Top Tips for Card Making!

This week has been a bit of a comedy of errors on the crafting front! Nothing has seemed to go right, so here are a few tips to remind myself and others when card making

1. don't stick anything down until you are happy with the layout - several times I have had to peel off embellishments that were in the wrong place or just didn't go with the the background paper
2. watch out for Australian cards - yes, sticking stuff on upside down.
3. beware of inky fingers - I have had to cover up smudged marks with strategically placed flowers or card candi.

What are your tips for us card makers??

Cards For Charity

Like many people, I get carried away and make far too many Christmas and Birthday cards than I need.  I always give  a box full to my local Cancer Care Centre and also to Macmillan Nurses. This year I've made over 120 cards for each.

I'm also hoping to sell a few birthday cards tomorrow as part of my works Wear it Pink fund raising- and then there is Children In Need next month too.

All good reasons to spend more time in the craft room!

I'm going to glow in the dark!

That's me in the yellow top and also wearing the orange tutu on the boards

For many years I have helped to raise funds for St Elizabeth Hospice in Ipswich, Suffolk - in fact I am one of their oldest volunteers, having done it for 26 years now!

They asked me to help launch the Midnight Walk for next year, which they hope will be their biggest and best ever - and the theme is Neon. It was launched at Ipswich Town Football Club yesterday and 

we were featured in the local newspaper too!

My daughter and several friends are going to do the walk with me next May, which I'm sure will be a bit of a laugh!!!

Joy to the World

A card made with the stamp and embossing set from Simply Cards and Papercraft  Magazine - loved the embossed village scene!

Re-using Old Christmas Cards

Several people give me their old Christmas cards each year so that I can reuse the ribbons, sentiments and toppers.

With a bit of mat and layering they can easily be reused as backgrounds too!

I also use the backs for stamping, so very little goes in the recycling bin!

More Nordic Christmas Stamps .....

Just after I made the last post, what should land on my doorstep, but the latest copy of Creative Stamping Magazine with another large set of Scandinavian inspired stamps!

I couldn't wait to start using them and made these Christmas cards - I love that Stags head!

A Couple of Nordic Cards ...

Although it's not my style, it seems that Nordic themed cards are 'in' this year. I reused a Christmas card from last year in the top card and added backing paper and a little wooden girl with a felt hat to the gingerbread house. 

The bottom card is using the free  heart shaped die from Cardmaking & Papercraft Magazine and layered it against yellow coregated card and Papermanias 12 days of Christmas paper from last year

Cute and Cuddly Christmas Cards

You always need a few cute and cuddly themed Christmas cards every year!

These ones will probably end up being snaffled by my daughter to give to her school friends.

Christmas Stamps - Oldies but Goodies!

I'm now getting into the swing of Christmas card making and realised that I have had these 2 stamps for years! They might be old, but I still enjoy using them in my card making. 

Have you got any favourites that are used time after time?

The First Christmas Cards

Well, I have  managed to make a start on Christmas cards -but it still doesn't feel right sitting in the sunshine listening to people mowing their lawns!

These ones are fairly simplistic - but I do need to make them in a variety of styles, as some go to charity and others to friends and family who vary from 6 months to 85 years old!

Christmas is a coming!

 I know I should be starting my Christmas cards, but I don't feel in the mood for it yet!

I have got out my 2 boxes of paper, stamps , embellishments and sentiments out from the cupboard under the stairs and the magazines have started giving away Christmas freebies - but the mojo is not there yet.

Perhaps the colder weather  will help?

Birds of a Feather

I seem to have made several bird themed cards recently - not sure why, sometimes that's just the way things work out!

Using Up Very Old Stash

 These cards were made with embellishments, stamps and papers that I have had hanging around for ages - the Japanese girl on the tag must be at least 6 years old!

Well Done Card

A 'Well Done' card for my Nephew who received his GCSE results this week and is now able to go off to college in September

Every cloud has a silver lining!

The atrocious weather over the last few days has meant more time for crafting!

 I've been beavering away in my craft room and this is a selection of  new baby congratulation cards that I made.

A Start on the Stash

Well, I have made a start on using my new stash! ( see last post). It has taken several hours to find a place in the craft room for it all and there are still 2 boxes of papers that I haven't really looked at yet!

 The lady had accumulated soo many items, most of which had been unopened or untouched for a while due to her ill health. 

They have really sparked my mojo and I have had a fun time making a small dent in the stash.

She also had many papers, stamps or stickers that are not in my usual style, so it will stretch me and take me out of my comfort zone!

There are lots of  12 x 12 scrapbook papers - so I really must get round to printing out some of the family photos and making up some scrapbook pages!

OMG - What Have I Done!

I have a small craft room - well,  just the box room of the house, which is already crammed with 2 desks and all my craft stuff - and now I have just gone and bought a load more!

A lady nearby has had to give up card making due to ill health unfortunately, and I have just bought her entire stash off her including the storage units

There are so many papers, embellishments, stamps, ribbons, stickers and card stock, that I now have no excuse for buying anything new for the next 10 years!

Craft Stamper - VW stamp!

Just love the freebie VW stamp with this months Craft Stamper magazine - teamed it up with some surfboarding paper lurking in my stash!

Nasturtium Flower Fairy

Another bit of stash busting - using up these cute flower fairy images that have been lurking at the bottom of the drawer for years!

New Baby Girl Cards

Whipped up a couple of baby girl cards for my Charity box - I love making cute cards!

Additions to My Stash

Sorry I have been absent for a while - but I had a good excuse, I have been visiting New York!

Whilst I was there, I had to visit the famous 'Michael's' craft shop, and did not come away empty handed. They didn't have many stamps, but I did pick up lots of embellishments - including this little bundle.

One Die - Several Cards!

  I treated myself to some back copies of the Tattered Lace magazine, as there was a '3 for the price of 2' offer on. Today I have been playing with the free Summer Pasture die from issue no 7.

I have enjoyed colouring it in with Promarkers and cutting it up for different effects. I hope to get a lot more use out of this die!