Tattered Lace - Lilies

I'm becoming more of a fan of the Tattered Lace Magazine and have bought issue 68 because of the beautiful lily bouquet dies and papers.

I know it is very expensive at £12.99, but I have found that I have used previous dies over and over again, because of the different colour ways you can download. 

And here is proof of the shoes and handbag design from issue 66, that I have just used in the orange colour with a scrap of my hand made distress oxide inky background

And now for something a bit different ...

Another card made with my distress oxide inked backgrounds - a change from my previous flowers and butterflies!  I bet you can guess what his favourite film is!

Me Time ..

It's lovely having some time to sit and experiment  with different inks and embossing techniques. I am hoping to have more time to do this in the future, if I can reduce from working full time to only 2.5 days a week.

Not all experiments were successful - but I am pleased with these cards - all with unique backgrounds

I even made an ATC out of one of the scraps!

Playing with Distress Oxide Inks

Remember back in February, when I told you I'd picked up some crafting bargains at a car boot sale? 

Well, after watching some You Tube tutorials, I decided to make some background papers with the distress oxide inks

It also gave me an excuse to use some stamps that I haven't used before, as well!

Retirement Cards

Amongst the free stamps with this months Simply Cards Magazine was a 'Happy Retirement'. Very useful as I have several work colleagues who will be retiring in the next few months!

And suitable for both men and women!

Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady

I like the freebie stamps and papers that came with this months Simply Cards Magazine- bought back memories of  the late 70's, when that book was first published and the designs turned up on curtains, mugs, diaries and bedding!

More Cards made with my New Die

Experimented with different coloured card for the words and backgrounds to make these new birthday cards

The cuts are easy to get out of the die, even though they are so intricate with all those curly bits!

Happy Birthday Die

Here's my new 'Happy Birthday' die with shadow backing. I've been looking for something like this for a while, as it will be so versatile. You can snip out some of the curly bits for more masculine makes, like this card!

Imagination Crafts - Starlight Metallic Paint

I've had the silver and blue starlight paints for some time, so thought I'd better start to use them. 

I got my brayer out and made several backgrounds

And also decided to paint some wooden shapes that I've had kicking around too!

 Finally, when I cleaned the brayer and paint brushes with a facial wipe , I was left with these pretty patterns on the wipes - think I will cut them up to make some sparking flowers!

Tattered Lace Magazine Issue 66 - Shoes!

I was temped by this months issue of Tattered Lace Magazine by the High Heeled Shoes!

I love the fact that the free die has so many different elements that can be snipped off and used separately. Like last months cute Elephant, I think I will get a lot of use from it

I've already download the silver and red versions of the stilettos to use in more cards

Simply Cards & Papercraft 192 - Nautical Scenes Dies

This months copy of Simply cards mag has a Nautical set of dies as a freebie

They are a bit fiddly to use - the little seagulls were so small that it is easier to draw them on with black pen!

Its hard to line up all the different waves and backgrounds too

But it is a good way of using up some of the off cuts of coloured card that we all seem to accumulate!

It's A Cats Life - Hunkydory

 As a keen cat lover and home to 4 of those furry felines, I couldn't resist the new range by Hunkydory called It's a Cats Life

Their images are just adorable and feature several different breeds of cats - plus very cute kittens!

I bought the papercraft A5 pad, but they also have luxury toppers, stamps and papers in the range!

Creative Stamping Mag - Love & Laughter Stamps

This months copy of Creative Stamping Magazine came with some fab wedding and birthday stamps!

So, it was very easy to rustle up these 3 rustic Wedding Anniversary cards!

Bon Voyage Cards

Something a bit different - a couple of Bon Voyage and Good Luck cards. Put together using some old scraps that have been around for ages along with some little wooden embellishments

Embossed Butterfly Cards

Three different cards using the same Butterfly Border stamp from Honey Doo. It has a lovely amount of detail on it and stamps beautifully each time

A bit of heat embossing ...

I haven't done any heat embossing for ages , so it was time to get out the gold powder and heat gun!

This card was inspired by the blooms die and stamp set from this month Simply Cards & Papercraft Mag

I also dug out some old stamps that haven't seen the light of day for a long time!

I bought this  Woodware stamp 'Gone To Seed' back in 2013. It also featured on my blog in 2016. Plus it was also used on one of the most re-pinned cards I have on Pinterest!