Hand Crafted Memories

Finally all my cards were written and posted, or so I thought. I have remembered a few people that I missed out, so quick and simple is the message today, I can now see the light at the end of the tunnel for my Christmas preparations. Winter Wonderland and Allsorts Challenge blogs both have Oh Christmas Tree as the theme for their challenges this week. Perfect for me, last week I was at a workshop where we made a little tree with rolled up bits of paper. So it was perfect to use it again for these challenges. I had a nice little surprise last night a beautiful boquet was delivered from my colleagues. I am always taking in  cakes and goodies that I've baked for them. So these were sent to me as a thank you, how gorgeous are they.  

I have re found my love for card making this week. I like to stamp out some images and just colour them in and cut them out. I will then make them up into card toppers and keep them in a box until I need a card. It makes it so much quicker when I suddenly realise I need to get something in the post. I recently posted that I needed to make some more cards for the boys at work, so a flurry of creativity ensued in my craft room. This resulted in apile of around 20 cards, plenty of posts will follow. I also think I need to add some of my cards to the challenges that go on and I look through regularly, I haven't entered anything for quite a while now. Over on the Allsorts challenge blog this week the challenge is about paper piecing. It so happens that this week I had made a couple of cards using this technique.I paper pieced the van on this card.   This is one of my favourite Molly Bloom stamps, its perfect for men's cards. I've teamed it up with two ranges of papers from Craft...

Here was another opportunity to combine two challenges. Daring Cardmakers are looking for layers on the card, they are sponsored this week by Teri's Delicious Doodles .  Allsorts are looking for a baby or child's card and they are sponsored by wink wink . No excuses needed to use my favourite from Craftwork Cards , their colour me ovals , although these are not on the website, I know they have them in stock. Contact them if you want some. I also like to pair of cards if I'm making them for my stock, that way all bases are covered when the new little one arrives.   

What a glorious day its been, the sort of day where you don't want to do ANYTHING. Unfortunately as I have another couple of days working in London next week I had to do housework and stuff.  I'm happy to say every bit of washing and ironing is done, downstairs is tidy and dusted, the grass is cut. I just have to finish upstairs. I've allowed myself a break to have a little nap in the sun and to take part in this weeks Allsorts challenge. This week they want to see embossing on the card. Well would you believe it this week I took delivery of a couple of Tim Holtz embossing folders. Here is my take on the challenge and I Looove these folders, they are perfect for men's cards. I wish there was a camera that could take pictures and capture smells. My garden is so fragrant at the moment I keep going out to have a sniff. I have a mock orange in the garden which is very strong. Right outside my patio door is this jasmine, it smells divine especially in the early evening. I l...

The Allsorts Challenge this week is a sketch challenge, my favourite. The sketch is an old favourite layout of the fabulous Julie Hickey , she often uses this layout. Its a good fail safe if you get a bit stuck because no matter what papers you use it just works. It is also a great way of using up those annoying scraps of paper that you won't throw away because one day you may use them. I know, you know what I mean. We needed a birthday card for work, three of us share the same birthday and this year one of the girls is 30, no not me. I wanted it to be bright but girly, so picked some pink papers. Throw in a bit of doodling and some butterflies and in the words of Gordon Ramsey, done!

Allsorts Challenge blog is one year old and to celebrate their birthday they are hosting a blog hop. The theme for the challenge is predicatably BIRTHDAY, quite fortunate for me because we are running out of cards for work. Here is one I made up quite quickly but I love the colours on it. I seem to be into doodling on everything at the moment, it seems to add a little something.

The A llsorts Challenge blog this week has my favourite challenge, a sketch. I used the 'kissing' technique on this card. I've tried it before but it never seems to work, not one to be put off I had another go. I'm quite pleased with the effect but will have another few goes to perfect it.

I am not one for combining challenges, I do see it as a bit of a cheat. It's easy to make a challenge fit a card for butterflies by saying there's a butterfly sitting on Tilda's shoe! But if you think about it, it doesn't really does it? The focus is really the Tilda and not the butterfly. That's why I like the rules on the Penny Black Challenge Blog they are very clear, the focus of the card MUST be a Penny Black stamp. The Allsorts Challenge Blog has rules as well, the card can be entered in as many challenges as possible but it MUST follow the weeks theme. Both blogs don't mind combining with other challenges. Rules are good because there's no misunderstanding. I have to admire cardmakers who make cards fit as many as 10 challenges, how is it done? Well I realised today that I had combined two challenges. I put out the things I wanted to use for my two challenges and made up a card for the first one. When I looked at it I had actually used everything th...

Before I start ironing I made a card for the Allsorts challenge, this week it was a photo that is to be used as the inspiration for the card.    I want this bracelet! I came up with this card. I've got so much purple and lilac cardstock its not funny. I'm not even a purple fan! In an attempt to use some I've based the colours around purple and taken the butterflies as inspiration. I also placed them around a central greeting. I've used four different techniques for the squares, a bit like making twinchies and mounting them on the card. This layout is one favoured by Julie Hickey and a bit if a staple for me in both cardmaking and scrapbooking . I've used four different techniques for the squares, the first is punches then I used masking and spraying with glimmer mists I dug out my Marvy LePlume pens, I haven't used these in a lifetime since I discovered Copics pens for colouring. I coloured the stamp in two colours before stamping the butterfly. and finally w...

The news everywhere is spring is coming, at last I say. I'm not one for the cold weather and I know I can't do much at the moment but I don't have to be cold while I'm not doing anything. I have seen evidence of spring coming in my garden, the daffs are there but not flowered and the crocus are there in all their glory. The weather hasn't been too bad until today, but those lovely spring flowers need some water so a little rain is acceptable. One of my thoughts this week in between naps was that I need to make my Easter cards, when I went looking for an Easter stamp I came across my normal 2 cuddling bunnies but felt I needed something different this year, so off to the Internet shop and I bought a little beauty from Magnolia. I stamped it up a number of times and just sat colouring them in while watching TV. Even that made me exhausted and sent me off with my quilt for a nap. Anyway I made up one of the images today and here is the perfect card for this weeks A...

Just a simple card for today, this very simple card was made in three stages, just because to sit forward is very uncomfortable. I also can't focus too well The challenge over on Allsorts Saturday Challenge Blog this week is to use the colours black , pink and white. I needed a card to send the the ward staff who looked after me last week. I have always had a high level of respect for the nursing profession and it pains me to hear people with no clinical experience criticise these dedicated professionals. Even my own visitors that could see I was getting the best care possible felt qualified to tell me what I should be saying and questioning, as if I had suddenly gone simple. I couldn't have asked for better people, my dignity and modesty were preserved at all times, this justifies a simple understated card with the message in the sentiment. Now if I was to question somebody's clinical judgement, it would be the GP who felt that I needed anti depressants. I contacted t...

Does anybody out there have teenage boys? I don't but I've got teenage nephews, two of them and I adore them. But what do you do for birthdays? I have one turning 13 this week (EEEEK!), he got an iPod for Christmas so it looks like its an iTunes voucher. I think it will be a hit because he is really into his music right now. So on to the card and can you believe the challenge this week over on the Allsorts Challenge Blog is Just for Men . Absolutely perfect, so here we go. I've used some fabulous new papers from Imaginisce, live loud collection. Love, love, love them especially for boys.

Thank goodness the snow is melting, unfortunately we have more predicted for later this week, Booo ! This weeks challenge over on the Allsorts blog is to incorporate a tag, label or a ticket onto the project. I decided to make a tag shaped card and used one of my new Penny Black stamps. I've been very good with my stash diet, limiting myself to only one shop a month. This month I bought 2 PB stamps and that's it! Mind you I can't promise I will be as restrained this weekend when I get to my retreat!

Wow! after posting my Winter Wonderland challenge entry last week I've won! This really was a challenge for me but once I cleared my mind of my comfort zone, I had a go and I won! The card is here . I am thrilled to pieces, thank you to the DT for picking me. To continue with my challenge entries, this card is for the Allsorts challenge , this week its 3,2,1. Three of something, 2 of something and one something else. On my card you can see 3 flowers, 2 butterflies and 1 sentiment.

Distressed, buttons and bows, sounds a bit like me, but no its the challenge for this week over on the Allsorts blog . I love the distressed look but I'm not very good with it. I usually either go too far or tidy it up too much. The only thing that ends up distressed is me. Got lots to post this week, so please come back and leave a comment to let me know what you think. Here goes, in for a penny in for a pound.

Wow I've made top spot over on the Stamp with Us Challenge blog, with this card. I am so happy. I've been looking at some of the statistics from my blog counter. I love statistics, I started my blog over a year ago but added the counter exactly a year ago. I have it set up to count unique hits only, so only the first visit that anybody makes is recorded. The most number of hits in a week was last week with a total of 302 hits, the most in one day was yesterday with a total of 80. The second highest week was 267 and the highest day was as a result of me being chosen as one of the Stampin Up fab five for this card.The 5000 th new visitor to my blog was on 24 th January 2010. This might seem like small numbers compared to some of the fabulous blogs out there, but for me its nice to know that somebody out there takes interest. The Allsorts Challenge Blog this week is a sketch . I have to say the sketch challenges are my favou...

I can't believe it I won the Allsorts Challenge last week , the theme was brown and pink. I'm thrilled, it was the first time I'd posted anything for them. This weeks challenge is hearts and flowers , of course I have to enter, so here goes with my take for this weeks challenge .I've made a Valentine's card, not that I need one but I know I'll get asked at the last minute, by somebody, if I have one.

Was that sunshine I saw yesterday, thank goodness the snow has gone and everything is back to normal. Unfortunately if the snow didn't get you I'm afraid the pot holes will. One road I have to travel twice a day has the biggest pot holes in it. The road is always being worked on and as a main route it causes congestion regularly. Well now its like a slalom run trying to negotiate the huge craters in it, at least now they aren't full of snow you can see them! This week over on the Allsorts Challenge blog its a theme of brown and pink . I love this colour combination, not my favourite but I do use it as one of my staple colour combinations. I think I may be getting a little predictable as the butterfly and border punch are heavily featured again. I can't remember how long it is since I loved a new craft purchase as much as I love these. In fact I don't even put them away, they are currently residing on my counter, permanently .