The owls are not what they seem

I've finally succumbed to the sweet, sweet, fully co-ordinating across multiple mediums, forbidden fruit of the dark side...

Stampin' Up! 

My first order arrived this weekend, amongst it the marvellous build-an-owl punch. 

I can't stop making owls, it's addictive.  

Also, flip cards. Flip cards & owls, they are my two top things at the moment.

To make a flip card, you need to measure very carefully two score lines, then run the card base through a die cutting machine with a spellbinder label frame over the score lines. There are Youtube videos which show you how to do it.

Don't worry, the first one you do will turn out rubbish. You'll probably need  to make about 4 or 5 prototypes before you get the hang of the fact that you're not getting any better at this. 

Then what you need to do is you need to throw all your prototypes in the bin & buy the Sizzix Flip-it Framelit Die, which cuts & scores your card in all the right places. Another die cuts the inset papers that cover the card base. Genius. 

*Goes off to make more owl-based flip cards, quietly & without drama*

"Well thank you very much, Jerry!"

I made this card for a wedding I'm going to tomorrow, using kit scraps from the ATDML retreat (ta for the extra butterfly, Jackie :)).

The reception is in a bedouin tent. I have no idea what that is, but it sounds a bit suspect. I trust that there will be no beardy-weirdy tree-hugging type nonsense expected of me.

The tent is pitched in a farm field up in the hills. Apparently the only toiletry facilities will be portacabin loos (shudder - I feel an attack of the Margot Ledbetters* coming on).

Made this card using some scraps from WRMK Nonsense pad - £12 bargain from QVC until they went and put the price up.

*no, that is not a euphemism for "the shits", thank you. Although actually, come to think of it...

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More Promarkers

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Anyway, yes, Promarkers!!!

I made a couple more cards with them. Bearing in mind that I am an absolute duffer when it comes to colouring in using any other medium, I'm really pleased with the results. I think as I get more experienced* I will manage to whack in a bit more shade and do a bit more blending. I've already learned that when it comes to blending you have to be ruddy quick - leave it anymore than a couple of seconds and you're done for.

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I used the Letraset non-bleed paper. This stopped most of the ink bleed, although not all of it. The stamps are a new Hero Arts clear set, I got them from Sir Stampalot.

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*This suggests future frequent use. Regular readers know that this will never, ever happen.

I'm a guest DT member for Make the Moment Last this month. I got to use some papers from the Crate Paper Lemongrass collection, plus some other bits and bobs and a gorgeous glittery Fancy Pants mini transparency. I've never come across them before and was a bit unsure how to use it, but it really lifted the LO.

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(It's great having a ginger boy. I'm never phased by orange papers!)

I used Fancy Pants Fresh Mod stamps on this one.

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The stalks are Daisy D floral rub ons.

An atc for the UK Art raffle organised by Flo - this month's theme is summer sunshine.

LO of my youngest savouring a doughnut. Don't know where he gets's his love of cake from, really I don't.

Birthday card for my oldest, who is now, gulp, 8. The happy birthday stamp is off this month's Craft Stamper (what a great re-vamp they've had!) and the design is a complete rip off of their sample.

Off on holiday for a couple of weeks. Toodle pip.

Cogsmo birthday card for my brother in law - the alphabet stamps I used to spell out Happy Birthday cost 99p! 99p!!!! They are mini wood-mounted Studio G ones and they come in several fonts. I thought they might be a bit crappy, but they're fine and the wood mount has a long ('scuse my French) "shaft", so they're not too fiddly.

They're part of a splurge I had at Crab Apple Crafts, the nearest decent papercrafts shop to where I live. I went with a friend. We had a nice ladies' day together and practically cleaned them out. We are going back to hoover up anything we missed in three weeks and to do a mini book class. It is one of those word mini books, which is cut in the shape of the letters. I must confess I've never really thought of doing one, and wouldn't know where to start, but the sample on display in the shop was gorgeous so we booked for it.

I do like Crab Apple. The owners get a lot of rather grumpy coverage in the smack blog, but whenever I've seen them they've never been anything less than nice and helpful, even when I've only been in and spent, like, 99p.

OK, I've never actually been in and spent just 99p, that was a bad example. But I'm sure that were I to go in and spend 99p they would be just as pleasant. They have actually talked me out of making two expensive purchases from them in the past, a cricut and a melt pot, saying that they were very expensive for what they did (I didn't listen to them for long, mind, and bought them elsewhere. Turns out they were right. Grrr...).

In other news, here is Hevva Bear on her "cactivity" centre made by the boys. The sign reads "Cat Center. Hether only". Bless. Well what modern puss wouldn't want her own Tardis and plastic samurai sword, eh? We let her out for the first time yesterday and she came back OK, so she has been out for most of the day today. She exchanged some rather choice words with a couple of the neighbourhood cats, one of which later climbed in to our house via an open window. A huge tabby - like a small pony really, you could easily throw a saddle on her and mosey off down the garden. And so mild! She declined to leave when asked, so I had to pick her up and she just flopped in my arms and gazed up at me. The sort of cat you could dress up in a christening gown and mop cap and wheel around in a pram. If they hadn't made laws to stop people doing that, obviously.

My first card since before Christmas. I've been scrapping too much lately, it felt good to be able to muck about with choppy odds and ends and not worry about the end result. The frogs are off-cuts from one of the Basic Grey Color Me Silly papers - I used them in a LO that's on the ticker below.

I'm making plans for Ally Pally at the weekend!!! My friends and I are going down early Saturday and coming back late Sunday, so I will have to carry everything I take with me for two whole days. I therefore need a bag that is both commodious and comfortable. I have a lot of large bags, they sort of stack up when you have kids. The linings are stained with milk and fluffy sweets and nappy juice, but I suppose one will do.

I have seen this one though, by the Old Bag Company (love that name!).

They're selling it in my local Lakeland. It's nearly £30. That seems awfully extravagant, just for a bag. Especially when I'll be on a spending bender this weekend. I mean it is gorgeous - I've been into Lakeland a couple of times and looked at it and felt it and it's really well made and sensible, but kind of frivolous too. And it would make a great beach bag, and we really need a beach bag because we haven't got one. And it would be a great crop bag too. But still, £30...

[Listen up brain. You and I both know I'm going to buy that bag. Here's the deal. You find me an entry line for getting it into the house, EXCLUDING "What, this?? I bought it last year, don't you remember?", because frankly you've offered that one up a lot recently and I don't think he's buying it any more, and I will see about purchasing you some of those fish oils that you've been hankering after. Mmmm, lovely fish oils, yes? Oh, and "This? It was a birthday present" will no longer work either.]

I made this card using the Christmas Cheer cartridge on my cricut. I hadn't realised there was a card and envelope option on there. It cuts a fab scalloped edge to the card, however due to my superior photographic skills you can't see it.

I do like my Cricut but it takes me ages to make anything. I made two of these and it took one and a half hours. I mean, look at it, it's not exactly rocket science is it?

I have one of those DIY calendars, so I made this to go on it for December. I was hugely excited by it at the start of the year, and my excitement last well into February. But it has hung there, blankly staring back at me for most of the following months. I thought I should make a bit of an effort for the last month. Again, it was cut using Christmas cheer. Again, it took me flippin ages.

And so it begins...

(D/h casually queried last night when the Christmas cards would be ready, so I am back on the Christmas card treadmill after all.)

Birthday card for my lovely F-i-L (am I the only person who adores my in-laws? They are top people!). He is having a party tonight. I probably won't go cos my two year old is poorly and apparently the law says you're not allowed to leave them home alone at that age or something.

The papers are Bazzill and the DCWV retro stack. The letters are cut using the Cricut Mini Monograms cart. Jackie very kindly lent it to me about 6 weeks ago. I am embarrassed to say that last night was the first time I had it out of the box. I really liked it though, and I didn't have the cutting problems that I've read about so it may be one for the Christmas list. I'll get it back to you very soon luvvy, promise.

Made proper grown-up scrapper purchase yesterday, the October kit from It Kit studio. Heh heh, actually Reader (Warning: weak pun approaching), let's hope that when it arrives it is an "It" Kit, and not, heh heh, a "Sh*t" Kit!!!

Actually, no, what am I saying? If it turns up and it's rubbish that won't be funny at all, that'll be thirty quid down the drain.

ETA : kit arrived - fantastic stuff, needn't have worried. Thanks Kelly!!

Some more attempts with my Karen Stolper stamps. I have figured out why they don't work with patterned papers. It is because the Christmas patterned papers I own are rubbish! I therefore need new patterned papers that are not rubbish.

Hurrah! I knew the answer would lie in buying more stash, I just knew it!

I'm on a stash ban until the Port Sunlight stamp show in October though, so until then I'm making do with 3-ding some hand cut frames for the ones I make before then. I've glamour dusted the bottom frame. (It's a bugger that glamour dust though isn't it? I breathed in a bit heavily when I was applying it and then couldn't stop coughing all night.)

Been making some more Christmas cards. Much as I love them I've still got to really get to grips with these Karen Stolper stamps. I've tried layering them and that definitely helps, but I'm not confident about matching them with patterned paper for some reason - everything I try just looks a bit odd, but I don't know why. Hey ho.
Still loving my little Bam Pop robot man best of all though.

Got to get a spurt on with my Christmas cards or I'm going to end up buying them all. Again.
I made these last night. I was quite pleased because I made all three in an hour. At this rate I will have them all finished by, ooh, March. The stamp is one of my Karen Stolper Stick Chick ones. I'm nuts about that range at the moment.
I can't help but note that despite using my top of the range "beyond daylight" daylight lamp some of the colour matching looks a bit suspect. That would presumably be on account of EVERYTHING I PUT UNDER IT APPEARING BLUE!!!!!! Man alive, what I wouldn't give for five minutes in a locked room with the snake-oil salesman who sold me this pile of junk at Gmex. "Beyond daylight" indeed. (Which, incidentally is what he would be seeing once I'd finished with him. Mutter mutter mumble, darkly.)

This is an anniversary card for my husband. Tomorrow we will have been married for 10 years. Sentimental fool that I am, I tenderly crafted a LO of one of our wedding photos last week. He reciprocated this evening by making it perfectly clear he had completely forgotten all about it. He asked whether I was going to my craft club tomorrow night and I calmly informed him that of course I wasn't BECAUSE IT'S OUR ANNIVERSARY YOU FOOL!!

He got that deer in the headlights look and then claimed that the weekend away we had a few weeks ago was a "sort of" anniversary present, so he had "mentally ticked it off". Reader, there was a thin line where my mouth used to be I don't mind telling you.

Anyway. He's gone out to see a friend tonight. On the way I predict the buying of petrol station flowers and the sort of limp, flowery, pink non-event-specific card that shrieks "Oh sod it, this one'll do".

So sentiment is decidedly thin on the ground as far as my card making is concerned tonight, which accounts for this rather steely number. The stamp is by Bam Pop and I frankly couldn't be fagged to do anything more than colour and mount it. It's watercoloured with a black Sakura stardust pen - gives a lovely watercolour effect with a layer of sparkles too. The text was made using ACME Labelmaker.

Made for a competition that I never got round to entering :).

Stamps - Blonde Moments, Invoke Arts and Limited Edition. Basic Grey Papers, cuttlebug embossing, some heat embossing on the lace stamp and hand stitching.

Wedding card made with a few scrappy bits. Not sure about it. I like it as a card but not sure it's "weddingy" enough, if you know what I mean. Maybe it's more an anniversary card?

In other news, my talented scrapping friend Jackie has got herself a blog. She has a thing for elderly men and she wees through a tea strainer, but don't let that put you off. There's plenty more on her site that will do that! ;P

I don't know about you but nothing says "Christmas" to me like pink and lime.

No? Please yourself.

The stamp is by Karen Stolper for Amercian Art Stamps.

My oldest boy is 7 tomorrow. I can't get my head around kids cards so I nicked this "Charlie and Lola" card idea from Jo's blog, (a fab showcase for her jaw-droppingly funky cards!). The image is downloaded from the Cbeebies website, and she even listed the fonts, so it only took a few minutes to make. I had to make it on rather thin wobbly cardstock as my printer swoons if I try to feed it thicker card, but I expect it will be swiftly tossed aside in the general present frenzy early tomorrow morning anyway, so not to worry.

I am taking him and two of his friends to Gulliver's World theme park tomorrow for his birthday treat. Why did I agree to that?

This year, to avoid getting jumped by Christmas when I wasn't looking (again) I vowed I would make Christmas cards on the 25th of every month. Then, come December, I would sit back and smugly laugh at all the panicking losers who didn't have the foresight to get organised during the year and make them in advance.

So here we are, seven 25th-of-the-months later. And here it is, my, um, second card of the year. And the first one only got made as part of a challenge. Despite my good intentions, I just never seemed to get around to doing it. If there is one thing that defines me, it's my disorganisedness. And my insistence on using words that don't exist. (Why isn't "coughter" a word? Why??)

The stamp is by Karen Stolper for American Art Stamps. I bought one at Port Sunlight earlier in the year and liked it so much I bought the company. Well, I bought a lot, anyway. I really like them, they are cute and funky at the same time.

The papers are from last year's HOTP Christmas pack. I embossed the patterned paper with my Cuttlebug Happy Birthday folder by accident, thinking it was the Christmas one, but it doesn't really show. The problem with this card is really the appalling scalloped edges on the mounts. I bought two pairs of scalloped scissors a couple of weeks ago, and they're just rubbish, they chew up pretty much everything I try to cut. You can see the edges on this example are fuzzy and not crisp.

One pair was a cheap Dovecraft pair, so I suppose you get what you pay for but the other were Fiskars and slightly more expensive. I've tried cutting through foil to sharpen them a little but it doesn't seem to work. Ideas, anyone? Am I doing something wrong? Also, do any of the Cricut carts or Cuttlebug dies have scalloped edge shapes on them?

This week's Daring Cardmakers challenge:

"Your card can be any theme you like, just as long as it's got something you'd find in a Haberdashery Department on it."

Buttons, a bit of stitching, Basic Grey paper, Cuttlebug Birthday embossing folder, Cricut flowers, Limited Edition ric rac stamp.

TFL :)

Daring Cardmakers - Little Extra

"We've another Retro challenge for this week's Little Extra.This time we'd like you to find your inspiration in the 1960s. "

Finally! A project that suits my DCWV retro paper pack! I originally made a really neat tv set, complete with deelly bobber aerial, from some other paper in this pack. But I want to send this card to someone, and I thought sticking a tv on the front of it might send out the wrong message. Sort of, "Happy Birthday, saddo. Bet you'll be at home watching tv again tonight, won't you?" So I pulled it off before it had stuck properly and cut out the present instead. Not quite such a fun card, but at least I won't be fretting about causing offence.

The font is Fontdinerdotcom from Font Diner.