Another Card for Karen

Another non-surprise for Karen. Hopefully she won't see this until she's opened her birthday card, because this is it! It's the first actual flower arrangement I made with different types of flowers and leaves. I really enjoyed this and it used up most of the flowers that I made in the punchcraft class and two days after. I was a little bit pleased with myself. I just worry that it'll fall apart before she opens it.

If it did, Karen, here's what it used to look like if you want to try and re-assemble it...

Down Down Down...

Scrappy Stuff:

Bazzill Cardstock, some help from my lovely Sharpie, and hey-- not Basic Grey-- this is K and Co. patterned paper but don't ask me what collection it's from, I have no idea. :)

The Story:

Cameron has recently started to get brave and go down the big slides. He really does enjoy it! I put my camera on burst mode and got the best photos out of the three times he went down. Fun!

On The Road

Scrappy Stuff:

Martha Stewart huge daisy punch, Fiskars Effervescence border punch, bazzil cardstock, Papermania stamps for the title, the Sharpie of course... and guess what paper? Basic Grey "Green at Heart."

New Blog Award!

I have Sarah to thank for my newest blog award, the Cherry On Top Award!

There are 5 conditions to accepting this award, so here goes.

1. Thank the person who gave me the award-- that would be Sarah!

2. I need to place the award on my blog-- I have done that. I have added it to my right-hand column, have a peek. It's clustered with my other two blog awards.

3. I need to list three things about myself:

I am not allergic to anything. Fact!

I really, really love cheese. Fact!

I am a serial procrastinator. I should be cleaning right now.

4. I need to post a picture that I love. Here goes:

These are my sweeties. They look pretty innocent, don't they? Hah. :) Look at how the devil-child in the back managed to stop her eyes glowing red to make a sweet face complete with the praying hands of an angel! Somebody get her an agent!!!

I do love them really... :) My little babies, behaving very nicely in the shoe store.

And finally:

5. Tag five people to give the award to and pass it on:

Ooh, who to pick!! I think I'll go for my Bombshell gals this time because they're cherry-licious!

Kas

Meredith

Katie

Terra

Steph

Roller Coaster

Scrappy Stuff:

Basic Grey "Green at Heart." Where have you heard that before? I used a Fiskars border punch on the cardstock to make a more interesting border on the photos. More hand-scrawling with the Sharpie... I think I like the smell. :) ooh, Sharpie.

The Story:

Another first for Cameron-- first decent-sized roller coaster! I'm glad I have a 12x optical zoom on my camera.

FPC Friday - Cornflower Card

Seven cornflowers, one collar, six wedges. Looks good, methinks. :)

Floral Punch Craft has been breathing life into my old stash and old supplies that I haven't used in ages, and this card contains one example.

Years ago, I bought a bumper set of all different card blanks, box-card envelopes, and lots of other stuff. Each design came in every colour in the set. Some of the cards had circular and square apertures which were die-cut, but the extra piece was still in the card itself hanging on by little bits left un-cut. I saved these bits. There were also huge cards (bigger than A5 I'm pretty sure) with boxes to match.

I used up almost all of the card blanks-- at least the plain ones. I still have some die-cut ones left which I intend to try and use with my flowers. I've got a use for the card boxes now. I also have taken some scraps of cardstock and cut scalloped circle borders to layer with the leftover circle die-cuts from the card apertures. I will be doing the same eventually with the squares.

Yes, this is actually exciting for me. I'm using up things that were just taking up space until now. It's a good thing. :)

Thank You Floral Punch Craft!

Bouncy Castle

Scrappy Stuff:

Yes, more Basic Grey "Green at Heart." The rest is just black marker.

The Story:

Cameron had the entire bouncy castle to himself so it was fun just pressing the camera lens up to the plastic windows and getting pictures of him running this way and that!

Bombshell "Hot Hot Hot" Hop!

It's that time-- last Wednesday in August, which is the Bombshell Blog Hop! The theme is Hot Hot Hot, and I have used my delicious Bombshell Flames on this decorated hard-cover notebook.

It's done with dye inks in red and yellow. First I swiped the yellow and red dye pads in a line next to each other on a non-stick craft sheet. Two spritzes with water and a roll with a brayer to mix the two patches to make some orange in the middle, and I'm ready to stamp.

I stamped the flames all over a sheet of white card (Stampin' Up), re-inking the sheet as I went. All the flames went in the same direction. When I was done, I brayered more ink directly over my previous stamping. It intensified the stamped areas and coloured the rest of the paper.

I then wrapped the paper around the book and stamped the spine edge in black with the same flame and inked the word "Hot" once, stamped it above the fire repeatedly upward until the ink ran out.

Next time I may try changing the direction of the flames slightly as I can see that any overlap is just going to add interest.

There's lots of others involved in the hop this month: Drop by and give them some love! And remember, there's always a great prize package to be won, and every comment you leave counts as an entry!!

Here's August's Prize Package:

...andHere's your list of lovelies! Don't forget to comment!

Kas
Gauche Alchemy
Kelli
Maggi
AnitaMarie
Katie
Cheryl
Angela
Erika
Kathi
Pam
Sy *you are here*
Meredith
Laura
Merdrey Chew
Angie
Yvonne
Steph
Carmen
Terra
Alaine
Alison

Art of Crochet Square 28

Nothing out of the ordinary today, just another diagonal square in two colours, lavender and redcurrant. I'm still enjoying the partwork, nothing else much to report on that front.

In other crochet news, I am nearing the end of making my summer sweater, just as summer is nearing its own end! I am working on the second sleeve now, and I have recently stayed up way too late attaching the first sleeve and closing up the seam down that side. It's great to see how it's shaping up. I just hope it fits when I'm done. Eek... for those of you who have just joined my crochet journey, my last sweater needed to be unravelled and made into something else because it was a total disaster. :(

Helter Skelter

The scrappy bit:

Basic Grey paper and stickers in "green at heart." The record isn't broken, I just bought an entire collection pack and I do tend to work my way through it til it's gone...

The story:

It's not just a Beatles song. It's a slide!

Just Plane Silly

Scrappy Stuff:

The paper is Basic Grey "Green at Heart." The cardstock is Bazzill punched with a Fiskars border punch. The title is hand-scrawled and I did actually bother to mat the photos this time. :)

The Story:

It's the same fun-fair. Victoria and Cameron in one of those plane rides that the rider controls the altitude of. :) They both had a great time.

Cameron Rides the Ghost Train

The Scrappy Stuff:

The orange strips of paper and journalling sticker is Basic Grey "Green at Heart." The bg paper and loopy borders are made with matching Bazzill and the loops were made with the Martha Stewart border punch. I love the colours in the photos and I didn't want to over-do it so that the colours could come out but I also wanted to echo the effect in paper.

The Story:

Cameron rode the ghost train on his own. I wasn't too sure he'd enjoy it because they have a lot of startling things jumping out at you etc etc... but he came off with a big huge smile on his face and a certain knowledge of the difference between scared and startled.

Old Tyme Carousel

Scrappy Stuff:

I did this at the Cardinal Colours crop. The bg paper is one of the "solids" from the Basic Grey "green at heart" set. The ribbon is pink velvet and the flowers are from my "bitty box." The title was cut from my QuicKutz Star Minis alphabet. (This is the only alpha I own for QK so you will see this a lot.) I didn't mat the photos, I just drew round them with a sharpie. I wrote the date wrong on it so I covered it up with a little scalloped card piece and wrote the correct date on that. :)

The Story: Not a huge complicated one. Every Bank Holiday, a fun-fair comes to the field across the street from our house. This was Victoria's first time on a carousel. If you click on the photo you may see a larger one and you can see the trepidation on her face.

Blog's First FPC Friday!!

Happy Friday readers!

One of the new regular slots on the blog is now going to be Floral Punch Craft, hence the title FPC Friday!! Guess what day I'm going to post my Floral Punch Craft projects? Hmm...

The above bunch is flower No. 15 from Floral Punch Craft Book 1. Click the link to buy in the UK. Click the Floral Punch Craft link in the sidebar of the Cardinal Colours site to look at the various tools needed to do the craft. You will find them surprisingly affordable.

Floral Punch Craft was developed by Leone Em from Australia. She has opened up such a great opportunity to create flowers with punches you may already own. In later books she has developed more fantastic designs using punches she has designed especially and they are fantastic as well. I'm only a beginner but I am really enjoying this, and so are those who receive my cards I hope!

I make more than one type of flower per week so I may just end up filling the empty spaces in this blog with flowers-- so watch out Wendy!! ;)

For those of you who would like to only see the Floral Punch Craft, I will be tagging the entries that use it so you can see them all in one place.

But first... more scrapbook pages!

Wendy's Wishes

How does someone who loves flowers and glitter make a card for someone who doesn't like flowers and glitter?

I think I managed to hit it right though.

The ribbon is from Rubbernecker Stamps, the Peel-off is Anita's, the mat is cut on my robo and the bg paper is Creative Memories. The stamped image is by Crafty Individuals.

I posted this after Wendy's birthday so her card could still be a surprise... birthdays before blogs.

Art of Crochet Square 27

I've learned something with Square 27: I Stink At Chain Stitch. The two wiggles on the left are the way they should be but the ones on the right just don't look right at all. Odd.

This is the last square in my current shipment. I haven't got four waiting for me to start on, which weirds me out just a bit. I suppose the next package will come sometime this week, but it's already Wednesday. What to do, what to do... :)

Free as a Bird Retirement Card

This will be nothing new to Karen. I gave it to her for her retirement a week or so ago. I used cornflowers and daisies on this card, plus some leaves cut with Sizzix and a mat made on my craft robo. The stamped image is by Crafty Individuals.

Happy Retirement, Karen!!!

Girls Night Out

The Scrappy Bit:

More K & Co. paper, both for the background and mats. I even gutted the paper and cut it up to make little embellishment bits. :) torn and inked edges on title and journalling bits.

Me and my friends on a night out for Julie's birthday. We went to O'Neill's and watched a boxing match.

Brother and Sister

The Scrappy Bit:

K & Co. background paper and mats, Stamped title by Papermania, EK Success punched flowers, and some cleverly placed pen lines.

We were just playing about in the living room and I tied a scarf onto Victoria's head. She wanted me to take a picture of her so she could see and then Cameron jumped in too. Cute.

Easter Eggs

The Scrappy Bit:

K & Co. background paper with some added Stickles in Eucalyptus. Hand-written title, journalling stamp by Dovecraft, and a bit of clever cutting with a craft knife. Simples!

Cameron and Victoria enjoy their huge chocolate easter eggs.

Ladies Wot Lunch

The Scrappy Bit:

Basic Grey bg paper, flowers from my bitty box, hand-written title, fiskars border stamps, Basic Grey sticker at the bottom, hand-written journalling.

Victoria just loves Starbucks! She is her mother's daughter.

Studious Boy

The Scrappy Bit:

You guessed it-- Basic Grey bg paper and mats. Prima and Heidi Swapp flowers, e-bling, stamped title, papermania.

Cameron does his homework on a Friday afternoon so that he has his weekends to enjoy himself and not worry about forgetting to do it. When I took these pictures, he was so focused that he didn't see me.

Art of Crochet Square 26

We interrupt your scrapbooking extravaganza with the 26th square from the Art of Crochet.

Basic pink square with nine cross-stitches in the middle.

In other crochet news, I continue to work on my sweater. I have finished the front and back panels and am now making a start on the first of the two sleeves. I think it's safe to say I'm over the hump.

Tomorrow returns you to the scrapbooking. :)

Disney Vixie

The Scrappy Bit: Basic Grey again and black robo-cut title. Prima flowers and e-bling.

Victoria stands on the counter at The Disney Store trying on her Princess and the Frog dress.

Cameron Calls Bingo!

The Scrappy Bit:

More Basic Grey paper for bg and mats, plus some white card stamped with bingo-style stamp from Dimension Fourth. Paper flowers and punched leaf sprays from Sizzix.

Cameron comes with me to the local Social Club for bingo night sometimes. He wanted to call the numbers for his birthday, so the caller let him do it!! He did really well. The regulars said he sounded "too posh!" Bingo's a salt-of-the-earth thing. Numbers are usually called in a thick cockney or northern accent. He even picked up some of the "bingo lingo." He said "Two-oh, Blind twenty." Everyone giggled!

Splish Splash - DLO

The Scrappy Bit: Brenda Pinnick bg paper, torn and chalked journaling strips and title. Title cut with QK Star Minis alphabet out of Bazzill. Organza ribbon and beads make flowers.

Victoria likes to splash in puddles when she's wearing her welly boots. She found a knee-deep puddle!!

Chillin'

The Scrappy Bit:

Basic Grey BG paper, stickers, mats. Various paper flowers and ribbons. Stamped journaling block from Clevercut.

More pictures of the kids lounging around with my granny square blanket.

Wonky Bunches

The Scrappy Bit:

Creative Memories background paper, white card mats. Journalling block stamped in white chalk ink, Creative Memories flower embellishments.

Victoria's hair is long enough and thick enough to make pigtails, or bunches with but I can't seem to get them straight.

Couch Potatoes

The Scrappy Bit:

Basic Grey background paper, black card, white chalk ink stamped title and journaling block.

I haven't written on it yet because I haven't got a white or silver pen. I must remember to buy one at Cardinal Colours this weekend!

The story: The kiddies are watching TV together under the blanket that I made. It was my first crochet project ever-- a granny square blanket.

They love to sit together and watch Disney films, especially if there's music. They sing along now.

Art of Crochet Square 25

Happy Crochet Wednesday everyone,

Today's offering, a stripy square made up of double-trebles and double crochet. I love changing colours so this was a lot of fun. The corners are a bit funky on the right side and I had few width issues but I'm sure it'll all be fun once it's sewn together into the throw.

Loving the crochet as always. See you next week!

My Second Award!! Thanks Karen!!

Introducing... my second Blog Award!!! It will be added to my sidebar at some point.

This award was presented to me by Karen.

As part of the conditions of my accepting this award, here's seven random things about me:

1. My middle name is Lyn.

2. I really love Weird Al Yankovic.

3. With the exception of Bazzill Cardstock, I rarely mix paper brands when crafting.

4. I don't craft in my craft room. It's too messy!!!!

5. I seem to be permanently stuck to my HTC Desire mobile phone these days.

6. Before I was married, I had a Y in all three of my names. How mad is that?? And murder if you buy alphabet stickers!!

7. Here's one... I have been "blogging" since 1996. Since before the advent of these blog-roll things, when a knowledge of HTML was necessary and it helped to know how to make your own graphics from scratch. My first blog was called Pick It Up and Shake It.

Here's the third part: I need to pass this award on to five people, so here goes:

1. Lyn at dragonflywhisperz

2. Helen at It's All Fiddlefart

3. Sarah at Sarah's Crazy Creations

4. Katja at MissLedz Corner

5. Nicole at Made By Nicole

Two Title Pages

The first page of each of my scrapbooks is always a title page. It has our name and the time frame of the scrapbook.

I cut my titles with the craft robo, sometimes on self-adhesive cardstock if I can find it in the right colour.

These two pages feature Basic Grey paper and stickers.

Bombshell Box!

After making the Matt Snax box, I remembered the other HTC boxes I had on standby. This one was the perfect size to hold my Bombshell stamps, so I decided to decorate the outside with the stamps that will be on the inside.

I focused on the smaller stamps in the collections to make a confetti-like feel to the pattern. I arranged all the stamps onto an acrylic block and stamped it a few times on the paper, then coloured the images with brush markers before smearing on some blue dye ink with a baby wipe.

Matt Snax

This is something I'd been putting off making for a while so I got moving on it today. It's the box that Matt's HTC Desire came in. I've decided to make it into a little snack stash drawer.

I put the wheel paper on the top and bottom of the box, then made a strip of bicycle paper to go round the edge and drawer front.

I made a drawer-pull from ribbon and a wooden coffee stirrer from McDonald's. One of my lovely Grumpies from Smeared Ink adorns the top with a few little food-related in-jokes scrawled on it. I hope he likes it!!