70th Birthday

I finally finished the card that was lying on my desk a few WOYWWs ago!

Yes, I know it took a while, but I knew there was something missing and I couldn't figure out how to fix it.

In the end, I added the three tiny coiled roses above the monogram and I think I solved the problem.

This was a commission for a lady celebrating her 70th - now I don't think everyone really wants huge numbers screaming their age at them, so I try to be a bit more subtle about such things.  Lift the flap with the monogram on it and there's a little more personal message inside to mark the special day.

These gorgeous papers are from the "Lost and Found" collection from My Mind's Eye - they are truly beautiful, with lovely designs and an ample amount of glitter!

I made the little "secret message" piece by folding the paper in half then cutting with a Nesties die - make sure you have the fold lower than one edge of the die or you'll get two bits instead of one!

The monogram is Robo cut, then glittered with Stickles, then when that was dry I added a coat of Glossy Accents.

The flowers are a mix of ready made wired flowers (Creative Treasures), a handmade paper rose and some coiled paper roses

I've also used ribbon, lace and tiny gems from my stash

I just adore that gorgeous lace!

Thank you for popping by, I hope you'll come again soon - if you add me to your "following" list I'd be thrilled to bits!

Back sooooon with more stuff

Uncle!

I wasn't able to amke a card for the Daring Cardmakers this week - I do hate missing out on a dare too grrrr.  It's Keryn's turn today, so please visit the DCM BLOG and find out what Keryn's dare is and of course to see the cards the more organised members of the DT have made!

I'm hoping that I can add mine later, once things have settled down "Chez Waffle"!

I can't let a Friday go without adding a card, though, so here's one I made last week for my Uncle, who's birthday is today.  Happy Birthday Uncle Bryan!

Papers: Fancy Pants The Daily Grind

Brads, ribbon, sticky crochet all from stash

Fab Camera charm is from Charmed Cards and Craft

Lettering made in PSP and cut with Mr Robo

Photos of some favourite castles in Northumberland are mine and Hubby's, printed B&W, matted onto chipboard and inked.

My uncle loves taking photos and like us he loves his castles - especially those in Northumberland.

Just in case you don't recognise them, from left to right you can see;

Bamburgh Castle, Lindisfarne Castle, Alnwick Castle and my favourite, Warkworth Castle.  Dunstanburgh Castle was supposed to be in the frame too, but I printed them to big to fit it in.

One day I'll get the hang of planning ahead!

Or maybe not....

I hope he likes the card and I hope you do too

Thank you for visiting

Silhouettes revisited

A while back on the Daring Cardmakers Rein set us a challenge to use silhouettes on our cards.  I ended up making a wedding card - not because I needed one but because I liked an image I'd found!

Anyway, a few days ago I had a request from a customer for a wedding card; 

Aha! I thought, I have one ready to go!  

I sent off the photo, and said if this one was ok I'd add the wedding details and send it straight off.  Well, she was happy to take it off my hands so I went to get an envelope for it so I could bag it up ready to send off.  

That's where I hit a snag - for some unknown reason I'd made a card just slightly too big for any of the envelopes I had in stock..... BAH, rude words, stamps foot!

So I ended up taking the card apart and doing a bit of trimming and what-have-you so that I could put it back together using a slightly smaller size square. 

 Obviously I couldn't just send it without adding a few more details so here are both versions so you can play "spot the difference"!

New version:

Original version:

I suppose it serves me right for being smug enough to think I could save myself some time because I had a card ready-to-go!  How come it never works for me? :-(

Thanks for visiting!

It was my Birthday....

....last week.  I received some fab cards from my crafty friends, so I thought I'd add some photos so you could see just how lucky I was.

I had to take photos with them in groups or I'd have been there till Christmas taking photos!  I hope no-one minds - you can click on them for a better look though.  Oh, and sorry, the pics aren't brilliant either - probably because I had to balance on a ladder to get an angle on them hehehe, I've added names to each card but you'll probably need to click to see who's is who's - or maybe you can guess first!

I've got a feeling I may have missed some out when I was doing these photos - so I'll check through when I take them all down and make sure I add any I missed this time around.

Lovely, aren't they?

Thank you so much for sending me a card. I had an absolute ball opening them all and oohing and ahhing over them!  They look fab on my mantelpiece and windowsills!

Thanks for looking

There's Something in the Air

This week it's my turn to set the new dare for the Daring Cardmakers and I was very naughty and changed my mind about the dare I was going to set - luckily for me, no-one had made a card specifically for the original idea yet!

It wasn't that I'd had an idea for a card I could do for the new theme - oh no, that would be too easy - I'm more the think of a snappy title and then panic about what to do with it sort of girl!

I liked the sound of "There's Something in the Air" or "Come Fly With Me" as titles so that's what I went with.  Thinking about an actual card came later!

My thoughts were all about things that we see up in the sky - butterflies, balloons, bubbles, clouds, kites, aeroplanes and parachutes - anything along those lines - that's what I'd like the main features of the cards to be this week - and you can see some fab ideas from the Design Team over on our BLOG

I really hope you'll join in and do some flying, fluttering wafting and hovering with us!

I made this:

I've used papers from the lovely Prima Jack and Jill paper pad - which recently arrived in a box, along with lots of other glorious goodies from Karen at Charmed Cards and Crafts. 

I thought the children in the corner of one of the sheets would be so cute as the kite-fliers for my card, and the papers are so perfect for the background and for the kite and balloons.  There are even butterflies on the background paper to add to the theme!

The kite is hand-cut, the balloons are Robo cut using a template converted from a free colouring page. I added more butterflies raised on thick card to hold the kite string in place so that it will all fold up nicely for mailing.

The kite's tail hangs loose and has lots of different ribbons tied to it

I've used loads of ribbon on this card!

I'm really looking forward to seeing the cards everyone makes this week, I hope you'll join in!

 Thank you for visiting, I hope you liked what you found here and will visit again soon

Roll Up, Roll Up

This month's Crafty Template collection has a circus and animal theme with some really cute designs for use in card-making or other projects.

I've just made cards, but some of these would work brilliantly on scrapbook pages, or would look fab on the cover of a notebook.

My favourite of this months DT selection was the clown and I made him into a shaped card

I've used papers from the fab Crafty Goodies Kit for this month - you can buy the goodies and the templates, and find lots of useful info HERE

I used a big brad in the centre of the bow so that it will spin around with the flick of a finger.

Apart from the papers I used:

black Bazzill for the hat, adding some black Stickes to the brim

some black pen swirls for his hair, and orange Stickles on his eyebrows.  I gave his nose a nice thick layer of Glossy Accents

I love this elephant template too - seemed the perfect one to use for another new baby card.

I converted him to a Robo Template, then cut the elephant shape in card and in paper.  I also cut along the ear shape in the paper layer.  I used a scrap of paper between the two layers to cover the gap when the ear is standing out from the main section.

Paper and ribbon from the Goodies Kit,

Base card embossed with Swiss Dots folder (Cuttlebug)

Sentiment and baby face dingbat  pc generated

tiny Prima flower on the heffies hat

For the big top card I started by cutting a small aperture in the front of my card to match the opening of the tent.  Once I'd cut all the other bits and added them to the card I used my Robo to cut a tiny version of the Sea Lion template - I added this to the inside of the card making sure he could be seen through the aperture.  I just drew the ball with a glitter ink pen and added a blob of Glossy Accents on top.

Here's the sea lion on the inside of the card

Papers are all from the Goodies Kit, Sea Lion is black Bazzill

Bunting cut free-hand from scraps of the papers

black and white baker's twine looped and tied to make the frame

This is just a sample of the templates you get in a Crafty Templates collection, I hope you like what I've made with them this month.

All you need to know about Leo's Templates, Goodies and Quirky Kit stuff is HERE

That's all for today, thanks for visiting, I hope you'll come back soon

Behind the Mask

Another Friday come hurtling in at breakneck speed.

It's Lythan's turn to set the challenge on the Daring Cardmakers blog this week: 

Today's challenge gives you a choice....

Masks

Now you could make a card featuring a mask; or use a masking technique for stamping or use a mask to spray or paint on. The decision is yours!

Knowing that the only "ready made" mask I have is a crown shape (bought in error) and not having a clue what sort of card to make with it I thought I'd make a card in the shape of the sort of mask you would wear.  Again though, inspiration failed.  

Eventually, after spending a bit of time looking at masks and masking techniques on the interweb I decided to have a go at making some masks of my own.  ooooerrrr!

Obviously a job for Mr Robo as my cutting out is dismal (another "can't do" to add to my list hehe)
Using PSP (Paint Shop Pro) I drew a birdhouse shape, added a heart, circle and some little flowers with the preset shapes, then made the scallop bits on the roof using the brush tool. I cut it out then saw that all the bits I'd put on the rectangular part were separate pieces.  ooops!  Back to my picture to add some lines that would hold it all together and try the cutting again.
I sprayed it with repo adhesive and then used distress ink to ink over the birdhouse design.  I got a bit carried away and made more masks for the flowers and the butterflies.  The flowers are more PSP presets but the butterfly is from the Funky Hand "Flowers and Flutterbyes" download.

Also used:
Bird (Crafty Templates)
Lace, button, chain, tiny black pearl and brad from stash.
Natural twine (The Ribbon Girl)
Chipboard branch and tiny birdhouse (Bubbly Funk)
Inks, Stickles, tiny home made rub on decal

If you head across to the DCM BLOG you'll find some lovely and inspiring ways to use masks and masking techniques on your cards.  Maybe like me, you've never had a go at using them before - if so, this is your big chance to have a play!  I hope you'll rise to the challenge and have a go.

Please don't forget the September LO idea on The Sketch File Blog - we'd love to see lots of people joining in and using the sketches.  There's inspiration for using the September and other sketches over on the blog, and if you check out Jackie's blog HERE you'll find the most gorgeous album page she's created using September's LO.  I think it's absolutely beautiful!

Thanks for looking

WOYWW and WIMTW

There can't be anyone left who doesn't know about WOYWW, but just in case there is, it's Julia's Stamping Ground you need to visit to find out all about it!

As for  WIMTW - well that's a brand new and (probably) once only one, standing for "What's In My Trug Wednesday?"  Yep, I've been up the garden with my lovely new Sussex Trug (anniv present from hubby) and picked this little lot

About 6 courgettes which sneakily grew massive while I wasn't looking, loads of runner beans and tomatoes and some thinnings from the pots of carrots which will be very tasty, I know!  I pulled the last carrots from last year's tubs of carrots pots to eat with our dinner on New Years Day - that can't be bad, can it? 

I also pulled up a load of mushrooms from the lawn, but we won't talk about that. grrrr

Here's my desk shot for this week - nice to be back playing along after a rather hectic few weeks - it won't last though as this week is just a pleasant, restful lull in the proceedings. ho hum.  You can click on it for a closer nosey about.

Quite tidy really as I'm between projects. Actually I'm procrastinating again as I'm not sure what to do with the next item on the agenda.

And one more photo for today, just to keep up with the catching-up stuff

One of the guys in hubby's team at work has just become a daddy awww!  this is a big card as it's for all the peeps in the office to sign.  Why are big cards so much harder to make?

At least I got to use that gorgeous wide ribbon which has been in and out the drawer for ages looking for a project it didn't swamp.

Also used:

Bazzill card, Fancy Pants paper (I think), Lace, 

silver heart brads, faux turquoise brads, Robo cut pram, scalloped circles and the baby's name, MS scallop edging punch

Time now for lunch, then a bit of crafting and then a bit of WOYWW surfing, I think.  That should keep me busy for the rest of the day.

Thanks for visiting today, please come back soon

Funky Hand Stuff

I'm still trying to catch up with everything - I'll get there eventually I hope!

Today is all about catching up on Funky Hand happenings.

On the 1st September the new monthly challenge on Get Funky! went live and it's me setting the theme this time

"...for our September challenge I'd like you to help me celebrate my birthday which occurs in the middle of this month.

If you've ever visited my personal blog, you'll already know that I just can't stop using flowers on my cards and projects, so what I'd really love to see is a
Fabulous Funky Floral Fantasy

The catch is that I need to see lots of dimension in the way you use the flowers, so just a flower patterned paper, or a flat flowery image just won't cut it!  Think lots of layers or try making some of the wonderful 3d flowers that are around at the moment - there are lots of tutorials and you-tube videos out there to get you started."

.As always there's a very (Funky) Handy prize of a £20 voucher to spend on Funky Hand goodies on offer for one lucky winner - just make sure you check up on the rules so your creation meets the criteria - you would be amazed at how many people forget!

There are some fabulously inspiring creations on the blog so please check them out {HERE}- we have three lovely new Teamies joining in for their first time this month so there's even more to see.

I suppose you could say that I cheated a bit this month and used the "caddy and flowers" combo that I've shown here before - my excuse being that it was the inspiration for the challenge itself.

I used the "Contented Coffee" set of papers from the "Colour Me Happy" CD to cover the caddy and to make all the flowers and swirly bits.  I had an absolute ball making these and it got me thinking about using lots of dimension and layering to make something as simple as paper scream with attitude!

Next on the Funky Hand Catch Up is the brand new Christmas download "All I want for Christmas"

It's available for instant download from HERE.  So if you're already thinking of making C-word stuff, you can get started straight-away and print off all those lovely new papers and images to your heart's content!

It's worth having a "stroll" around the blogs of the DT (they're all on my links list in the sidebar) if you're in need of some inspiration, or just want to see the designs in use.

I'm soooo not an early starter when it comes to CWord cards, but here are the ones I've made so far using the fab new download designs.

I'm keeping the pics small (so I don't scare myself too much) but you can click on them for a better look if you want!

The tree shapes are digi images from the download, cut on the Robo, I've even used the "waste" to make one of the cards.  The parcels are hand-cut from one of the paper designs.  For the last 2 cards I printed the design direct onto the fronts of the card blanks

The last piece of FH news is that rumour has it that Word Book Envelopes are now available, but are so popular that they are selling really really fast.  If you love making those fantastic Wordbooks Funky Hand is so famous for, then these envelopes are perfect for sending them in.  Check the Funky Hand SHOP for more info.

I think that's my FH update completed (at last, I hear you say....)

Thanks for visiting - please come back soon

Gone in a Flash

On Friday, the gorgeous 3 months-old bundle of joy you see in this photo -  my adored nephew Charlie, celebrated his 18th birthday. I find it utterly mind-blowing that these years could have gone so fast.  Just in case you didn't guess - I'm a doting auntie, and I'm so proud of him!  He's doing so well and turning into such a fine young man, but seeing him reaching this milestone birthday was quite emotional for me as I couldn't help but feel sad that his grandparents (on our side of the family), and various other family members who are with us on the Christening photos weren't there at the w/e to celebrate another of the special days in his life.

Funny isn't it, how really happy occasions often make us feel incredibly sad too?

Anyway, it's been a hectic couple of weeks and I've not done much blogging, or blog-hopping.  I'm giving myself and early birthday present and planning a do-as-little-as-possible week this week!  So with a bit of luck I'll get plenty of crafting and blogging done and spend some time catching up with all my favourite blogs.  I've loads of stuff to blog, but as my head is still full of Charlie's big birthday I thought I'd start the week with his birthday card and voucher holder.

I made a huge easel card - well huge for me, it's about 9" square - I had to make an envelope (of sorts) too because I didn't have anything big enough for the card once it was done.  Ahhh what price a bit of planning and forethought....?)

You'll probably realise that he's a Magpie's (NUFC) supporter....how delighted my dad would be of that alone!

Papers by Imaginisce and Doodlebug. All numerals and lettering Robo cut using Bazzill card, Papermania buttons, the perfect B&W ribbon and the B&W Divine Twine from The Ribbon Girl, Football-shaped tokens, silver star brads and B&W brads from my stash

We're giving all our nephews and nieces a sum of money in Premium Bonds as they reach 18 - we had the idea  last year when our eldest niece (on hubby's side of the family) hit 18.  So how come when I knew I'd be needing all the info again I didn't save all the images and wording I used on the gift wallet I made for her?  I've made darned sure I've saved it all this time!

Outside and all fastened up it looks like this:

The gift card looks like this:

  I printed out the logo and glued it to one side of the paper, then added the info on amount given etc on the reverse, then laminated the whole thing.
Inside it looks like this; the little pocket in the centre holds the gift card and there's plenty of room for  on the inside cover sections for adding a greeting and message.

Right, that's all for this time.  Tomorrow I'll be concentrating on Funky Hand stuff; It was my turn to set the challenge for this month and there's a new Christmas download release just gone on sale, so plenty to catch up with there.  I will catch up....one day!

Thanks for visiting

Sapphires for September

Just a quick update from me today - it's all a bit hectic around the Waffle Zone atm!

First up, the new Sketch, along with some DT inspiration for using it went live on Sept 1st, you can see it HERE

Today is Daring Cardmakers day and for our dare this week it's another of the Birthstone themed challenge.

The birthstone for September is the

Sapphire.
Sapphires are also the traditional gemstone for the 45th Wedding Anniversary and we'd like you to use the Sapphire as your inspiration for your DCM card this week

I've used the September Sketch File sketch again to make my card this week

The papers are from a pack of Japanese handmade papers, the letter S is Robo cut and the oval backing piece is cut with a Nesties die and embossed with a CBug folder (Style Flowers.  The little coiled roses were made with scraps of the Japanese papers.

Also used:

tiny gems (Anitas) Blue organza ribbon with silver strands, wired rose, Prima flower, lace, acrylic flower, pearl and diamante bead strands, punched plain and scalloped ovals for sentiment, the sentiment is a home made rub on decal.

Sorry to have been so MIA this week, normal service will be resumed soon!

Thanks for visiting