Yummy Scrummy Ribbon 2

As well as the lovely "hearts" themed ribbon Bea at Ribbon Oasis also sent a bag of the most delicious ribbons and trims in sugar pink with some mauve, green and a hint of lemon mixed in for good measure. A fab little package to play with. I knew they'd all look fantastic used together so dug out my BG Euphoria papers and made the cover for my 52Q journal. I've made the book with my Bind-It-All, and the back cover wraps around and fastens with some BG magnet closures. The title is cut on the Craft Robo and I've added lots of ribbons, glitter and flowers to match in with those gorgeous ribbons. Visit Ribbon Oasis HERE to see the huge and ever-changing range of ribbons and trims that Bea stocks.

Yummy Scrummy Ribbon 1

Every coupke of months, Bea at Ribbon Oasis sends out little jiffy bags of gorgeous ribbon to members of her Design Team. It's always such a treat when they arrive as you never know what delights will be inside.
January's jiffy bag contained two little baggies of ribbony goodies.
In the first I found ribbon and trims with a theme of hearts - well it is nearly Valentines Day, isn't it?
Here's a card made with some of the romantic themed ribbon you can find at Ribbon Oasis:


I decided not to add a Valentine's greeting to this card, but leave it blank so that it could be used for other occasions too
I've covered the base card with patterned paper then cut another panel of card the same width but shorter and covered that with a second paper. I've used a chipboard heart as a pattern to cut an aperture in the smaller sized card piece then fixed it over the base card with 3d tape.
The chipboard birdies then sit over the aperture.
The papers are Bo Bunny
Chipboard Love Birds are Rif Raf
Ribbon and trim are from Ribbon Oasis

It's all busy, busy here so my blog has been rather neglected.
I've not really had much time to browse blogland either - which is something I miss doing as it's always so inspiring to see what everyone else is up to.
Lots of the things I've made recently I can't share yet, but I do have a couple of cards made for Ribbon Oasis that I can show now.

I absolutely love this bobbly stuff! It's lightly wired so it holds shapes really well and I couldn't resist making it into a zigzag tree shape for this card
I bought a load of Daisy Bucket papers last year, but then I decided that I didn't like most of them! ooops! I've not bought any DB since.
These ones I do like though, the pink and green are lovely. I used them for these two cards aswell
I used the white ribbons and ricrac glued onto faux chipboard then sliced up into triangle trees.
The rub-ons were part of a birthdy gift from Sue H, I've used loads of them this Christmas so thanks Sue!

The last one uses graduating lengths of ref/green ribbon to form the tree shape. I used red Stickles to cover any frayed ends and to make the pot.


Right, I should move over to the other desk and make use of the lovely bright day we have here to do a bit of crafting. Hopefully I'll have more stuff to share soon.

Look Around

As always, Friday is Daring Cardmakers Day and this week it's my turn to set the dare - and if you're not already scared just hearing that, then you should be, because this one is real challenge. Well, I think it is, but I'm happy to be proved wrong - go on, I DARE you!

This week you can make any card you like - so it can be for Christmas, or for any occasion you like, but I'd like you to look for your inspiration right there, in your home.
The idea is that you look around your home and find a pattern, design, motif etc - or just part of one that you can replicate and use as the inspiration for your card design
You could use the pattern of the floor or wall tiles in your kitchen or bathroom, or even your patio tiles
Or maybe there's a pattern/motif that's used on a picture frame, wallpaper or curtains.
Or how about checking your crockery, a vase, an ornament for a motif you could develop into a design for a card

Once you start looking around, you'll see loads of little design motifs that can work for you - at least I hope you will!
And now I'm going to be really greedy and say that it would be especially good if you could add a photo of the original item when you write your blog!
I don't ask for much, do I? hehehe

The Design Team were very quiet after I posted this dare for them - I was beginning to think it was A Dare Too Far! You can see the cards the Brave Ones came up with over on the DCM blog, and I'm really looking forward to seeing how the Darers rise to the challenge. I used the border tiles in the bathroom as my inspiration for this card. It's for my brother's birthday and I thought a design like this would work well for a man's card - and you all know how hard men's cards can be! I just added a monogram to the design and it was done, and it's not even his birthday for a week or so. That's got to be a record!

I've used a mix of Blonde Moments and Junkits papers for this card. I cut the shapes and the monogram with the Craft. The mosaic shapes were cut once in paper and a couple of times in thin card then stuck together it would be great if Mr Robo cut thicker card, but it doesn't and this is my way around the problem when I want some dimension. The a"real" tiles are quite glittery - I resisted the urge to glitter the paper version but I did add a bit of black Stickles to the "M". A while ago I showed some sewing projects made using the latest pack of ribbon sent by Bea over at Ribbon Oasis. I also made a few cards using these lovely red, green and white ribbons and trims, but I forgot to post them on here. This is a version of the "noel" card I showed a few days back, this time with a bit of added zhoosh from ribbon and brads I'll save the others for another day - it's a bit hectic around here so it'll be good to have some reserve cards to share! Or is that just too sneaky?

Hang up Your Stockings

Taking a break from trying to come up with something for the new DCM challenge for Friday.
My brain hurts and my mojo has upped and left.

Good job I have a couple of things in reserve to put on here then. Mind you, when they're gone, they're gone as they say on the ads.

This is another little sewing project I've done for Ribbon Oasis this month. I thought it was about time I found out if I could still remember how to thread my sewing machine!
I'm quite pleased with this little stocking. If I had the time, patience and motivation to make 24 they'd be cute as an Advent Calendar sort of thing.
Especially if filled with little chocolate treats....
The little stockings are made from red and white felt, I've sewn lengths of Bea's gorgeous ribbons and braids around it and added a ribbon loop for hanging it up. I reckon it's big enough to fit something like a tube of Smarties in. Or a few wrapped sweeties of some sort.

Maybe I could get away with just making this one....plus a lot of numbered tags. Then I could just change the tag each morning to indicate the right day of Advent. What do you think? lol

The Christmas card making grinds on. slowly.
I found a couple of Cuttlebug embossing folders I'd forgotten I'd bought so thought I'd better have a go at using them. Well, one of them. Actually, a bit of one of them.

I've used the Cuttlebug trees from a cut & emboss set - haven't got on very well with the embossing bit of the set but I love the cut part!
Papers are the fabulous "Oh Joy" set from Cosmo Cricket - I've had them for about a fortnight and I've not "gone off" them yet!

My mouse marker wotsit has disappeared - makes it very tricky to know where I'm at when I need to correct anything. I wonder if it's gone off with my mojo?

Stitching and Sticking

I've slipped into Bad Blogger mode over the last few days. Not only have I not blogged since Friday, but I've not really managed to do much blog-hopping either. I've been trying really hard to get around all the comments left on the DCM blog about the birdie cards we asked you to make though. Sometimes it takes ages, but it's always worth it to see all the fantastic cards, and all the ideas people share with us all.
I think that later today I'll treat myself to a wander down my links list and all the blogs I find along the way.
This morning I had one of those update messages from Friends Reunited and instead of ignoring it I thought I'd wander over and see whether there really were "new people listed" I didn't spot any, but it's always bad to go to that site as before you even notice you've spent ages going down the lists and seeing if you can remember any more of those names which, frankly mean not a jot! Or maybe that's just me....

I have been crafting even though I've not done any blogging, I've had something on the go for a couple of weeks now, doing little bits towards it every now and then. It's still a "work-in-progress" but as it's something I want to add to in the future that's ok!
This is a sneak peek
And here's another little something I've been playing with
Next another blatant plug for my fave source of wonderful ribbons and trims!
Bea from Ribbon Oasis sent a wonderful little bag of gorgeous ribbons etc in lovely Christmassy red, green and white colours for me to play with. And guess what? I've not made any cards (yet).
Here's one of the projects I have made so far:
It's a little purse just big enough to hold a small gift, maybe a necklace or some earrings or other small thing. I used felt for the base and then strips of ribbon were woven together to cover the felt and sewn in place. I bound the raw edges with pieces of wider ribbon and sewed up to make the little purse shape. It closes with a popper and I've sewn a brass button on the top.
Just thinking out loud.....I wonder if I could make a tiny little book to put inside this? hmmmm that would be cute!

I've got more bits and bobs to share, but I'll add them another day

Daring Hallowe'en

Weather report: Cold and Frosty start to the day today

I thought I'd mention that straight away as the weather seems to be dominating things atm - maybe it's just me being hyper-sensitive to the on-set of winter. I really hate that I won't feel warm in the Great Outdoors again for months and months. Maybe I'm feeling hard-done-by because we had such a grotty summer and the days when it was actually warm and bright were few and far between! There's a little bit of me that's still waiting for the Summer so it can't be Winter, can it?

At least the sun is out again today, even if it is freezing! The last of Wednesday eveniing's snow finally disappeared about lunchtime yesterday.

Sorry for the miserable, self-indulgent Waffle there, I'll get on to some crafty stuff now. Friday is, of course Daring Cardmakers Day and we have Rachel setting the challenge:

We couldn't really choose any other theme could we!!!!!

So what we would like to challenge you with today is producing something with a Halloween theme -or anything scary, really - kids love anything with ghosties, skulls and skeletons on, don't they?
So you can make a card or something else this time, maybe a bag, box, lantern or anything at all, as long as it's got a scary theme.

We put all the names of those who made a card for Kathy's Sketch Challenge into a random number picker and the winner is....
Sarah C

Congratulations Sarah, the wonderful 3 Bugs in a Rug Caboodle kit will be on it's way to you from our fab sponsor Creative Treasures very soon.
(Sarah, if you read this can you email me please with your info)

We'd love to see your spooky creations, so leave a message on the DCM blog when you're done so that we can come and see how scared you've made us!

I made this
It's not actually a card, but I thought it would be something you could put in your window as a "Hallowe'en Revellers Welcome Here" sign - though for me I'd probably need to put a great big cross over it to say the opposite, because, yes, I'm a miserable, grouchy wotsit who doesn't find opening the door every five minutes and doling out sweets etc a fun activity. Our curtains will be closed and the doorbell will be ignored tonight.

bah humbug!
I've adapted some free clipart to cut the witches and bats with the Craft Robo - actually I was surprised at how well they cut, I thought they might be a bit too fiddly, especially in these sizes, but they've cut really well. I decided against trying them on thin card though, and just cut them from paper. When the big witch cut so easily I thought I'd risk a diddy one too - when that worked I got brave and went on a bat hunt!

For UK Craft Robo users - just in case you don't already know - there's a Graphtec Crafty Club which as well as having free templates, downloads, tips and techniques to help you get the most out of Mr Robo, you also get a little discount on consumables. I've not seen blades etc, any cheaper in other shops and orders arrive quickly too.

Yesterday I showed a couple of non-card makes from Ribbon Oasis Christmassy goodies so today its back to cards. I absolutely adore this gorgeous sheer green ribbon with sparkly spots and golden highlights. It makes a fab background on its own for the Cuttlebug Tree die-cuts in the top left card, and I love the rich opulent look you get just tieing it round the side of a card and making a simple knot. Then I thought I'd see what happened when I used a strip of coloured paper underneath the ribbon, and I loved the depth of colour and texture I found when I Xyron-ed it over the red paper to make the card at the top left of the photo.
This next one uses some really wide ribbon to make a panel for the centre of the card

The ribbon is so gorgeous that it really doesn't need much else, I just handcut a couple of scalloped borders and added a tag, and a tiny scrap more Ribbon Oasis shiny ribbon

Finally for today, yet another Christmas card (what a surprise!)
This one is using a fab and really adaptable card sketch from Sue over on Just Bex forum.

My card is made using Imaginisce "Snowy Jo" glittery papers and my own Craft Robo template.
The rub-ons are also from the Snowy Jo collection - I'd forgotten I'd bought them!

The Joy of Ribbon!

Still freezing cold here, but at least the sun is shining to cheer things up a bit.

I've remembered that I haven't shown the things I made with the last DT pack of ribbons I received from Ribbon Oasis. Bea has a spectacular range or ribbons and trims in her shop, and if you've not already succombed, then grab yourself a coffee and head over there for a happy hour or two browsing all that's on offer.
I love getting the little DT packs from Bea, you never know what you're going to find in those envelopes and sometimes there are ribbons you might not have gone for ordinarily, but they turn out to be the most inspiring.

This happened to me with this batch when I found this rather wide (about 7cms) ribbon in the pack. It's such a beautiful ribbon, but much wider that n the sort of thing I usually used, but it turned out to be perfect for covering this little lidded box
I made a new lid for an empty cotton buds container as the plastic one wouldn't fit once the box was covered. I used some minty green paper to cover the box and lid - it was the reverse of a patterned paper that's been hanging around unused for ages. Because the ribbon is sheer the soft green shows through and looks really pretty. I added a length of another of the ribbons in the pack to trim the edge of the lid, and to make a little loop to the top.
I'm not sure whether to use this as a gift box or to keep it for myself.

I was experimenting with different techniques for making books a while back, and did this one which is a bit like a loose-leaf folder. Having made the shell, I wasn't sure what to do next, so thought I'd try using my Bind-it-All to make the inner section.
The cream "pages" are actually pockets for holding notes, lists etc. I haven't got round to actually decorating them yet, but I will one day!

I covered the chipboard covers and spine first with a nice thick scrapbooking paper in a cream colour. Next I ran lengths of various gold themed ribbons and trims from my DT pack through the Xyron and adhered them right around the covers.
To tidy up the inside I used another piece of scrapbooking paper which covers the edges of the cover paper and also encases the ends of the ribbon.
The pockets are made from folded pieces of Bazzill, then there's a backing piece of chipboard covered to match the inners of the book. I used the BIA to link all these together then used a strong glue to fix the chipboard piece to the inside back cover of the book.

Ribbons make a lovely textured cover for a book and I think I'll be doing things like this again - there are so many gorgeous ribbons on the Ribbon Oasis webiste and this way you get to use several at a time so you don't need to choose just one!

Christmas Pressies Ideas abound!

I'll show the cards I made with the ribbons in the pack tomorrow.

A Glass of Chilled White Wine

Been working pretty hard today, so I deserve it.

I've made a couple of mini lasagnes and eaten mine - Hubby's out at archery and can have his when he gets home (I can't wait that long!) so now I've got a few quiet minutes to update my blog and maybe even I'll have time to do a bit of blog-hopping too.

At last the sunshine has come back and the last couple of days have been lovely, warm and sunny - not too keen on the wind though as it really makes my hatfever flare up something chronic.
Our veg patch (or patches as it's become) is doing nicely. We've already had a few peas and beans and there are quite a lot more that'll be ready soon. On Sunday Hubby pulled the first of the carrots. Yes, well, I think "interesting" is the best word to describe these!

The tomatoes "farm" is doing okay. I think we were a bit slow with our planting as our tomatoes are only just starting to grow. But we are going to have lots of them - got a bit carried away there and I think we've got somewhere in the region of 15 or 16 plants - I know it takes ages to water them all!


In our little greenhouse we have peppers, chillis and aubergines (have I ever mentioned that I LOVE the word aubergine? It's SUCH a lovely word to roll around on your tongue.....), we have loads of courgette plants in the ground and this one in a pot (we're experimenting to see which works best) we've already had one courgette to eat and here's another almost ready - and yes, I know the photo looks a bit...well.....you know....

In the veg patch "proper" the peas and beans are doing well and everything else seems to be growing well too - I like peas and beans because you can see what's happening without needing to dig anything up!
Hubby's also planted some rhubarb (so I can make him rhubarb crumble, apparently!) and that's really doing well now - though we can't crop that till next year - thats the rhubarb on the right - just in case you thought it was just some weeds!

We "inherited" a honeysuckle on the pergola which is lovely when it's in flower in the spring, but then for the rest of the year it looks like a dead thing, so last year I planted a passion flower to grow up through it and hopefully take over looking pretty when the honeysuckle gives up.
It seems to be doing really well and there are loads of buds on it, and this one brave flower.

And lastly for my garden diary today ;-) I took this photo looking straight up through the branches of one of the trees in our garden. It's a very beautiful tree, with lovely pale gree leaves. The branches are quite fine and they let a dappled light through rather than making too much shade. We haven't a clue what it is so are there any tree experts out there who'd like to enlighten us?
I've got a list of crafty tasks as long as my arm - nothing new there then. I do love doing them all but I have a horrible habit of getting to this point in the month and suddenly realising how very behind I am. So I've been trying to work a bit quicker and get things done. I'll save a couple of sneak peeks for tomorrow of a project I've finished today, but here's one of two boy cards I made yesterday - I forgot to photograph the other one, but it's almost the same - it's got a cut out aeroplane on it instead of the rocket. I really fail to get excited at amking blokey cards.
The papers are from Crate's Zoom collection and the rocket is a template I made for the robo. I printed the greeting on the pc and added the name with rub-ons.
This is another glimpse of a sneakie that I showed the other day - I hadn't done the inside at that point, but it's all finished now. Do you know what it is yet? hehehehe

All for this time you'll be glad to hear - that's if you made it to the end at all...........

Thanks for looking, please come back again soon

A Party Dress, Two Little Birdies and a Whole Lot of Ribbon!

Apart from a load of other things I need to get done, I've suddenly got several commissions for special cards. It's a strange thing that I don't get asked for anything like this for a while, then withine the space of a few weeks there seem to be loads.
So today I've got a couple of these done, one for a wedding and one for a little girl's first birthday.

I used the gorgeous, glittery "For Peeps Sake" papers from Imaginsce, plus some pink glitter card for the name, which I cut on the Craft Robo. Tiny pink buttons filled the top corner in and I knew that little pink butterfly would come in useful one day! I think I might add a tiny bit of glitter to the bodice of the dress as it looks a bit plain, what do you think?
I had something like this in mind when I ordered all that yummy chipboard from Bubbly Funk last week. I didn't realise at that point that it would take two tries to come up with the card. I found a sheet of beautiful KI Memories paper when I was looking for something else - I had a sort of red/black/white/silver theme in mind until then. But even though the paper was gorgeous it just didn't look right when I put all the pieces into place. So I went and had some lunch. As you do. This afternoon I decided to go start again and use a plain white card, and give the birdies a blue circle to sit on instead of the other stuff. I still used the wings, hearts etc that I'd already cut from the first effort. The silver paper the birds are made from is a sort of fibrous stuff stuck onto a folied backgraound - I think it came in one of those packs that look really pretty in the shop then sit in your paper box for evermore. Nice to find something to use it for!
Chipboard birdies plus the branch and leaves are from Caroline, The Chipboard Queen over at Bubbly Funk.
I'm glad to hear that the pics I posted of my fab new chipboard sent some of you scuttling over there to get some chipboard stocks of your very own. hehehe

I wonder if you've got enough ribbon?

Just in case you're not sure, here are some of the new supplies that landed on my doormat last week courtesy of the wonderful Ribbon Oasis.
ahhhh go on, get yourself over there, you know you want to..............

Lemon and Lime from Ribbon Oasis

It's warming up nicely outside, looks like being two hot ones on the trot woohoo.
We spent most of yesterday in the garden, I was weeding, pruning and shredding and hubby was hedge-trimming and planting tomatoes - exciting eh?
I think he got a bit carried away with seed planting as our garden is beginning to look like a tomato farm (should such things exist). Looks like I'll be making lots of tomato sauce and soup later in the year then.
There also seems to be rather a lot of courgette plants at the other end of the garden. Well, it is our first vegetable planting year so lessons will be learned......

On Saturday we went to see the latest Indiana Jones film. It was OK, not great, not bad - just OK. At least there wasn't much blood and gore - I hate films where I end up with my eyes shut and my fingers in my ears. OK so I'm a wimp.
I do end up with my eyes shut and my fingers in my ears quite often actually. Years ago we had a long weekend in York and hubby wanted to go to the York Dungeon - he wouldn't go if I didn't, so I went, I really am a great big wuss - they should offer reduced rates for people who need to be led around by the hand because of the eyes shut, ears blocked thing - surely I can't be the only one?

Checked with Bea that it's ok to share some things made for Ribbon Oasis recently. Bea sent a lovely assortment of ribbons and trims in zingy lemon and lime shades. I thought they'd look good not just for summery projects but also would be perfect to make a little scrap page with a photo I took last Autumn just as the leaves were turning - it also encouraged me to do another page in my 2007 mini album - which in truth, hasn't got very far since last March! ooops!Card is Bazzill, the little trees are cut from some BG that came in a Self Addressed kit months ago. All the ribbon, and that gorgeous felt flower trim stuff is obviously from Ribbon Oasis and just look how many of my stash of brads I used!This is a little box made with chipboard squares all fastened together with pieces of ribbon. I used a yellow acrylic Paint Dabber to paint the squares, then BG Colour Me Silly papers to decorate them. The rosette on the top is made by running a line of gathering stitches along a length of ribbon, pulling it up to form a rosette then adding a button centre. If you use a wired ribbon you don't even need to do any sewing at all because you can take out the wire from one edge of the ribbon, then gently gather up the ribbon along the wire on the other edge and twist the ends of the wire together to form the rosette.
Also used: Angel Kisses yellow blooms, Cuttlebug scallop flower die
Lastly is this mini notebook. The various ribbons, felt trim and sequin trim were all in my RO kit, the papers are Cosmo Cricket. I used my Bind it All to make the book. Rubbish photo, sorry about that.

The Comfort Zone

I chose this as the title for my new CJ which has just gone off to Ireland for it's first port of call.
Obviously, keeping in with the theme, the natural choice for decorating the cover had to be my comforting Black and White. I decided against adding a splash of colour to the covers and went instead for a bit of sparkly silver.
The fabbylicious ribbon is all from Ribbon Oasis; in fact the wide, sparkly, spotty stuff was my starting point for the rest of it. I made the flower decoration from a couple of different sizes and shapes of chipboard, coloured, covered and sanded and generally tarted up!
The button was a plain white one decorated with some black tulip paint.
I had a total failure with the first title I made so after leaving the whole thing lying around in disgust for a few weeks, I eventually went for a simple, computer generated one - and actually I like the simplicity of it - there's enough faff and fuss with athe ribbon and flower jobbie so it doesn't need any more. Well that's my excuse anyway!

These are the sign in pages at the back. There are 10 people in this circle so I've gone for little folders tied with lots more ribbon this time. I keep counting to make sure I've got enough for everyone. I never trust my aritmetic abilities! Quite chuffed with the picture actually because these are two seperate photos which I've merged together - cor! what a techie I'm becoming - hahaha - not a chance!

It was Em's birthday at the weekend.
Poor love has been working so hard lately for her NVQ, she's had no time to play with paper and ribbons at all - but she's nearly there and I bet she can't wait to come out and play again!
I'd already decided to give her the little maze book I made for the Ribbon Oasis Design Team - it was the coffee and cream one.

This is the card I made for her:
I used those gorgeous We Are Memory Keepers papers again - such wonderful colours, I love those dusty rusty pink shades and the fact that they are all double-sided so you get perfectly matched plains to go with every colour in the patterns.

Still loving doing mosaics too - brilliant for using all those little scraps you can't bear to throw away!
More chipboard here - the flower is covered with paper, triple embossed and an extra layer of kaleidoscope powder in there for a bit of sparkle, the monogram is from the Bubbly Funk shop (get your chipboard there folks, Caroline is specialising in the wonderful stuff, and some of it is BF exclusive too!) - I just covered this with paper and sanded the edges, no embossing or whathaveyou!
Oh I invested in a new set of tools the other week, it's a set of files from Basic Grey (I think), so now I can get into all those tiny corners that used to be really hard to make tidy, definitely worth having if you're rubbish at cutting out like me!
Flowers are Prima Essentials, rest of the bits are from my stash.

Hope you liked the card, Em and that you had a fantstic birthday.
Keep working hard, the finishing post is in sight now!

"coffee & creme" Maze Book Pictures

I thought I'd show some photos of the maze book I made for this month's fabbylicious "Coffee & Creme" kit from Ribbon Oasis. I wanted to show that brown and cream are fantastic not only when just used together, but also work really well with other colours too. So I've made the pages inside the book using the brown and cream as a theme, but adding in other colours alongside them. Now all I have to do is decide whether I keep it for myself, or give it as a present for one of the birthdays I know are coming up soon - which is why the inside cover is blank! (above) Both these pages have opening "bits" with space inside ofr a photo or message

(above & below) The lefthand side pages both have opening "bits" with photo spaces hidden inside