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Thursday 27 October 2011

Tuesday 25 October 2011

Plain and Simple

I needed to make a card for someone who "does" plain and simple.  I think she will like this one as it uses her favourite colour.





I have entered this in the following challenges.

Lollipop Crafts:  Embellishments
One Stop Craft Challenge #154:  No designer Paper

Monday 24 October 2011

Veteran Car

Cards for men can sometimes be a problem unless you really know what the men are interested in.  However I thought this old car and some of my stash of men style papers went nicely together and would be acceptable by most men.




I have entered this card in the following challenges:
The Pretty Little Ribbon:  Anything goes
Heart Song Inspiration Challenge  21:  No sentiment and/or harvest
Make it Monday Challenge 60:  Anything goes 
Paperplay Challenge  week 42:  Use black 
Creations by Gill M Challenge  #18: Transport

Friday 21 October 2011

Robin

Another robin card, only a stitched one this time.  It is so long since I have done a stitched card that it made quite a change. 
I have used it for the following challenges:
Aud Sentiments Challenge Blog:  Winter Theme 
Mel Jen's Designs Challenge 81:  Red and Gold 
Shelly's Images:  Anything Goes 
Little Claire's Designs: Challenge #14 Christmas 
Sparkles Christmas Challenges #9:  Christmas Song (When the red, red robin goes bob, bob bobbin along)
Just Some Lines: Reminds me of a song  (When the red, red robin goes bob, bob bobbin along)


Wednesday 19 October 2011

Tuesday 18 October 2011

Halloween Colours

I made this card to match the seasonal colours of Halloween or autumn.
I have entered it in the following card challenges:
Craft Your Days Away: #31 Halloween Colours
Crafty Boots Challenges: Autumn or Halloween
Delightful Challenges:  Colours of Fall 
Paper Sundaes:  #91 Halloween or Fall 
Paper Take Weekly :  Spooky Hues 
Whoopsi Daisy Challenges:  Free and Easy 
Lexi's Creations #51 : Sentiment




Baby cardi

I have been busy finishing this little cardi.  I now have a matinee jacket in pink and this cardi in blue ..... can't you tell I am hedging my bets for the forthcoming grandchild?

Sunday 16 October 2011

Rye Harbour

Yesterday was such a lovely day so went down to Rye Harbour to spend a couple of hours mooching and walking through the nature reserve by the river, prior to hospital visiting in the afternoon.

We hadn't been to Rye Harbour before; it is a little bit further down river than Rye itself.  They are slowly turning the marshes back to salt marshes and although we were not there at the best time to see the variety of birdlife as the summer birds migrated and the winter birds arrived, we still had a lovely time looking out over the marshes.

Across the other side of the river we could clearly see Dungeness out in the distance and closer, of course, was Camber sands.

It is certainly a place to visit if ever you have time.




Saturday 15 October 2011

Dabbling

The other day a friend and I decided to experiment using our water colour pencils.  I have had these for about 9 months now and have only used them once!!!  Maybe I needed the company of someone else to get the confidence to use them, or maybe it was because I was away from the house and all the other temptations  LOL.
The first one I did was A in the top right hand corner.  I was quite pleased except for my inability to know where to shade things to make them look right.  I thought I would do the smoke and then wished I hadn't.  Since this picture was taken I have added some grass, a path and some flowers in the foreground.
B was slightly different in that I stamped with distress inks and then just used plain water to "bleed out" some of the colour to fill the white spaces.  I only did a bit of this, by way of experimenting.
C I tried to get a bit of shading in the flowers and have since put some colouring on the frame - just a very pale beige colour.
The other images I have yet to colour.  I thought the bird houses would make quite nice "New Home" cards.

Thursday 13 October 2011

Butterfly

I love using my Marianne Creatables butterfly die and I raided my stash box of bits to find the right pieces of card for the butterfly and then added a little bit of glitter to bring it to life.  I love brown and cream as a combination too.

I have entered it in these challenges:
Flutter By Wednesday's: #175butterfly
Heart Song Inspirations: #19 diecut or sponge
Scrapbook Sisters: #56 - anything goes
WoodwareUSA # 47 - anything goes
Paper Sundaes#90 Favourite Colour Combo

Wednesday 12 October 2011

Cuckfield

Cuckfield is a lovely village not far from where I live.  The Parish Church of Holy Trinity is set in a beautiful churchyard with views through to the South Downs.

I started a website about Cuckfield, mainly for those people interested in genealogy and social history and it is certainly a labour of love.  Please click the link to visit the Cuckfield Compendium

These are views of the Church, some of the cottages in the churchyard and views across to the South Downs on a somewhat atmospheric day.




Tuesday 11 October 2011

Safari

A friend gave me the images for these a long time ago and may even have given me the paper too.  I was asked for a leaving card and I saw the image of those elephants walking away to the left and new at last that I had the right use for my stash.

I have entered it into the following challenges
Crafty Boots Challenge Zoo or animal Theme
Craft Challenge 123 - Bright Colours 
Crafty Cardmakers 53 - Anything goes 




Monday 10 October 2011

Sepia Tints

I always try to find something different for my daughter's birthday cards and preferably to try and include photos of her daughter in there too.  I have used Paint Shop Pro to do some of the creations but this time printed off little photos and put behind a film strip I created in my Craft Robo and added other relevant embellishments to the card.

I have entered it in the following challenges:
Do You Stack Up Challenge #40 - Brown
The ABC Challenge - No 1 - Anything Goes
One Stop Craft Challenge #152 - Anything goes
Creatalicious Challenges # 26 - Anything goes

Sunday 9 October 2011

Lucy

This is Lucy, a rag doll that I made my little grand daughter.  She is well loved, just as was the rag doll I made from the same pattern 32 years ago for my daughter.

Saturday 8 October 2011

Christmas Village

The challenge on the blog was for a building or roof to be included as part of the Christmas card depicting house or home.  I have added a few extra features so that I can enter it in several challenges.

It has been entered in the following challenges:
chnc-challenge-41-house-or-home
Christmas Card Challenge #44 
Fab's Big Christmas Card Challenge: something shiny/snowflake 
CYDA Challenge #30 - Tag It

Friday 7 October 2011

Robin

My husband always likes robins on Christmas cards and I was inspired to make this using a recycled card from last Christmas.  It is a very simple mat and layered image on a base card.

I have entered this into the following challenges:
CHNC: Challenge  40
Christmas Inspirations Challenge 34
TuesdayTaggers:  Make it Minimal

Decoupage Card

It is not often I do a decoupage card but I made one today to enter into three challenges.
Delightful Sketches:  Make it Dimensional
City Crafter: Challenge no 77 - we are going 3D
My Mum's Craft Shop Challenges: All Creatures Great and Small

Thursday 6 October 2011

Baby Knit

I have been busy making a pink matinee jacket and have just started knitting a little blue cardigan.  I have to hedge my bets a bit as my daughter is expecting a baby in November and they are team yellow!!!!!  Maybe they won't mind if a boy wears pink or a girl wears blue, but it is their choice.  Whichever is not needed will go to Kids Company.

Monday 3 October 2011

Simply Black and White

I knew just the fellow this was intended for as soon as I saw this image.  It cried out to be a simple black and white card and I was pleased with the result.

Sunday 2 October 2011

Embroidery

Another hobby of mine is different sorts of embroidery; cross stitch, blackwork and hardanger being the main ones.
Hardanger is a form of embroidery traditionally worked with white thread on white material.  There are many different stitches and techniques from simple satin stitches to decorative filling stitches and cut work.
Blackwork is a form of embroidery using black thread and sometimes coloured threads for accents. Historically, blackwork was used on shirts and chemises or smocks using counted stitches to make geometric or small floral designs.
Cross stitch is one of the oldest forms of embroidery.  It is a form of counted-thread embroidery in which x shaped stitches are made on even-weave material to form a pattern or picture.
Hardanger
Blackwork

Cross stitch

Anniversary Card

I was pleased with this one when I had finished it and have done others in different colourways and with different flowers.

I used the Cuttlebug swiss dots folder to emboss the lower half of a piece of white on which I had already printed the sentiment.  I added the rose topper at the bottom and found some co-ordinating/matching ribbon to add around the middle of the sentiment, ending with a bow which I made with the help of a dining fork.  I mounted that on a piece of toning card and then mounted them all on the base card.

I thought this would make a lovely ruby wedding anniversary card.

Saturday 1 October 2011

Totally Gorjuss: Challenge 100

You might want to wander over to the Totally Gorjuss blog for their Challenge 100.  It is a great sketch and the Design Team have created some lovely cards from it.

Kid's Co

A friend introduced me to the needs of Kid's Co for knitted items for some of the children that they help.  They are particularly in need of baby garments.  The photos below show the items that I knitted for them and took up in the summer.

I am now busy knitting more items and have many pairs of baby bootees, hats, blankets and mittens.  I am still knitting and hope to deliver a big load of items before Christmas.