Wedding Favour Boxes

Never again! That's all i'm going to say! Well that's not all i'm going to say and most likely I will do this again but at the moment - nooooooooooo!

So to make some sense of all of this rambling I will explain: My church does this event called a wedding preparation day for couples who are to be married at the church in the year ahead. The event is to teach them the shocking statistics of divorce rates and make sure that they understand what they are commiting themselves to - after the fantasy white wedding that is (if that doesnt drive you to wanting to call the whole thing off in the first place that is).

Anyway, the whole event has been a massive success since it started 2 years ago, and this year they also have other vicars from the diocese coming to see what its all about by request of the bishop - oh joy of joys! lol! so mayhem all round - but hey!

Because this years event is going to be so much bigger than either of the previous years - due to the sheer numbers of couples getting married, my vicar decided to do a new twist to the seating arrangements and set the whole thing up like a wedding breakfast with a seating plan and place names etc etc - pretty cool actually! but he then decided on wednesday night that he fanced favour boxes too so phoned me and asked if I could run some up - by last night! eek- oh and could I do 7 designs (different designs for each table) in a range of numbers (depending who was seated where).....ummmm ok? ha! never again will I be so idiotic as to agree to doing this again, well in so short a time- especially as I was in work all day thursday and friday.

But anyway, I finished them and this is what I came up with:

 

Pink hearts in pearl card with double mounted foam hearts on a swing tag, tied with pastel pink ribbon

Green hearts in pearl card, with heart flourish from cuttlebug die, tied with forest green ribbon

Pink handbags in pearl card, with large paper flower - centred with pink gem and tied with pale pink ribbon

Purple handbags in pearl card with 'love' postage stamp from cuttlebug collection impressed in mink pearl card

Purple pyramid in pearl card, with heart embellishments in mink pearl card, tied with pale purple ribbon

Teal pyramid boxes, decorated with pale bronze pearl embellishments with teal gems, tied using pale teal ribbon

Purple truffle boxes in pearl card (image shows front and back), with large paper flower - centred with clear gem and tied with pale purple ribbon

So there you have it - all the boxes made up: 7 pink hearts, 8 green hearts, 7 of each of the pyramids, 4 of each of the handbags and 8 of the truffle boxes = 45 boxes in total.

All materials from my stash, except the base card stock - and before anyone asks; no I do not have a machine which cutes these boxes, they are all hand drawn and cut out!

Hope they go down well - I don't know how they've been recieved as I'm currently at work *shush they don't need to know i'm on here* so mums dropped them off.

Thanks for looking everyone! Hope you have a fab weekend and happy crafting! xx

Tilda thanks

Just a note of thanks - I had this Tilda all coloured up with no where to go - well that's just not acceptible! so here she is standing proudly on this fab paper which is part of the K&Company Citronella collection. Image is watercoloured and highlighted with whisper pens; ribbons, buttons and other card all from stash.

Nothing fancy but I hope her new owner likes her (and the card)

Hope all are well - happy crafting! x

I Made The Top 5!

Wow! I can't believe it! I made the top 5 at Cupcake Craft Challenges for my 'Keep It Simple' Card - I'm honoured and somewhat amazed!

What a lovely end to my evening! :D

DP2 - Clean and Simple

The challenge over at Mo's Digital Pencil this week was 'clean and simple' : Use white or cream cardstock, your image from Mo's Digital Pencil, and one ribbon.. it's that simple... and, no additional layers!
EEK!

Well in principle this should have been an easy challenge - Mo's images are so beautiful you don't need to do anything fancy with them, but in practice?........ well that is another story entirely. This is the 4th attempt at this challenge and I still hate the finished item - I don't think i've done the image justice but it's the best of a bad batch, so here it is:

You can be brutal in your comments! I won't be offended.

The image is called 'inbetween' and i've coloured it with watercolours and then my whisper pens- with the exception of her dress which I have then highlighted with a glitter pen (hard to see on the photo -sorry).

Thanks for looking and I hope you all have a fab weekend! xx

3-2-1

2 different challenge blogs this week are using the theme of 3-2-1: Firstly is allsorts challenges, secondly is simon says. Simon says also has a fab blog hop attached to this weeks challenge so go and check it out!

So my recipe is:

3 embellishments - flowers, ribbons and brads

2 papers - spotty and pearl

1 image - tilda with corn

The spotty paper is Pretty Please Spring Papers, the ribbon and flowers were from the blog candy I won from Mina (Pinkpuds) and everything else is from stock.

This is also for my mums birthday at the end of next week - so even if it sucks for the challenge entries I just hope she likes it!

Thanks for looking and happy crafting xx

Keep it simple and add a ribbon!

This weeks challenge at cupcake craft is 'keep it simple' so I decided to use a large image and just play.

So all i did was decoupage this image by cutting out a section from a second stamped image, matting it on black card and mounting it back on with foam pads. I highlighted to dots in the design with pearl drops, double mounted the whole thing on black than pearl - to match the drops and added a ribbon and brad to complete.

I would also like to enter this card for Pink Elephant's challenge this week which is 'ribbons'

Thanks for looking and happy crafting!

xx

2 Challenges in 1

Back to the land of challenge cards! yay! lol - this one is for DP2 - Pink,white,red & heart and Creative Inspirations - Leftovers

I used the same layout as the sketch and stash # 28 challenge - I just love its simplicity!

 

The image is - obviously - one of Mo's beautiful creations, I just adore this little girl! and was coloured using my whisper pens. The papers are from Pretty Please Spring Papers (which I got free with Cardmaking and Papercraft) and K&Company Citronella pad - which I won in Fussy and Fancy Fridays Candy at the start of the year.  The ribbons are from stash. Everything came out of my oddments box of left overs - The image was a spare that i'd printed up from a previous project and the papers are oddment cut offs. Oooh and I almost forgot - the buttons are from stash too!  

Thanks for looking and happy crafting! xx

I'm back(ish)! - Update on life in general

I'm back(ish) - ish because I have no cards and i'm half dead but back, in so far as access to my baby (that is my laptop you understand)

The interview on Wednesday was a farce and whilst I don't doubt I'll get the job offer - it is nothing like the job advertisement, infact its something a trained monkey could do *sigh* so that's the end of that. But I do have another interview - with English Heritage on 1st March in Bristol, so we shall see what happens there.

I'm working with Pearsons at the moment, they're a computer testing centre - you know, the place you go to do driving theory etc (infact we do over 50 different computer exams but that's another story) but to get into work I have to be out the house by 5:30 - 2 hours of travelling on public transport to be in by 7:30. It's at times like this the idea of getting a car appeals. But without work I can't afford one and I haven't worked enough to buy one - aaah the joys of catch 22.

Anyway - off to catch up on all your lovely blogs. Hope you're all well
xx

Happiness is a state of mind

This is just one of those cards I decided to make to use up some images I have stamped up and sat around doing nothing... I have no idea if this even looks ok any more either - you know when you spend so long on a card just fiddling with it that it just becomes a blur? well thats what happened with this card, but anyway, it's finished now!

The image is decoupages, coloured using my whisper pens. The daisies are from my old trusty punches that I think are woodware and tesco's own (don't quote me on it though). Backing papers are from stock and the pattern paper is from prety please spring paper pad which I got free with february's edition of cardmaking and papercraft. The sentiment stamp is one I got from the NEC last year but it has no company mark on it and I honestly can't recall who I got it from. Swirls are hand drawn and highlighted with whispers again to match the stamp.

Feedback welcomed - thanks for dropping by and happy crafting! xx

That stamp - Update!

Right so remember how I really wanted this stamp? well i'll be getting this stamp...... at the end of march! I emailed Magnolia and asked if they could bring it with them to the NEC in march and they said it would be fine, which is awsome as it means I don't need to pay postage and that equals - the money for another stamp! woop!

xx

DP2 Challenge #7 - 'wood' or 'would'

This weeks challenge card over at DP2 was the theme of 'wood' or 'would' - well I was going to wait until closer to christmas to use this image but I think it fits the bill almost perfectly.

 

The image is decoupaged, coloured with my brothers promarkers (what he doesn't know can't hurt him - but he may kill me if he ever finds out I touched them) and then highlighted with my whisper pens. The berries are seed beads which I stitched in place and the edge is punched using my martha stewart punch system. Everything else is from stash.

Thanks for looking! Happy Crafting

Woop I have an interview!

Finally all these applications seem to be paying off- I have an interview at Shugborough Historic Estate next Wednesday! yay!!!!

It's another short term contract but it is in a museum setting - so it's got to be better than nothing, right? Well if I get it, then it'll mean living with my godmother - which is cool but weird. But hey-ho , one thing at a time! Interview first!

Sketch and Stash Challenge Card

Sketch and Stash Callenge #28 was to produce a card using the following sketch:

My little entry is:

Never used - Lavino Stamps - Dandilions - I'd used the 3rd seedhead from the set before but never these two, don't know why really as I love them! Images are stamped using sepia and verdi green inks.

Neglected stash of paper and ribbon - I struggle with greens so I tend to ignore them :S

I think its worked rather well - although i'd make a few minor changes if I did this design again.

Thanks for looking and Happy Crafting! x

A cupcake without the calories

In February's issue of Cardmaking and Papercraft there was this fabulous design for quilled cupcake card and I was inspired to hunt out my old quilling kit and see what I could do. Now it's no where near perfect and I need to remember that patience is a virtue when it comes to quilling (most likely the reason it's been ignored for so long) but i'm rather happy with my first attempt at getting back into the swing of things - what do you think?

Is it good enough to eat?

I would like to enter this into Saturday Spotlights Challenge - Bigger is better

Hope you've all had a good day - happy crafting! xx

Sunshine Award

Ok, so I got this award from Carylann over at Sweet and Crafty, who decided the ingenious method of choosing which 12 people to pass it on to was to simply see who were the first 12 to comment on the award  - hence why I have it....lol - cheeky I know!

Anyway, the Sunshine Award is awarded to bloggers whose positivity & creativity inspires others in the blog world and I need to pass this on to 12 people.... seriously? this is getting hard, I love all your blogs. So simply out of random number generation - of you beautiful 21 followers of mine, the following award is going to:
Lynsey
Squirrel
Lyn
Ann
Aunty Sue
Mina
Lizzy
Barbara
Sue
Lori
Kerry
Janette

So hope you all enjoy your award and if you not listed and want the award anyway - help yourselves as I'd give it to you all if I could :D

Happy Crafting! xx

Penny Black Challenge - Someone Special

So for this challenge I decided it was time to break in some of the beautiful stamps I won in Fussy and Fancy Friday's blogcandy at the start of the year.

The sentiment and floral swirl are both from stampin up, whilst the image is from Penny Black's Garden Friends range. I stamped the sentiment in black, whilst the floral swirl is actually dark green - difficult to see on the photo i'm sorry. The image is watercoloured, highlighted with whisper pens and then glossed to give it a shine (again almost impossible to see on the photo). The gems are from stash.

Although this is a really simple card I like its effectiveness - I can see a whole range of these cards being knocked up in the near future. I hope you like it too - feedback is always welcomed.

Thanks for dropping by and happy crafting!
xx

Help! I want it, please can I have it?

How is it that I didn't know this stamp existed? hmm?!?!

It's two of my favourite things combined - Magnolia stamps and a Moose! I have to have it!! Only one small problem - I can't find it to buy in the UK, I can get Alg the moose from Simon Says Stamp but then I have to pay international postage - seems silly as the stamp will be costing me twice its original price. It's from the Magnolia Fall Collection 2007 so no one seems to have it in stock and I can only pray that they'll have it when I go to the NEC hobbycraft show next month, but if they don't I may cry.... a lot!

Isn't he so cute? how can anyone resist? (ok so I know, i'm officially nuts - especially about moose but.....)*sigh* onwards with some more cards and a job application or two - what fun my day consists of!

Hope all yours is better, take care and happy crafting
xx

Creative Inspirations + Fussy & Fancy + Pink Elephants

1 card - 3 challenges! (and 2 posts within minutes of each other - this is what happens when you leave challenge cards to the last minute!)

I would like to enter the following card into these challanges:

1. Creative Inspirations - Feminine
2. Fussy & Fancy Friday - Hearts
3. The Pink Elephant - Colour Challenge:Pink

Ok - so I know there aren't that many hearts on here, but there are 8! so although slightly cheeky entering this into Fussy & Fancy, I looked at other entries that have less hearts - so I don't feel so bad.

Onto the details of my card:-

Image is sugar nellie - i've had this sweetie around for a while and never used her! i watercoloured the image and then used my whisper pens to highlight. Papers are all from stash, as are the hearts and gems. The flowers were punched using two unmarked punches - 1 I remembered was from tesco, the smaller of the two could be woodware, but don't quote me on it,

Anyway, thanks for looking and I hope you like!

xx