Classic Black Cats

I love these black cat die cuts that I bought off eBay - I think they give a touch of class to these cards.

I have 3 cats, including 2 black cats who are a brother and sister - but you would never think to look at them. 

The girl Millie, is a little round fatty puss whilst her brother Moxxi is long and lean! My family won't let me have any more as they say that 4 cats or more would make me a crazy cat lady!!!

A Few Mens Cards

Looking through the cards I have made recently, I realized that they were all a bit girly - I really needed to start making a few for the men around here! 

So I popped down to the Range and picked up their Masculine themed goody bag and had a play.

I am stumped what to do with the sports car shaped cards, so will have to google to find some inspiration. These are what I came up with some of the rest of the stash!

With a little help from my friends!

Bottledolphin

Dumbo

These cards were all made incorporating ATC's made by other people that I have swapped with. 

They have kindly agreed that they can be used (or upcycled!) to make new cards, which will go to my local Cancer care charity to help raise funds. 

Juliaamy

Shabby Chic Birds

I bought the Stamping for You magazine because I like the free Shabby Chic bird stamps, but instead have found myself playing with the lovely freebie papers instead!

As with all the Debbi Moore magazines, the papers are lovely quality and full of toppers and embellishments to cut out and use.


 I have made 8 cards so far and still have loads of papers left!

3 Lions on my cards!

I bought these cute little lion toppers from the Craftybidder website and just had to use them straight away!

I thought they would make great birthday cards for young boys.

Cute Little Hedgehogs

I've had these cute images of hedgehogs for ages now - they were freebies with a magazine, so I had a bit of a colouring session and teamed them up with the Lilly Bimble papers free from Quick Cards and Floral Fantasy papers from this months Cardmaking & Papercraft magazines.

I loved colouring their prickles - used  practically every shade of brown promarkers that I have!

More Monochrome cards!

Just made a couple more simple 2 coloured cards - the black and white die-cut butterflies are from Craftwork cards and the Thank You card used Papermania capsule papers and flowers that I have had in my sash for ages!

The Monochrome Look

This week I have made a few black & white monochrome cards using the Papermania Capsule Collection with added feathers, bling and glitter!

Why is crime going down?

I know this is a blog about cards but I just had to add a bit about why, against the odds, crime rates are going down.

It seems a combination of the following mean that all crime, but especially low level crime is going down, despite the recession

• ASBO's and crackdowns on anti-social behaviour but the police and authorities really work
• Things are harder to vandalize
• smartphones have reduce boredom for kids
• Young people can sound off on facebook or twitter about things that wind them up
• young people are drinking less
• removing lead from petrol makes people less aggressive

What ever the reason, I'm glad to hear it - a bit of good news amongst all the doom and gloom, I'm sure its not much consolation to those who are still the victims of crime, but at least less people are being affected!

Perhaps the increase in crafting and hand-made items helps, after all we all know it is a great stress buster - I recommend giving all young offenders knitting lessons!

Owls & Bears

The snowy weather was a great excuse for staying indoors and taking over the dining table for a crafting session.

 I made these cards using the freebie papers from Papercraft Essentials magazine ( see post below), this time teaming them up with some cute Teddy bears as well as the owl stamps.

Hoping today will give time for more card making!

I really shouldn't have but ....

I gave into temptation and bought the Papercraft Essentials magazine because of the cute woodware freebie Owl stamps! I thought I had stuck to my new years resolution to stop buying crafting stuff and use up more of my growing pile of stash but couldn't resist these stamps.


I had even managed to visit The Range last weekend and come out empty handed ( a first!) but knew these owls and papers would make some great looking cards.

Wellington Boot Birthday Cards

I have just got a bargain package from eBay today, a pack of funky Wellington Boot shaped cards in lots of different colours plus hundreds of different sentiments from Craftwork Cards!

Of course, I couldn't wait to use them, so have just produced my first pair of Wellies.

Creative Stamping Magazine

I bought Creative Stamping Magazine last week because I loved one of the free Spring Fling stamps - this one with the girl with hearts in her hair.

 The cat with the bow is quite cute too!

Anyway, flicking through the magazine I saw a card made with one of my oldest and favourite stamp of cat (Tabithas Portrait), looking a bit closer it seemed very familiar - yes, it was a card I had made!

I must have sent it off so long ago, I had forgotten all about it. Now I'm looking forward to see what the 'small prize' is  - every card featured gets one!

Upcycling my ATC's !

Church by Furryboots

Red leaf by Lyndee

little girl by Bottledolphin

I have been making and swapping ATC's (Artist Trading Cards) for over 5 years now and have amassed quite a collection. They feature all sorts of themes, colours, materials and techniques!

Most ATCs sit in folders or on my desk at work and I have a great display of Christmas ones in my lounge at the moment.

Some of my regular swapees have given me permission to reuse or upcycle them into new cards - and here are a few I have recently converted.

Cricket by SandyPonty

What A Lady - Craft Stamper Stamp!

I treat myself to a subscription to Craft Stamper magazine, because it is different from the other card making magazines and it always has a great free stamp!

Although I am not good ( and don't have time) to try out all the interesting techniques they use with gesso, alcohol inks, distressing etc - I admire those who can produce some fabulous work.

This month stamp is a head and shoulders portrait of a  1920's lady from the Milliner Misses range by Rogue Redhead Designs. 

Over on Docrafts there is a monthly ATC swap  hosted by Kathleen, using the free stamp, and it always encourages me to have a play and experiment with the stamp for this. These are this months offerings from me!

Christmas Card Marathon is nearly over!

Although I only started in September, I estimate that I have made over 200 cards so far, half of which have gone to the Cancer Information charity in Ipswich. Yesterday I sat down to write out my cards ready to send to family and friends, and couldn't find designs suitable to send to a couple of them, so despite having stacks of cards left over,I will be making more today (note to self: cut down on the cute cards, they are not everyone's cup of tea)

Mind you, I have got a large plastic crate crammed full of Christmas papers, stamps and embellishments. There must be something in there to inspire me!!

Fab Card Making Session!

Just got home from from visiting my friend Francesca, where we had a long overdue card making and chatting session.

We both recycled old Christmas cards to make new ones for this year - using some of Francesca's large pile of punched out snowflakes to add a bit of sparkle to them!

I made 7 cards but Francesca made a bit less, because she had to take time out to make a delicious lunch!

I also had a play with some of her new Christmas stamps and love this Christmas tree one - I thought it was very stylish, so stamped off a few more to use later.

Gold & Vellum Christmas Cards

Just a selection of gold and vellum cards - although I have made many general Christmas cards, I am stumped for some special, personalised cards for my close family. I hope inspiration strikes soon as its only a month to go!

Purple & Lime at Christmas???

I wasn't sure about this purple and lime colour scheme by Craftwork cards - they didn't seem very traditional or Christmassy!. 

However they have started to grow on me and do look clean and modern - perhaps they will do for the cool and hip twenty somethings in the family!