup!!! Love these photos of the 2 of them, was just before Beca took her first steps un-aided.....she was using a little push trollie and bombing around the place!!! Michael is pretty good with her and on this day they were playing together so nicely!!!

I used another kit from The Scrap Room October mailing, this time the fabulous My Minds Eye, Abbey Road line. I used one sheet of double sided paper (hate it when both sides are gorgeous) and mounted them on some brown cardstock and 'stitched' them together with cream ribbon (stitching is another technique than I am loving). I used some American Crafts thickers and Pink Paislee alpha stickers to do my title and added a few buttons, some flowers and a wooden flourish to embellish the layout and then inked around my whole layout

Thanks for looking

2009-10-27T10:55:00.000Z

SHE HAS NO FEAR

How GORGEOUS are the Basic Grey Indian Summer papers??? One of my kits in the October mailing from The Scrap Room had a selection of goodies from this line and I have been dying to use them on one of Rebecca's pages!!! I had some pictures of her hanging over the side of her walker to pick up a toy and some how they just suited the bright and bold colours of the papers (cause she is sooo bright and BOLD)!!!

When she was smaller she used to bomb around in her walker like a race car driver and if she dropped the toy she was carrying she didn't bother to wait for us to get it, she would just hook one foot in the side of the walker and dangle out til she got it......OH THE HORROR!!!!! Used to give us nightmares.......but strangely enough she never fell out and hurt herself!!! She is one baby who has NO FEAR!!!!

I used two sheets of paper for this layout and tore and inked both (my favourite techniques) and used both sheets on each side. I mounted the photos on some pink card stock and laid them at angles on the pages (can never lay photos straight!!!!). I added some buttons and felties as well as a bit of string to the one side....somehow ribbon didn't look right!!! I used foil alphas that came with the kit and mounted them in different ways to add a bit of character to the page!!!

Thanks for looking!!!!

2009-10-27T10:42:00.000Z

South East Crafters Crop

Was at the South East Crafters crop in the Maldron Hotel in Wexford on Saturday. Had a great day as always!! We made 2 cards, the easel card using the gorgeous Tilda stamp (how cute is she). I really enjoyed making this card, it was quick and easy yet really effective and so different.

We also made an envelope card similar to the one we made in the GBCE in Athlone except my kit was different (thanks Laura). Love this Sarah Kay stamp, she is just gorgeous and I love the blue and brown papers!!! Was really pleased at how this came out!!

Had a great day chatting and shopping as Laura had her shop Crafty Angels there as well!! Got some fab new stamps and some gorgeous Magnolia papers!!!!

2009-10-21T20:34:00.000+01:00

21st BIRTHDAY CARD

Am I alone in finding boy/man cards impossible to do??? I can do girlie/cute/neutral/bling but ask me to do a card for a boy or worse a man and I feel like I have been hit by a bus!!!! A friend in work who ordered some cards off me asked me to make a birthday card for her son!!! Worse yet it was his 21st so it needed to be special....and she needed it by today......EEEEEK panic set in when she asked me as

a) I had NEVER done a card for a man

b) I had no manly stamps

c) it was a 21st!!!

Plus his interests were guitars and rugby......the world of quickly obtainable stamps doesn't exactly cover these areas and a major blog hop campaign came across MANY girlie cards, lots of flowers and bling, loads of baby boy cards but cards for men......VERY thin on the ground!!! As I hadn't a hope of getting my paws on a rubber stamp I decided to go the digi stamp route and the image I eventually picked to use was Josh's New Guitar by the greeting farm I had never used a digi stamp before but it was amazingly painless and given my decidedly hit and miss approach to the art of stamping made life easier.....sure it prints perfectly EVERYTIME and you can re-size it to fit your card......a real plus in my book. Had a few seconds of panic around the fact that promarkers seem to bleed most inks.....but bless my printer ink it was grand!!!

Bless Basic Grey Archaic (sp) papers as well.......think ALL scrapbookers have this pad for the few manly pages we do......my paper collection is 90% girlie 9% little boy and 1% sort of manly.

Anyhoo, I coloured my image in with promarkers, cut the paper with my label nesties and mounted it on some corrugated card. I embossed some green cardstock with the music cuttlebug folder, added some twine and a button and the card above was the result. Tis not brilliant by any stretch of the imagination but it looks ok. Here is hoping Ann likes it!!!

2009-10-19T09:45:00.001+01:00

1000 TIMES

I love this picture of my sleeping son. It was taken while on holiday in Maderia. He was fast asleep in his grow bag on our bed! Looking through my pictures the other day I noticed that I had loads of pictures of him asleep as a baby!!!! As a neurotic first time mom I was always in his room, watching him sleep, checking that he was breathing......often waking him up because of my fussing!!! Even now that he is nearly 3 I will still check on him a couple of times a night......that little tickle of fear just doesn't go away!!!!

I made the layout using the absolutely GORGEOUS SEI Moriva (sp) papers that came in my October kit from the The Scrap Room. The sketch is based on the Week 41 Challenge sketch on their blog . I tore one sheet of the fab foiled paper and inked the edges. I cut a partial circle out of the other sheet. I mounted the large photo on some blue card stock and framed another version of the same photo. I added an envelope and my journalling is tucked into this. I added a few buttons and some gems. My title is done in America Craft Thickers (my favourite brand for thickers!!!)

Thanks for looking

2009-10-18T21:32:00.001+01:00

JESS'S WORKSHOP

Went to Jess's workshop on Saturday and had a great time. It was lovely to meet Jess and put a face to a name, plus it was great to hear a familiar accent!!! I also met Karina off the Cardz n Scrapz forum and had a great day crafting and chatting and playing with Stickles!!!!

We made 7 cards in total (busy little crafting bees we were), 2 Hallowean cards and 5 Christmas cards.

The 2 Hallowean ones were gorgeous, one was very Harry Potter, with a wizard, a cave, a cauldron, a fantastic spider web and some cute bats!!! The second was using a Tilda stamp......how cute is she!!! Love the embossed spider web and the spider web edging

3 of the christmas cards were embossed, haven't played with my heat gun in ages.....had great craic making these. My favourite of the 3 is the Celtic Xmas tree.....sooo gorgeous, and I LOVE the other two images, the stamps were fab and I sooo have to get my little paws on em!!! Jess had some absolutely gorgeous gold embossing powder and I must find out what it is.

The last 2 were stamped images which we coloured and then assembled. I Loved the Sarah Kay Santa stamp and I adore snowmen so loved the second one as well. I opted for the pink kit as I love to make non-traditional coloured Xmas cards!!!

Laura was also there with the Crafty Angels Shop, so I got em some retail therapy and added MORE stamps to my collection as well as a host of other bits and bobs!!!

thanks for looking!!!

2009-10-17T20:59:00.000+01:00

MY FIRST SALE!!!

I had been telling friends in work that I had started making cards and they ask me to bring some in so that they could have a look. I was a bit shy but thought 'sure why not'!! So I brought in a selection and was pleasantly surprised when one of the girls ordered 5 cards!!!! 5, I couldn't believe it.....I was sooooooo chuffed, especially as 2 of the 5 she wanted were my more unusual cards, that I thought no one but me would like.

One of the cards she asked for was a baby congradulations card for a friend that was due to give birth. As she didn't know what her friend was having she asked for neutral but cute!!! I had just got another Penny Black hedgehog stamp (how cute is this little guy) from Crafty Angels so I decided to make a card using him and went for a colour theme of Lemon and Green.

I decided to use the card as my entry to this weeks challenge over at The Crafty Angels Blog. The challenge this week is 'Buttons and Bling', two things I LOVE LOVE using on any project!!! So I added some glitter card stock which I matted hedgie on and some gems as my bling, as well as some little yellow buttons.

My friend Ann was delighted with the card and I was thrilled to make my first sale!!!!

thanks for looking

2009-10-13T20:05:00.000+01:00

ENVELOPE CHRISTMAS CARD

At the GBCE in Athlone I did Laura's Sarah K stamp class and in that we made an envelope style card, which I just LOVED!!! Must actually take a picture of that one and post it up. Anyway, last night I was playing with one of my new Sugar Nellie stamps (as you do) and decided to make another envelope card.

I used blue and green card stock which I covered with some lovely DCWV paper from their Christmas stack. I stamped and coloured my wee angel with promarkers and added a bit of glitter glue (love glitter!!!) and cut her out. I made a band to go around the card and tied some blue ribbon around it and added some gems (can never have enough bling). I mounted my image on some foam dots.

The card insert is some white card stock mounted on green card stock. I used my snowflake punch and punched out one snowflake in the corner and added a gem. In the other corner I added a Merry Christmas sentiment.

Thanks for looking!!!

2009-10-13T19:46:00.000+01:00

MY FIRST CALENDAR

Got my first Tilda stamp the other day......and believe me she wont be my last, she is sooo cute. I decided to try and make a calendar using some 2010 calendar books I got in the Do Crafts goodie bag and some coasters I got from Crafty Angels. I covered the coasters using some gorgeous Doodlebug paper and added some gems and thick thread. I coloured in my Tilda in Marine and Emerald promarkers then cut her out and sat her between the two coasters.

am quite pleased with the results though I need a bit more practice covering the coasters!!!!

2009-10-06T10:21:00.000+01:00

HANDMADE CHRISTMAS??

So as thoughts turn to Christmas and the old pressie budget has to tighten its belt, I have been thinking of ways to make handmade goodies to add to the small token gifts I will be buying for close friends and family. I know I will be making all my cards this year but am also going to make my own gift bags, tags and boxes!! Sure why not, its an excuse to craft.....like I need one.....and a way to learn knew things!!!

My new Miss Santa stamp from Sugar Nellie arrived in the post yesterday.....and I just HAD to use her, she is soooooo cute!!! I coloured her in Red promarker and then used Woodware Fluffy Stuff (how COOL is this stuff) to give her outfit a fur look!! I double mounted her on Gold and Red card and added some gems and ribbon.

I had some holly paper left so I made this hanging gift box which you can put round a wine bottle (one of the token gifts I give) and add some handmade chocolates in the box (which is my plan) or you can slot in a small gift voucher. So I have one gift idea down and about 10 to go!!!

thanks for looking!!!

2009-10-05T09:42:00.001+01:00

HAPPY SCRAPPY SUNDAY

Got a couple of hours to myself last night so got a couple of pages done using my September Kit from The Scrap Room. The first layout I did is one of my son who adores Fireman Sam......I used the fab Cosmo Cricket papers (Boyfriend line). I love to tear papers (probably cause I never seem to cut straight) so I tore and inked one sheet, added some stitching detail at the bottom and scattered some buttons on the page. I cut a journal sheet out which pretty much said what I wanted to say about Michael and finished the title off with some American crafts thickers!!!

The second layout is for my wedding album and was also made using papers from my September kit. This time it was the stunning Saffrass Lass (Vintage yummy line). Picked these papers cause the colours suited the neutral colours in my wedding plus the daisies in my bouquet!!! This time I cut out circles and then a plain strip, I added some ribbon (hi my name is charmaine and I am addicted to ribbon), I made some handmade flowers and added a few buttons and gems.....and finished off with more American Crafts Thickers (LOVE their Thickers!!!!!!!!!!!)

thanks for looking

2009-10-03T20:11:00.000+01:00

SCRAPBOOK LAYOUTS (GBCE)

Had a brilliant weekend at the GBCE in Athlone last weekend. 2 days of crafting, shops and chatting, what more could I ask for. While I was there I did 2 scrapbook classes with Judy Addison. They were both BRILLIANT!!! The first one is where the layout above came from. She was teaching us how to make different types of frames. The papers were so soft and pretty and I had the perfect pictures of Rebecca to go with them!!! I really love how the pages turned out.....expect to see LOTS of frames on my layouts in the near future

The second class was her Christmas class on the Sunday morning. Again the papers were just STUNNING!!! She was showing us how to use those pages where the page is divivded into four 6x6 squares. I usually end up cutting these up but she showed us how to do a 4 in 1 layout which was just fantastic. These pages cover off our first christmas as a family of 4.

2009-09-29T19:17:00.000+01:00

WEEK 3 - EMBOSSING

This weeks challenge on the Crafty Angels Blog is embossing. I am a big fan of the cuttlebug so decided to make a card using some of my embossing folders. For this card I embossed a piece of white card with the Swiss Dots folder (this is one of my favourite folders), I then embossed a piece of whitewash cardstock with my floral folder, I then sanded over the embossed flowers to reveal the inner purple core and attached this over the swiss dots card.

Last months class at South East Crafters crop was a parchment class which I really enjoyed, so I embosses a butterfly onto some purple vellum, and then double mounted it on purple and silver cardstock. I finished the card off with some gems and a thank you sentiment.

thanks for looking!!!

2009-09-28T22:17:00.000+01:00

MY FIRST CANDLE

I have been admiring all the stamped candles I have been seeing on the Cardz n Scrapz Forum and various peoples blogs and am always amazed at how fantastic a simple candle can be made to look!!! So when Jess posted her candle tutorial on the forum I knew I was gonna have to give it a go!!

I picked my beloved Snowy Penny Black stamp as he is cute (and easy to colour) and after I finally tracked some tissue paper down....bit like the search for the Holy Grail it was....used to see it EVERYWHERE then when I went looking for it couldn't find the stuff anywhere!!!! Anyhoo, finally I was all set!!

I followed the instructions and took my time and was soooooo chuffed with the results. THANKS JESS!!!! I think he looks really good, I added a few gems as buttons on his belly and he currently has pride of place on my fireplace!!!

OH BOY I think I have found yet another addiction to add to my growing list!!!

2009-09-22T11:37:00.000+01:00

A LITTLE CHRISTMAS CHEER

After a stressful day yesterday due to teething babies, cranky toddlers and WORK!!! I decided to de-stress by having a tinker with some docrafts goodies and make a Christmas card. Christmas is my favourite time of year and I am LOVING making the cards!!! As I only have a few people that I give cards to I probably have enough cards to send out already but am having such fun making them I will be handing them out to strangers on the street at this stage!!!

I love the free Daisy stamp that I got with the last Creativity magazine, so coloured it in using Sandstone and Blue Pearl promarkers, added some glitter glue (as usual) and selected some papers that came in the new Goody Bag. I added some snowflake brads and some gems and finished it off with a Christmas Wishes label and some ribbon.

thanks for looking!!

2009-09-21T09:06:00.000+01:00

PFP Week 17 - Polka Dots

This weeks challenge on the Passion For Promarkers blog was any colour plus Polka Dots!!! This was a bit of a challenge for me as I discovered that polka dots are not something I have alot of.....my paper stash is still growing but was rather 'light' on all things spotty!!!

After a hunt (and a couple of spotty papers that I had no pro marker colours to go with) I came across some papermania pages (I think its the Sweet Nothings line??) and decided to use my new Forever Friends stamp. I coloured him in using Vanilla, Rose Pink and Amethyst. A little glitter glue, some gems and some lace ribbon to finish off the card and I was all done.

Thanks for looking!!!

2009-09-16T19:39:00.001+01:00

WHERE DID THE SUN GO??

Seriously, what is the story with the weather......GORGEOUS sunshine last week and now grey iccky clouds!!!! It is hard to believe that summer is come and nearly been gone and the braai was only pulled out about twice!!!! Still I suppose twice is better than none at all. Has been a busy week for me this week as my little girl is cutting teeth and boy is she not happy about it.....so crafting wise things have been on hold.....tho I did play with the new sketch on the Crafty Angels blog, I made the layout in my previous post and then tried my hand at a card, this is the result

excuse the concrete backing but the only place I could get decent light yesterday was on the footpath at the back of my house......Love the Hope stamp, she is so cute (and easy to colour in for a promarker newbie like me!!!!). The backing papers are Basic Grey Granola and I added some flowers and buttons from my stash!!

2009-09-15T19:54:00.000+01:00

CRAFTY ANGELS WEEKLY CHALLENGE

This is my take on the sketch Laura posted on the Crafty Angels Blog for their first weeks challenge. The design team provided loads of inspiration with their gorgeous projects. I loved the sketch and think it is great as I could use it both on a layout and on a card (which I did) but decided to enter my scrapbook page as I think it came out really well!!!! Will posted up the card on my blog in a bit!

I had this really funny but cute picture of Rebecca pulling a silly face when I was chasing her around the house trying to get 'the perfect picture'.....funnily enough tho it is a bit blurred it is perfect as it shows her cutely silly face!!! Then when rooting through my stash I came across the GORGEOUS Tiny Dancer line from My Minds Eye.....love this line as it is just sooo girly!! I knew it was just perfect!!! I tore and inked some strips of paper, matted the picture on some brown card stock and framed it using some pretty pink buttons. I did my title using some fab brown thickers from American crafts. I finished the layout with some hand made flowers and a bit of pink ric rac!!

Hope you like it

2009-09-12T20:18:00.000+01:00

A DAY IN MY LIFE - LAINEY'S CLASS

Had a fantastic scrappy day in Dublin today. Went up to Le Cheile in Donnycarney for Lainey's monthly class and crop!! This months class was entitled 'A day in my Life' using the gorgeous Cosmo Cricket papers from the Earth Love line and the cutest stamps!!! For once I actually used my own pic and had fun with all the paper layering and doodling!!!

Had great craic chatting to the ladies on my table as well as shopping in Annamarie's shop The scrapbookstore got some GORGEOUS prima flowers and some fab papers, all in all it was a brilliant day out!!!

2009-09-12T19:57:00.000+01:00

BLUE PEARL AND SANDSTONE

This weeks challenge on Passion for Promarkers was to use Blue Pearl and Sandstone markers!!! This really got me thinking as this wouldn't be a colour combination I would normally use.....hello purple and pink girl me.....but inspired by the fantastic examples posted by the Design team I went rooting through my stash and came across my Giving Shelter stamp......love this little snail he is SOOOOO cute. When I unearthed my Basic Grey Granola papers inspiration suddenly struck me and I was off and running!!!

Used the Blue Pearl and Sandstone promarkers on the whole image with the exception of the flower stem (Lime Green) and the flower centre (yellow). Finished the image off with a little bt of diamond stickles and some glossy accents (LOVE this stuff) of the flower centre and rain drops!!!

I used a square card for a change and inked the edges with some Blue Jeans Distressed ink. A few buttons and a bit of ribbon from my stash and some layered Granola paper and my little birthday card was done. Am really pleased with the results!!!

2009-09-08T20:27:00.000+01:00

SCRAPPY DAYS

Been so busy playing with cards that I have been neglecting my first love......scrapbooking!!! Given the weather has been so dismal I spent the other evening doing some layouts.....sure what else would one be doing on a long rainy evening. The above layout didn't come out quite as I imagined but it is nice and simple and I LOVE the paper.

The second is using some papers from my July kit from The Scrap Room I love all things purple and the paper is gorgeous as it is sparkely and bling.

2009-09-05T19:36:00.000+01:00

GIRLY AND GLITTERY

This weeks Promarker challenge was Girly and Glittery and we are able to use any colour pro markers which is handy as my selection is still growing (so far I only have 20.....but the piggy bank may soon fund more). So I decided to use my new Sugar Nellie stamp from Funkykits I think she is kinda cute and have used her a couple of times already!!!

I coloured her hair in Slate and did the rest of her in Lime Green and Yellow (rather bright I know but I think it looks cute). I added yellow glitter glue to her polka dots and the heart. I was making a card for my sister, so I wanted something soft and simple so I used my swiss dots embossing folder (love my cuttlebug), some yellow organza ribbon and gems and mounted Luvvie of yellow and green glitter cardstock.

2009-09-05T14:51:00.000+01:00

SUGAR BOWL CHALLENGE 18

Got some fantastic Sugar Nellie stamps from funkykits so decided to enter the challenge on the The Sugar Bowl using the Luvvie stamp. I had no square cards (my card stash a little limited as I am only starting) so used a 5x7 card. I really loved the sketch it was right out of my comfort zone (but most things are when one is just starting!!!) so I just had fun with it!!

2009-08-31T15:46:00.000+01:00

PENNY BLACK SATURDAY....WK 64

Am loving my new Penny Black snowmen stamps so when I saw that this weeks challenge on the Penny Black Saturday Challenge was Christmas, I just had to enter (especially as I have been stamping Snowy and Friends EVERYWHERE!!!). Must have made four or five cards already and my single snowie came second at my monthly crop, so had a good few to choose from.......this is one of my favourites.

2009-08-31T15:14:00.000+01:00

SNOWY COMES SECOND

Went to the South East Crafters crop on Saturday in Wexford. Was a really fun day, got to shop (loads of new goodies) thanks to Crafty Angels, gossip and play with paper.....plus I got the afternoon off from the kids so life was good. I entered the card challenge and was really pleased when my little snowy card came second (plus I got extra goodies)!!

I love this stamp as well as the snowmen family stamp which we used in our class. I have a feeling that alot of family and friends are gonna recieve a snowman card for christmas!!! here is the card I made for the class

2009-08-30T21:40:00.000+01:00

The Colour Purple

The new found addiction to making cards continues and after a toodle on the web the other night I found a new way to feed it......CHALLENGES!!!! I love a challenge, I wouldn't be the worlds most competitive person but I do love the fun that surrounds any type of competition. So I decided to enter the Passion for Promarkers challenge especially as this weeks one uses my favourite colour......PURPLE, plus I had 3 of the shades you could use, so figured why not!!! The image I picked is my new Gorjuss girl by Sugar Nellie stamp, I did her hair in Slate, then coloured her dress, tights and shoes in the 3 shades of purple I had.....tho it only looks like I used 2!!!

I really had fun with this and ended up making a birthday card which I can add to my growing stash of cards!!! I am really pleased with the way it turned out. There are loads of GORGEOUS entries already but I figured I have to start some where so here goes!!!!

2009-08-27T08:32:00.000+01:00

A NEW ADDICTION!!!!!

As if scrapping wasn't enough I have now found that making cards can be fun tooo!!!! It started with a class at the Wexford crop, then I decided to make Beca's birthday card with a fab stamp I got, then I got some really cute Santa stamps so I decided to make some Christmas cards.......can you see where this is going!!!!

Over the last week I have spent most evenings stamping, colouring and assembling a few cards and have had great craic, plus it is a handy way to use up all my scraps from my layouts........oh boy, there just isn't enough hours in the day to tinker!!! Here are some of my cards

2009-08-23T19:33:00.000+01:00

Family crop!!

Had a really enjoyable Saturday helping my two nieces make mini albums and a christmas card. Both of them enjoy paper crafts and it gave me an excuse to play with paper!!! We had a great day and the two girls got about 5 pages done. They both have their own style and it was fun to help them out.

Haven't been able to scrap properly in ages, between work and ever-demanding children but after spending the day helping them, it inspired me and I spent the rest of the night scrapping!!! Got 4 layouts done using my TSR kit so life was good!!!!! Here are the layouts that I made

2009-08-21T20:22:00.000+01:00

SOME LAYOUTS

What a day.......work was just mad, never been so glad when 4 o'clock came and I could log off for the weekend!!! There are some advantages to working from home, once I logged off I was done.....no traffic etc. But I had to dash into town then to get some photos developed as my 2 nieces are coming over to do mini books......it would appear that the scrapping bug is catchy as they are really interested and excited to do their little albums.

I put together 2 little kits for them made up with bits and bobs from my stash and am looking forward to spending some time helping them....plus I get the added bonus of being able to tinker with some layouts of my own!!!!

Here are a couple of layouts I have done over the last few weeks......feels like AGES since I scrapped last!!!

2009-08-20T21:01:00.000+01:00

Finally I am blogging

Given the number of hours I spend surfing the net and reading other peoples blogs, I decided that it was time I started to blog myself!!!! You would think that given I work in IT creating a blog should be easy.......HA!! I can fix a complex system problem with my eyes closed but setting up a background for my blog took me the better part of 2 hours and much wailing and gnashing of teeth (plus a glass of baileys or 3)!!!!

Finally I have a set up that is some way decent......well it matches......nuff said, so thoughts turned to what to post.....and that has taken forever as well.....at this pace I will be old(er) and grey before the post hits the blog.....good lord who knew the drama that would entail!!!!

Finally let me chatter about the reason I decided to blog.....to share my love of all things crafty and the fun and frolics that surround it. I am new to crafting......only started at the beginning of the year and I mainly scrapbook but thanks to the monthly South East Crafters crops and classes I have discovered cards and all sorts of other bits one can make with some pretty paper and double sided tape......not to mention buttons, ribbons, flowers and all sorts of other goodies I get to play with!!!!!! I LOVE playing with paper......reminds me of my junior school days when we used to collect and swop pretty writing paper!!!!

so here is something I made earlier. This is the card I made for my daughters first birthday. I got the stamps from Crafty Angels and the papers were just odd ones lerking in my stash!!! Am really pleased with how it came out, given I hadn't a CLUE what I was doing!!!