Camden Town Collection ...

I just love the freebie with this months Cardmaking & Papercraft Magazine, the Camden Town Collection by Crafters Companion. I've made several cards already from the free papers and find they match up with quite a few embellishments I already have in my stash.

They have a lovely summery feel to them, don't they!

Crafting Essentials ....

What are your crafting essentials? For me it has to be double sided tape (in different widths) and my trusty X-Cut guillotine. I won it in a draw years and years ago from Docrafts and it still cuts clean and sharply.

Over the years it has been knocked off the table and bounced several times and had the handle grip replaced, but it is still something I use for every single card I make - you just cannot cut a clear straight line with scissors!!

A small dent in the stash

I've had this paper sitting at the bottom of the pile for a very long time - at least 5 years, so I'm glad I finally got an idea of how to use it!  I find the larger patterned papers difficult to accommodate and prefer smaller regular patterns.

Raising a bit for charity

I am glad to say that I have been able to raise £100 for the Blue Cross charity by selling my birthday and Christmas cards to friends at work

One of the 50 challenges I set myself when I turned 50 in August was to raise some money to build a new re-homing centre for the Blue Cross in Suffolk.

I regularly make cards to raise funds for the Hospice and cancer care and thought it was time to support another local charity. 2 of my cats  Millie and Moxxi came from the Blue Cross as kittens. 

There was an article in the local newspaper about how difficult it was to find homes for black cats - so we welcomed this pair into our home. Despite them coming from the same litter, they are so different in both size and personality!


Moxxi is a long, skinny cat who is friendly, out-going and a bit of a hunter, whilst Millie is a short, fat furball who never ventures further than the bottom of the garden!

Here's a post about them when they were little kittens.

Swapping ATC's

 Many moons ago I started making ATC's as a way of using up some of the small scraps of paper left over from card making.

Artist Trading Cards (ATC's) have to measure 3.5 x 2.5 inches and they have to be traded not sold. Those are the only 2 rules. Apart from that, anything goes!


They can be made using any theme, style or techniques - and it is quite fun trying out new stamps or stash on them.

 I have now made hundreds of them over the years and swapped them with crafters from all over the world. I've posted up photos of a few old ones to show a few examples.

I now host a monthly theme swap on Docrafts and I am amazed at the variety of different cards that turn up every time. New members are always welcome to join!

I am also part of a small  international ATC swapping group of around a dozen - so I get the chance to make and receive lots of these little treasures!

New Stamps - New Cards!

I can never wait to use any new crafty items, so when I picked up Creative Stamping Magazine, I just had to try out some of their fab 'New Beginnings' stamps!

They have lots of great ideas how to use the stamps in the magazine and I quickly sat down and made these cards - going to use the tall house stamp for a 'New Home' card next!

From the oldest to the newest piece of stash...

As a contrast to my last post about my oldest pieces of stash - here is one of my quickest makes! I bought this copy of a Debbi Moore magazine off eBay.

It arrived in the post about 9.30 am and within 20 minutes I had  flicked through, removed the papers and made this card!

 I really like the seaside themed papers and it seems a contrast to the cold and blustery weather outside.

How old is your stash?

I know we can't help hording  crafting stuff, hoping it will become useful one day!

I came across these die cut flowers lurking at the bottom of a box. They were cut out of scrap paper, when I first bought my Cuttlebug. I remember that this die came free with it. Can't remember exactly when that was, but it was probably 2008 or 2009 - so these bits have been waiting around for a least 6 years - will I every use them up???

What is your oldest piece of crafting stash?

New Years Resolution - to use up those crafting bits and pieces!

Like many, I am guilty of hording all sorts of little crafting bits and bobs in the hope they will come in useful one day! I have 8 drawers full of of paper plus other drawers of ribbons, flowers, stickers and other embellishments. Despite my best endeavours - they never seem to decrease!

So, I got out this mix of bits and set to work - whilst I didn't use them all up, at least it is a small dent in the stash now, plus some cards to go to raise funds for local charities

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and as a bonus I also made 2 ATC's for swapping as well!

Decembers Reindeer ATC Swap

I host a monthly theme swap over on Docrafts for ATCs - this months theme was Reindeer and here's a few I have made ready to go out at the end of this month.

If you would like to join in 2015, there are very few rules - you can use any style or techniques, the cards must measure 2.5 x 3.5 inches and up to 4 can be swapped every month

January's theme is Cars and further details can be found on the Docrafts ATC forum

Pollyanna Pickering - Best of Breeds

I spotted these fab set of Best of Breed dog images by Pollyanna Pickering on TV and bought them because I have a friend who loves Jack Russell dogs. Her birthday is not until June - but it is better to be prepared early I say!

I thought I would have a break from all things christmassy and make up a few birthday cards, as I have quite a few other dog loving friends too.

I have bought several of her other card sets before with owls, tigers, mice and otters - the detail is amazing and always on good quality paper.

Upcycled Christmas Cards

A couple of 2014 cards made using last years Christmas cards - I'm lucky that several people save their cards for me and I have great fun cutting them up and reusing them!

I also went to a willow weaving wreath workshop yesterday and for the first time made my own Christmas wreath - you can read more about this on my 50 Challenge blog here

Snowman and a Poppy

Really enjoyed making this cute snowman Christmas card

Was also pleased today to get my special Poppy from the Tower of London - a very special momento of a stunning  piece of public art!

Christmas Bunny

Cute Christmas card of bunny and robin - think I am now suffering from Xmas fatigue - I had to make a couple of girly birthday cards as a break from all the Santas, snow and reindeer!

Foxy Christmas Cards for 2014

I love the Woodland Winter range by BoBunny and treated myself to the Noteworthy pack to make some cards up -the fox makes a change from Reindeer and Santas!

Hunkydory Moonlight Christmas

I don't often buy the Hunkydory Magazine, but loved the Moonlight Christmas images with the cute little deer that were in issue 18! 

Rudolph Reindeer Christmas Cards

I treated myself to a die'sire Reindeer die and I am really pleased how it cuts. I can't resist adding a dot of red liquid pearls as his nose!

I love reindeer on Christmas cards and I am also hosting a Reindeer themed ATC swap over on Docrafts, so expect it will get a lot of use this year!

Bright and Contemporary Christmas Cards

As a contrast to my traditional and vintage Christmas cards I put together a couple of bright and modernistic cards - the papers were quite deep in my pile of stash so maybe 2 or 3 years old! The ribbon was recycled from a gift set.

Stash Busting Christmas Cards

The stars on these cards were all made from odd bits of scrap card that I have had in my stash for ages along with some old backing papers. Mind you - I still have a large pile of scraps to use up!

Santa Cards

A few Christmas cards for 2014 that feature a traditional Santa Claus and little children! 

Baubles Galore!

This weeks Christmas cards seem to have a bit of a bauble theme to them!