Hand Crafted Memories

I have seen some lovely bendi cards and wanted to have a go at making one. Ive also had some of the lovely images from Lili of the Valley recent Christmas stamps release sitting on my desk. Today I manged to find some crafting time and killed two birds with one stone. I was quite pleased with how the card came out  but think I need to practise a little bit more.I so enjoyed this little crafting session, if I can get all my jobs dome early tomorrow I may reward myself with a bit more craft room time.

Facebook love it or hate it you have to give it credit for keeping in touch with people. I personally hate two things about it one is cryptic messages and people who put every detail of their life on it. But that is not Facebook's fault, its the person doing the posting.  One thing I do love about Facebook is that I can keep in touch with people i would otherwise have lost track of. I worked in the Middle East for 15 years as a dental nurse and had the honour of working with many people from different countries. When we  all moved on I have managed to keep up with a lot of those people. We used to joke that because we were all scattered around the four corners of the earth we would in  the future be able to travel the world without paying for hotels.  One of my friends Danielle is American but is now with her husband in Japan. She came and stayed with me over 10 years ago and we are now suggesting a return visit, but she has also invited me to visit her.  WO...

I've had a lovely weekend, of crafting, it is ages since I immersed myself into just crafting for a whole weekend. Mostly I have been finishing off some half done projects, but I've also stamped out some images  just to colour them. In a couple of weeks I am spending some time with friends so I can show them how I colour. I was very flattered when they asked because I often look at other peoples work and wish I could use my Promarkers like they do. Still I suppose we all have to learn from somebody. I made up one of the images into a card to enter into the Lili of the Valley challenge this month. The theme was male or sporty, I think this one would fit both and is probably apprpriate with the World Cup going on. I've really rediscovered my colouring bug now, and it will be a welcome distration from the football on television.

Today has been a very lazy day for me, I haven't even got dressed. Instead I've abandoned everything to bring to life an idea that has been kicking round in my head. I really love the Lili of the Valley nativity scene stamps, they are so very cute. I wanted to create a nativity scene using the stamps, as all of them have a sheet for a background I decided to make them their own 'theatre'. It has taken me all day to make it and light it up but thank goodness it worked out just fine. You know what its like when you start something you've imagined and then it just doesn't work. I'm entering thins into this months LOTV Challenge which is to create anything but a card.

What does a girl do with a week off work? Well I end up catching up on everything I feel I've let slip. I wanted to make a card for the Lili of the Valley monthly challenge and just didnt seem to be able to find the time and admittedly sometimes the motivation. That was until today. I sorted through my stamps and bingo there was the idea. I love this card and pink is such a lovely alternative to the traditional Christmas colours. I'm really pleased with how this turned out. I just need to make a lovely special envelope for this with my lovely new envelope maker .

I have a couple of friends that always share when they spot something that makes them go Wow. Usually it has the same effect on me and makes me want to immediately have a go. This week Lesley told me about a card in a box, so of course I had to have a go. I made a circus card and love it, but then I wanted to have a go with my lovely Lili of the Valley , nativity stamps. I love these stamps and have used them quite a few times now, so this makes me happy because it was a worth while investment. I love that this card folds flat for posting and then pops out to a lovely box card for somebody special.     This months challenge on the Lili of the Valley Blog is anything goes, so I am entering this into the challenge.

Oh dear the blogging is slipping again, but with the gorgeous weather we are having this weekend I'm sure I can be let off. It seems a bit odd to be making Christmas cards with the sun shining but it will be here in no time at all. There are also some really good challenges going in and they are sparking my interest. This week I completed my next Scrap Whispers challenge but that can't be revealed until the last participant has completed their page. I have a few goodies that I have made all photographed now so hopefully i can catch up with the posts. Today's card is for Lili of the Valley s monthly challenge, they want to see ribbon and lace on the card. So I  made this little card for my stash. I coloured the image a couple of weeks ago, it is from one the latest release of stamps from LOTV. The snowflakes die is from Memory Box and I bought in a sale, it has lay around and I think I've only cut it once but now it has been discovered again I love it.

Charming is the challenge set over on Winter Wonderland this week. So they would like to see a charm somewhere on the card. I also think it is very apt for the stamp I used, its one of the brand new releases from Lili of the Valley , I loved it as soon as I saw it and of course when it popped through my letter box it had to be inked and stamped straight away. I think this is going to feature very heavily in my cards this year. The challenge over at Lili's little Fairies is NO Flowers, and as there isn't a flower in sight on this card I am entering it to that challenge as well.

Lili of the Valley recently launched 16 new Christmas stamps, and are getting ready to release another 20. It was difficult enough to choose just three from the last release so what pressure am I going to face in making my next decision. I already have some from the last release that I wanted to buy, including this gorgeous little angel. I didn't buy her but my friend Lesley kindly stamped her for me  and now I'm loving her. (The stamp and Lesley.) This months challenge on the LOTV blog is to make it Festive, so I made up this lovely card. I also noticed that Winter Wonderland are asking for cute cards, well they don't come any cuter than this little angel. Already I have received hints from friends about how they would love to receive this card at Christmas. I'd better get stamping and colouring. I've entered this into the Lili's little fairies challenge as well, their theme is Christmas in August.

Last week I had a little trip to the Lili of the Valley shop, it is so full of fabulous inspiration you can't fail to get enthusiastic about getting crafty. On the counter was a beautiful wedding candle, stamped with one of their lovely images and decorated so delicately. For a week I have been thinking of this candle and wanting to make one myself.  While I was there I treated myself to three of the newly launched stamps, believe me it was very difficult sticking to only three. I'm sure more will end up at my house soon though.  As I went back to work this week I have not had much time for crafting but I managed to gather all the supplies I needed for a candle and today I finally got the chance to have a go. I love it and it was much easier than I thought it was going to be. The hardest part was colouring on tissue paper, but only because you don't have to put much ink on. I can imagine making many more of these for Christmas presents. If you fancy having a go here ...

I recently looked at all the cards posted on Lili of the Valleys blog hop and was particularly inspired by this beautiful card . I loved the idea of the frame on the card. So I had to have a go myself, I have three weddings in the next 4 months and this will come in really handy. I also used some of the clay embellishments that I have been making, see the little scrolls on the top corner.     The cute little stamp is also from Lili of the valley, tomorrow I'm visiting their store to view the new release of Christmas images. I have the feeling I'm going to be very skint. I'm also entering this card into their monthly challenge, its the first time I've entered, but the theme this month is Pretty in Pink and this fits the challenge perfectly.

I've been busy playing in my craft room for the last couple of days. Why is it that sometimes you have loads of ideas and then other times there's nothing in your head? The Winter Wonderland Challenge this week is to include a boy and girl on your project. At the moment I am loving the Lili of the Valley nativity Christmas stamps. So what better than to include the sweet image of Mary and Joseph on my card.

Recently I have come across a few card makers blogs, where they seem to have gone over the top with their layering. Throwing all cares of the cost to post the creations once finished, I have been in awe of  these mini masterpieces. A few mixed media canvases have caught my eye as well, something else for me to have a little dabble at to see if I can transfer some of these techniques to my scrap book pages. For now start small I told myself, I pulled out my lovely mermaid friends stamp from Lili of the Valley , this was given to me as a present from my friend and I love this image. Then I just added a few flowers and spritzed a bit and coloured the image. Now normally I would stop but no I added beads, pearls a ribbon bow and an ornate corner. This is the end result of my efforts       all things considered I'm quite pleased with myself.

I can't believe I've blogged every day for a week, even more I've crafted every day. Today's challenge is  on the Winter Wonderland blog. They want to see a penguin on the card. I had the perfect stamp from Lili of the Valley. I had to get this stamp as soon as I saw it and I still think it is incredibly cute.

This weeks challenge set by Winter Wonderland is not to use red or green on your project. Easy I thought, but I can't tell you how often I reached for my green pens, especially when it came to the tree. I could at least reach for one of my lovely Lili of the Valley stamps and relax with some Promarker colouring. If you are around tomorrow come back and join in the UK Scrappers blog hop.

I haven't disappeared, I've just been working on projects that can't be revealed yet. In the midst of this activity one of my friends at work welcomed his baby son. As he was a few weeks early I was caught off guard and had to come up with a couple of cards. It gave me the chance to get out my Promarkers again, its been a few weeks since I did any colouring and now I'm hooked again. I've stamped a few images out and today I will be found in my craft room colouring in, among those images are a pair of new baby cards, one for a boy and one for a girl. I don't want to be caught out again.    

Tonight all my Christmas cards must be written, I keep putting it off, if I leave it any longer there will be no point in writing them. Less is More had a one layer challenge this week with an all in a row theme. I've had this little stamp from Lili of the Valley for a little while now, I just haven't had time to use it. This was the perfect excuse and I have to say it turned out to be my favourite card I've made this year. I don't want to give it away.

This weeks challenge over on Winter Wonderland is to make a card for Baby's 1st Christmas. It was only when I started looking through all my Christmas stamps that I realised I don't really have on that features a Christmas baby. Not to be beaten I used my LOTV baby stamp and put the baby in a Christmas red outfit and co-ordinated the papers and decorations in red and green. I think I pulled it off.

I often find when I make a card that I am critical of it and think there's something not right. But sometimes I make a card and its just right, there's nothing I want to change. This week was a very stressful week for a number of reasons, so I thought a little card making would help it out. This card cam together perfectly and I'm so pleased with it I don't want to give it away now. Perhaps stress around me is the missing element from my cards and projects.

I missed postingmy card last week for the Winter Wonderland Challenge , so I knuckled down and made sure I finished it in time to post this week. The theme this week is Lilac and Lace. Try as much as I could I couldn't find real lace that looked right on this card. So a compromise was this lovely lacy die cut border. I'm really pleased with the final result.