Animal Antics

Evening all,

It's been another busy weekend, a trip to Derby yesterday to see a very dear friend of mine before he moves to Paris for work! and then today, the ever dreaded food shop - which is fine until you have to do the massive hill on the walk back and finally some cooking - i'm in desperate need of restocking the freezer of meals for those days I just can't be bothered to cook or don't have time too..... which seems to be far too often at the moment.

But inbetween all the mayhem I have managed to squeeze in time to make a card - not sure about it - my mojo seems to be on leave at the moment, but I just had to play with my new House Mouse stamps that I got at christmas and this weeks Simon Says challenge is the perfect excuse - Animal Antics...... well those little mice are always up to something!

So onwards with the details - obviously the image is House Mouse, coloured with Promarkers. The card is hand shaped and the backing card from stock. Images are highlighted using stickles glitter and the pips and flowers are from stash - all in all very simple.

I'm just not sure it works.... hmmm, anyway! I'll be back later in the week with more cards (I hope) as I'm trying to get back into things now my evenings are, in theory, less busy.

Hope all are well

Take care and happy crafting! xx

Dad's Birthday Card

Hello! I'm back, I promised I would be, it's just been a somewhat manic first week back at work and I haven't had time until today to get back into the swing of card making. I had to do it today though as I desperately needed to make my dad's birthday card - which fits in perfectly with Allsorts challenge this week of the Male/Boy.

I have to thank some very lovely ladies who have helped make this card possible, by sending me a copy of each of these stamps to play with - you know who you are!

 

So obviously it's all Magnolia stamps - 2010 Bon Voyage Collection- coloured in with Promarkers and highlighted with whisper pens. The lettering is all peel-offs and some off my ever trusty pips! That's about it.

Hope you like it!

Take care and Happy crafting x

Update!

Hi guys,

Just a general update for you todaty - with no real crafting supplies i'll be on hiatus until I'm back with my beloved stash in 11 days time.

Until then, what's been going on? well, I'm doing conservation work on the Staffordshire Hoard at the moment which is a great honour! My current piece is called K356 and will be part of the touring collection :) I'm really enjoying it, although 8 hours with your eyes stuck to a microscope is relatively painful!

Onwards - I'd like to raise your awareness to theft! Yes that's right, property theft! please join me in supporting the cause of stamping out stamp thieves - you can read further details here or here. Please help us to support the artists and support fellow crafters who are doing the right thing. Grab the icon from my sidebar and spread the word!

Finally, i've lost a follower :'( this is a sad turn of events and I hope it isn't due to causing offense to anyone. If I have done anything to upset anyone it wasn't meant, I promise you and please don't just leave, talk to me about it.

For those who are still here and with me, thanks! and as soon as i'm back and crafting, you'll be the first to know, so hang tight!

Take care and thanks for popping by x

Quick Birthday Card

Hi everyone and a very Happy New Year to you all! so did you stay up to see the new year in or did you treat it like any other day? My best friend and I had a girls night in; movies, wine, chocolate and pj's - nothing better :)

Anyway, onwards with todays card which I don't think fits into any challenges - but feel free to correct me if i'm wrong.

It's another birthday card made using my mum's stash, although to be fair, only the blank card base and the punch/cutter were her's this time around - the rest is from the free papers I had in an old magazine - they finally came into use!

Hope you like it - the circles are using the Friskers board, the punch is woodware? (i think - no markings on it) and the sentiment is printed off the computer

Thanks for looking and happy crafting x

My Favourite Five from 2010

So Debby over at A Scrapjourney is challenging us to choose our favourite 5 cards of 2010! eek, that's hard - but unlike many of my fellow crafters I don't manage 1 a day so at least there are fewer to choose from!

Nevertheless, it's still been a difficult challange to choose 5 favourites but after much contemplation here are my chosen selection:

This was the first card I made with this stunning sweetpea stamp and I fell in love with it! so much fun to use and really elegant - it sparked many more cards of similar design throught the year.

This was such a simple card to make for my best friend for her first house but who can resist Mo's images? they're such a delight to work with and the colours blended so well. It's one of my favourites because although its very simple I know how much it was appreciated

 

I think I've used this LOTV image to death this year - 3 separate wedding cards in 2 months with the same image but this is my favourite - it took so much work to make and so much patience but the results speak for themselves!

Another very simple card but it includes one of my all time favourite digi images and I just loves the layout of this card. Again this is one of those designs i've replicated several times now and I never get bored of it!

And finally, my first attempt at merging a stamp with a digi image! I love this card, I had so much fun making it, even if it did take hours to colour in! 

Ok, so this technically No. 6 but its not a stamped card so forgive me. I just had to share it again as I was really proud of this card. It was a commissioned piece and is now mounted and framed in the bedroom of the child it was made for! Now if that isn't reason to love your cards - knowing they're being treasured - I don't know what is!

Thanks for looking and take care!

Naomi

Men's Birthday Cards

What happens when you're home for christmas and you come to the horrifying realisation that you need to make not 1 but 2 mens birthday cards with limited crafting supplies and none of your old faithfuls?

Panic?! well yes, there was that option and then lightening struck - the cards are for 2 people highly unlikely to ever meet and so actually all you need is one feasible design. That in mind I went searching for inspiration and when that failed to appear it came back to good old fashioned trial and error and here is the result:

 

Not spectacular by any stretch of the imagination but at least they're done.

Everything is from my mum's stash and other than the small star being a woodware punch, the large star being cut with a friskers board and the sentiment being computer generated, I couldn't tell you the names of the paper and card - sorry.

I'm going to enter this into the allsorts challenge, which is anything goes!

Anyway, hope you like it - hope those who recieve them like it! and I'll be back in the new year with another birthday card I've got to finish making......

Take care and happy crafting!

Here’s to 2010!

Here’s to 2010! Here’s to the year where life went mad! So what happened this year?

January – I got a job with Pearson Vue and watched one of my brothers move into his own flat

February – I interviewed and got a job with English Heritage in Bristol

March – I finally saw Les Miserable performed live! I left Pearson’s, moved to Bristol and was told by one of my closest friends he loved me, but that he still loved his girlfriend too and the idea of an ‘us’ would always be a what if? (Not helpful)

April – Started work at English Heritage, interviewed 3 weeks later for a more senior role in the team and got it

May – Started in the new role with English Heritage and my best friend secured her first house

June – My grandmother was admitted to hospital for the 1st of three times this year and I had my first night out with the team from work (and nearly got alcahol poisoning from a vile creation called Chedder Valley Cidar)

July – I had my birthday and my best friend moved into her house

August – My grandmother was admitted to hospital for the 2nd time and I started a tradition of movie nights once a week(ish) with my closest friends from work

September – I was invited back to Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery to do conservation work on the Staffordshire Hoard in early 2011 and my eldest brother was involved in a multi car pile up on the motorway

October - I had to re-interview for my job to extend the contract again! I went on my second cruise and had 19” taken out of the length of my hair.

November – My mother broke her ankle and my grandmother was taken back into hospital for the 3rd time and I spent every spare minute I could in Birmingham helping out the family, oh! and my dad finally got confirmed

December – I averaged 42 hours a week in the office, ate more food then I care to think of and realised for all the heartache that I had gone through this year, realistically – it’s been one of the best yet!

I’ve managed to grow closer to old friends from Cardiff, make some fantastic new friends through work and finally put faces to names of ladies I’ve know from the crafting world for a good few years.

I’ve realised that now, more than ever – friends are the family you choose for yourself and that family, no matter how much they drive you insane are the ones you need around you when times are hardest.

2010 has been one massive rollercoaster from start to finish and I can only imagine what 2011 will bring! But as always, things are sent to test us and what doesn’t break you only makes you stronger.

So my thanks to all of you who are part of my life, by following and commenting on my blog – you are part of my urban family and I thank you for your support from the bottom of my heart!

Merry Christmas! And all the very best for a brilliant start to 2011!