Playing with my new stamps

I just love these Papermania Urban stamps and as they were reduced to only  £4.99 at the Range, had to buy them! The red card was stamped with chalk ink and highlighted the butterflies with Sakura glitter gel pen, whilst the other card was stamped with cosmic copper ink which gives a lovely sheen!

I'm going to have to concentrate on using up more of my stash, as I have to start saving for my daughters school trip and son wants to start to learn to drive. Looks like I am have to keep away from temptation and avoid any craft shops for quite a while.

I've been a bit naughty!

....And given into temptation and bought the Docrafts Neighbour Wood Goodie bag! 

I didn't mean to - I just went into The Range to buy some glue & double sided tape but the goodie bag fell into my basket along the  Papermania Urban Birds stamp set which had been reduced to £4.99.

I just don't have any will power, do I?

Luckily daughter is out with Grandad today and hubby is working, son is feeling sorry for himself with a bit of a cold, but that leaves some ME time for a bit of crafting, so I can have a play with my new bits and pieces!

simple but sweet ....

Another vain attempt to reduce my stash and use up some old papers. These are from Craftwork Cards and the centre of the large flower has a lovely effect like a black fruit pastille.


This card is being entered in to the  ICSketches weekly challenge 151 where you could win 5 digi images (closes 20th Feb)

Handyman Card

I made this card for my boss at work who loves doing a bit of DIY at the weekend. I bought the screwdriver, saw and nail embellishment ages ago at Hobbycraft a while ago and thought they would be ideal for him.


The rest of the card is made up from scraps of paper to make a minute dent in my pile of stash!

Daisy & Dandelion Valentine

I teamed up the Dandelion and Daisy decoupage with HOTP Soft Nostalgia papers for this valentine. Both were freebies from different magazines but seem to work well together.


We had some more snow last night,  but unlike last Sunday, my daughter hasn't rushed outside to play in it, the novelty has now worn off!

Can't wait for the spring..

So I had to make a card with a bit of sunshine on it - I thought this Hanglar boy looked like he would be weeding the garden and watering the sunflowers!

Off on a picnic!

Yes, I know it is definitely NOT picnic weather outside, but I thought it was time to colour in this cute image and dream of warmer times! 

A bit more Nostalgia

 I had to pop into town to buy some double sided sticky tape, couldn't risk running out if I get snowed in later on. 
So far only a light covering of snow here in Ipswich, but as it was so cold, a good excuse to stay in this afternoon any make more cards with the lovely HOTP papers!

Hot off the Press

I was very impressed with the free gifts from this months Simply Cards and Papercraft Magazine - Soft Nostalgia papers and Sweet Tweets stamps designed by Hot Off The Press!

They work so well together and I have quickly knocked off a few cards and can't wait to use the rest of the papers.

birdhouse

 If this weekend turns out to be as cold as they promise, I might find plenty of time for card making - although the chilly weather makes me feel like making Christmas cards rather than spring birthday one!

Craft Stamper Octopode House Stamp

Copper Castle

The free stamp with March edition of Craft Stamper Magazine has really sparked me off. The castle stamp by Octopode Factory is something I would have never dreamt of buying - but I have really enjoyed coming up with these little ATC's!


I stamped out the roof to make the string of bunting on the Royal Celebrations card which used some scraps from my Portobello Road paper stack with the little Crown stamped in Faded Jeans distress ink

Royal Celebrations

Finally I layered several castles with different coloured turrets to make the rabbit warren ATC on another scrap of lilac paper.

Just like a Rabbit warren

Imagination is the highest kite....

I was lucky enough to win a fab stamp that reads


Imagination is the Highest Kite that one can fly - Lauren Bacall


So of course, I just had to make some ATC's with it. I've teamed it up with kites cut from the 'Lets Fly Away' paper stack that was free from Quick Cards Magazine.

My first attempt at an apron card!

I shamelessly copied this card from this months Papercraft Inspirations Magazine - even down to the Kaisercraft Nan's Favourites papers!
 In fact, I have had this pad of papers for ages and not really used them, so I dusted them down and put this card together -  which would be ideal for anyone who loves cooking. 

Neglected Stamps

We've all got a few of those, haven't we! You know, the stamps we fell in love with, just had to have but then only used a couple of times before another set of yummy stamps came along.




Anyway, I dug out these lovely Inkadinkado bird stamps and decided to give them another go, so here are 2 fairly simple cards using Brilliance Cosmic Copper ink, which gives them a lovely sheen!

Another eBay Bargain!

I picked up 4 sheets of Kanban Jungle Buddies toppers for only 99p from eBay this week. 

I thought they would be useful of older childrens cards  (7-12 years olds). I struggle with ideas for them as they don't want really want babiesh cute cards, do they!

  

Such a bargain from eBay!

I was lucky enough to win a HUGE pile of cardstock off eBay at a bargain price - over 3 kilos of A4 card in a huge variety of colours, much of them pearlised for only £3.20! 


There must be hundreds of sheets in the pile and as they live in Ipswich too, I drove straight round to pick them up and save on the postage. I also treated myself to Cardmaking & Papercraft magazine today 'cos of the free Margaret Sherry images.


I have had a lovely evening colouring them in and making these cards!

Sorry - yet more Portobello Road Cards !!

I'm afraid I'm still churning out more cards using the fab Papermania Portobello Rd range of papers and stamps, I can't stop playing with them!

For this one I have added a Craftwork cards Union Jack sentiment. I've also had another go with the camper van from the matching urban stamps to make a flower power card!

Never Waste a Scrap!

Papercrafters can never waste scraps, can we? I bet most of us have a tray or box full of odd scraps of paper that just might come in useful one day! I made this card and cut out a frame for the cute Lili of the Valley image  of a girl trying on her hat, from grape coloured card

The Nellie Snellen die left such a pretty shape on the left over card that I just had to use that to as a border, so whipped up this Thank You card to use it up, it was also a chance to use the new freebie stamp from Cardmaking Magazine!

Some More of those Fab Portobello Cards

I couldn't resist making some more cards with that funky Papermania Portobello Road papers and matching urban stamps - so here they are!

I also thought I would try out the VW Camper Van stamp in a different 'groovy'  green and yellow colour scheme. 

Just loving the new Portobello Road range!

As soon as I saw the new Portobello Road range by Papermania I knew I just had to have them so used the last of my Christmas money on them!

I  just love the retro Great British  feel to them and the versatility of the stamps. I just had to get them inked up and experiment making a couple of cards!

I thought these would make great cards for those 'difficult' to cater for men in the family - you know, the ones who don't like football, flash sports cars or pints of beer. They might even do for teenagers off to study or work in London for the first time!

I'm entering this into the Bling it On - New Beginnings challenge

Fab 'n' Funky - Something new Challenge

Zingy Little Claire Cat Birthday Card

This is one of my favourite stamps but I haven't used it for a long time! 

I decided to use a lime green and teal colour scheme to go with the backing paper which has been kicking around in my stash for ages. The stamp was stamped onto the back of an old recycled Christmas card and coloured with promarkers. 

I added the bow and cut out a little birdie from an unused scrap of the paper as embellishments.

My new years resolution is to enter more challenges so I'm entering this into 

Make it Monday

Cards more Men - recycling

Crafty Boots - Celebration

New Year - New Babies

Feeling in an optimistic frame of mind for 2012 and so I have made some New Baby cards for any that might come along in the next few months. They were both made with the Craftwork Card Colour Me Ovals and some of their candi brads 

I'm going to build up my spare cards box because you never know when you might need some and I've been caught out on the hop a couple of times in 2011...

Cards for the Kids

Sorting through my stash I came across a set of papers and chipboards from the Party Animal Range from Kaisercraft. 

They are so bright and zingy that I just felt I had to make some more cards with then. 

I don't have any spare birthday cards suitable for young children, so put some together for the younger members of the family. I can just add the appropriate number for their age.

Are you playing with your crafty Christmas presents...

Because I have been! I couldn't resist it any longer, I had to get out my stash which had ALL been tidied away for Christmas, and now it is spread all over the lounge table again!

I wanted to use my new Papermania Urban bird stamps because of their lovely vintage, distressed look with my new Brilliance Copper ink