sympathy

My good friend has just lost her father-in-law so I made this card for them. I struggled with suitable images for this card so decided to go with an encouraging Bible verse.

Now I cannot take credit for this design as I am so inspired when I visit Amy's blog, that I decided to 'case' one of her cards. Now mine is a mere imitation! I love her style..a bit distressed but also so fabulous in her layouts and choice of papers. Everything is wow, wow, wow!

The stamp si from the Unity Stamp co. where you can find lots of Bible verses. The Dp is from SU. The flowers are punched and the flourish is a quickutz die. The papers are stitched together and a little bit distressed. I love doing that bit but it does make an awful mess on the floor!

I did decorate the inside of this card but I had written the message already so decided not to show.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and get some time to craft!

Judy x

be mine?

Man, it feels good to finally show a card this week! I am sure I am not the only one here who struggles with the balance between hubbie, kids, other commitments and of course managing to fit in a card or two!

Sometimes other things need some more love and attention!

Anyway, welcome to Sugar Bowl Challenge 3! I hope you are loving these challenges as much as I am. This time the challenge is 'Love and Romance'.

I looked through all my Sugar Nellie's I have and plumped on this one. It jumped out at me as a love letter she was receiving. See the faint blush on her cheeks!

For a change I coloured her with promarkers. They were feeling a little bit neglected. The papers are all Fancy Pants 'Splendid' collection and yummy scrummy they are too.

I stitched some of the papers together..tried not to overdo it! Then added a bit of lace, 3 heart pearls and some cut out hearts from the DP. The sentiment is made from Doodlebug letter tiles.

Hope you have fun choosing your stamp for this challenge. Go and have a look at the other creations from the other talented 'sweeties'. Make sure you find time to play!

Back soon,

Judy x

Tagged and awards buts still no card!!

I've been tagged by Deb....to show you my 6th photo in my 6th folder. So, here goes. This is my 2 oldest boys a couple of years ago at least, maybe 3. We took a day trip to the Science Museum in Glasgow. This is them up at the top of the tower which is as far as I can remember 150m high. Bit scary if you have vertigo, but I did it too..I couldn't let them go up on their own! The view behind them is of course Glasgow!

Sorry for being slow at posting up awards that have been given to me. Its been a busy week. I am grateful to each one who has thought to pass them on to me. Much appreciated!

Thanks to the talented and very lovely TaraG for this award.

Thanks you to Sharon and Rica , two new blogging friends for this next award. Look forward to working with you Rica!

Finall thanks to Katy for the last award. You are very kind with your comments on my blog. Thank you!

Sorry no card again but there WILL be one tomorrow! Time for the Sugar Bowl again! Can you believe that 2 weeks has passed already?

Judy x

Colour Create

Sorry..no card today! Working away on other things I can show you later!!

Just wanted to let you all know about a new challenge blog beginning on Sun 1st februaury.

Oh no I hear you groan not another challenge blog....but wait......

Tara has started up this blog with weekly colour challenges for you to create a card, a scrapbook page, ATC...the choice is yours and you ARE allowed to combine this with other challenges. She will also be looking for Guest Designers every week.

What a great idea and as far as I know there is nothing else like this out there in crafty blogland.

Anyway Tara has very kindly asked me to be on her DT along with some amazingly talented crafters. There are lots of different styles on the DT so you are sure to be in for some eye candy!

I have enjoyed making my card for the opening challenge because for me it was a new way to craft, by picking my colours first then designing the rest. I am going to be stretched creatively for sure! That can only be a good thing!

Enough of my blabbing..the blog is here. Go take a look and be sure to play along on the 1st Feb!!

Happy Monday,
Judy xx

Create a Scene!

Happy Friday to you all! Hope you all have something nice planned for the weekend. I'm hoping to get some crafting time on Saturday and some family time too and a visit with friends on Sunday after church. Looking forward to it all!

Please forgive my photo for today...I have tried placing my card in all different places....to no avail. Anyway, this is the best photo out of dozens and I still have a shadow from the flower on Tilda's face :( How rubbish am I at photography!

If I get time I will try and replace the photo tomorrow when daylight appears!

Back to the card. I made this one to enter into this weeks CCT and the challenge there is to make a scene. I did..sort of.. I used Tilda from a previous collection and then masked her to sit on top of the books. Not much of a scene I know but I don't own many stamps that I could use to make a scene.

No inside today...tiredness caught up with me last night while making it and I just had to hit the sack! Will do it at a later date. No details either as card is fairly self-explanatory!

A big thank you to the very talented ladies who nominated me for an award this week.

Thank you to Bev who has given me so many ideas that I want to try. Did you see her amazing bow the other day? One talented lady! Thank you to Michelle, my new blogging friend whose talents I have just discovered! Look forward to visiting you lots! Thank you for this award:

And last but not least thank you to Ann (Madge) for passing the award below to me. I am touched as I look on with awe at Ann's colouration and designs. She has some beautiful creations! Thank you all so much.

I would like to pass this last award onto all of you and I hate picking , but I will do what I have to do. Here are my nominations for this award: Lilian, Sarita, Martine

Take care,
Judy x

Mojo Monday

Hello, everyone and my card today is for a challenge that I have not entered before. I have looked at the sketches many times on this blog and wondered if my style of card making would fit. So, I plucked up the courage to use the sketch last night to make this card for Mojo Monday. The cards you see on that blog are just awesome!

I coloured Tilda with distress inks and highlighted her with white ink pen. My papers are from MME 'Out and About' collection. This was the 1st set of patterned papers I EVER bought and I still love them, so use them very sparingly!

My embellishments are self adhesive pearls, ribbon from SU ribbon share and the sentiment is a rub-on from October Afternoon.

For the inside I have carried through the theme from the front and added a die-cut tag from the 'Out and About' collection to write your message.

Thank you for looking and hope you all have a productive and happy day!

Judy x

Friday Sketchers and some awards!

Howdy all and hope you are all having a good weekend. We have had a lovely afternoon at Crathes Castle with the family. My bones were chilled but it was good top be outside in the winter sunshine.

This is my card following the sketch this week over at Friday Sketchers. I love the sketches by Murielle and this one was no exception. I had Tilda already coloured so just hunted around for some papers to match. When I had it all stuck down and stitched I realised I had forgotten the horizontal element of the sketch...oooopppps! So I carefully slit a hole with my craft knife and managed to thread some ribbon through. Will that do????

I'm not entirely happy with the sentiment but it is just a couple of Doodlebug stickers so I can easily peel them off later and do something else with it!!

Another quick and simple inside!

Stamp: Valentine Tilda collection, Hero Arts sentiment stamp (inside)
Colouring: prismacolour pencils, white ink pen, blending chalk
Papers: SU
Embellishments: flowers from stash, quickutz flourish die, ribbon (SU), Doodlebug LoopyLou stickers, bling from Hero Arts



Firstly, a big apology to Jo. She gave me this award ages ago and I haven't posted it yet! I'm so sorry, it is not that I don't appreciate it , I really do! Thanks for all your encouragement and great comments Jo!

This one is from my swedish friend Anki! We will meet one day my friend and thank you for thinking of me and again for all your sweet and kind words. They mean a lot!

And finally one from a new friend with a new blog. Go check out Sem's talent!! I think her work is wonderful considering she has been card making such a short time! Go girl! And thanks again for your sweet words and award!

As I check around most of you have received these awards! So I won't pass these ones on!

Thanks for taking the time to look!

Judy x

Sugar Bowl # 2 - Three!!

Wow! What a response to the Sugar Bowl. It must be all these yummy prizes that are up for grabs and of course these fabulous stamps you all have!!

This weeks challenge is to please use three different design papers and three different types of embellishments on your cards! No more, no less.
(by types of embellishments we mean, buttons, brads, flowers, ribbons, beads, bling etc)
Of course, you can use any amount of 'plain' card stock!

So, for my card I decided to use 'Daisy' by Elisabeth Bell. I coloured her with prismacolor pencils and blended with Sansador (an odourless mineral spirit). I highlighted her with a white ink pen and added little mini pearls to her hair and the flowers.

The 3 papers I used are from MME and the 29th Market St. Collection. I love the rich reds and blues on this collection.

For embellishments my 3 are pearls, button and a flower! To make the flowerI used the remnants of the DP and used a quickutz petal die to cut out lots of shapes. I curled each piece between my thumb and a pair of scissors and then stuck together to make a large flower!

The sentiment is a rub-on from October Afternoon, which I thought perfect for this stamp!

I hope you will hop over to the Sugar Bowl and check out the fabby prize for this week and all the other fabulous DT entries! Have you tried out the paper beads yet??? Go look at Sugar Sugar for instructions what to do. You still have 2 weeks left to try it out.

Have a great Thursday! Thanks for stopping by and any comments are much appreciated.

Judy x

Whiff Of Joy

Morning all! Hope it is lovely and sunny with you today like it is today in Aberdeen! Not warm but very fresh!!

Todays card is for this weeks Whiff of Joy sketch challenge. It is another great sketch from Heather.

I coloured Melinda in the rain with distress inks have added dew drops for rain (thanks so much Rach!). I have distressed and sewn the edges. The pink DP is from Pink Paislee, the 'Pop Fashion' collection. It already had the scallop edges on the piece of patterned paper, so one less job to do!

I embossed the blue piece of card and then sanded so you can see the core colour. the flowers are from my stash and the ribbon is from a past Raspberry Ribbons kit. I put the ribbon in the other direction from the sketch as you would not have been able to see it if I had followed the sketch exactly

Here is how I've done the inside. I decided that if I have time to do the insides I will keep them quick and simple, otherwise I would only manage one card a week!!

Have a great Tuesady..off to tackle the mound of washing!

Judy x

There is no-one like you!

I hope you are all having a good weekend. I have squabbling children in the background so I needed to get out the room for 10 mins!! They have had a fun morning at a climbing wall for my son's birthday, then out to Burger King for lunch with a few friends. Are they grateful and thankful??? Oh no....just grumpy!!

Anyway onto the card. I stamped a Sarah Kay image and coloured with distress inks after i had blown the dust off them! I feel quite out of practice. The paper is from 7 gyspsies and I did a lot of distressing and stiching on this card. My favourite techniques right now!!

The flowers are punched with a large and small retro flower punch with the DP. The roses in the middle were 75p for 12 in my local craft shop!! The hessian ribbon is from a Raspberry Ribbons kits and finally, the tag is a chipboard tag with a Hero Arts sentiment.

And because I had love the way cards look so complete with matching insides..I decided to make a 'bonny' matching insert!

As, Cute Card Thursday has the theme of using something you got for Christmas, this card qualifies as I used my mini sewing machine lots on this card :)

Enjoy the rest of your weekend my lovelies,

Judy x

A Spoon Full of Sugar

Mmmm..not sure about the photo. How hard is it to get a good photo these days??? If there is anyone out in blogland who can teach novices like me how to take a good photo, any tips would be much appreciated!! Do you shoot into the light?? Away from the light?? Where do you all set up your 'photo studios'? Next to a window? How do capture the true colours on your cards??

Just a quick card today for a Spoon Full of Sugar. Nikki has created a nice simple sketch to ease us back into the swing of things. Thanks!! I used a hAnglar image kindly sent to me by Anki in a wee image swap we did a while back.

Stamp: hAnglar image

Colouring: prismacolor pencils , Sansador, white ink pen

Paper: Ladybug and friends

Embellishments: SU ribbon, MM metal ribbon sentiment, brads, spacers, crafters floss

Tools: retro flower punch, MS doily lace punch, curvy rectangles nestabilities

Hope you are having a good day. Will be back later with an award to post.

Thanks for taking the time to look and leaving a comment. It is really appreciated :)

Judy x

Happy Birthday Son!

Today is my eldest son Daniel's 8th birthday. How time flies.....

This is the card I made him following the fab sketch from Sketch Saturday. I used Basic Grey's 'Colour me Silly' collection. This is a fun and bright collection perfect for children's cards.

The stamps are Lizzie Anne designs and have been coloured with distress inks. Not entirely happy with the way it turned out...lets say I would love to colour like Chris but am not quite there yet. If you want to see her work check out her blog for a fab video tutorial.

Here is a close up so you can see how I made the scene 3D.

Again lots of stitching on the card and the silver buttons I got from Silly Monkey Crafts.

Hope you are all keeping warm and well! Thank you for any comments you take the time to leave.

love Judy x

Cute Card Thursday

Well, peace reigns!! ...Almost! Everyone is back to school apart from my youngest who is watching Wonderpets...." Whats going to work?..Teamwork!" *sings* :) Those of you with toddlers will have sung along with me!!

Anyway back to business. My card is for Cute Card Thursday, which I am still in time for the open challenge. I coloured one of my Hanglars sent to me in a RAK from Tammi. So sweet of her! She is coloured with prismacolour pencils and blended with Sansador. The papers are BG 'Scarlets Letter'. As you can see I got out my sewing machine again and stitched down all the pieces of paper. Can't seem to manage a card these days without reaching for my wee mini machine!! The flowers are a mixture of prima flowers and punched flowers from the DP. I've added a little red crafters floss for a finishing touch. The sentiment is a rub on from October Afternoon.

Thanks for looking and have a great Monday. It is -2.5 here and sunny. Perfectly beautiful!!

Judy x

Engagement Card

My mother-in-law has asked me to make 2 engagement cards for 2 of her nephews(who are brothers) who got engaged on the same day!! She told me she had looked in the shops and only found ones with cute images and didn't think they were appropriate for 2 grown men and their fiances. I quite agree! So once I had found a design I liked I just replicated it for the other one.

So the challenge for me was to make the cards without reaching for the 'cute' image! I really enjoyed making something different from my usual 'colouring' comfort zone!! I am going to enter this card into a new challenge blog I have found called 2sketches4you. This is how I got my inspiration for this card using this weeks sketch. Have a look at the fab cards you will find there.

Stamps: Hero Arts

Ink: Hero Arts Shadow ink, distress ink (walnut stain)

Paper: DCWV 'Love and Weddding'

Sentiment: Doodlebug Loopy Lou

Embellishments: chipboard swirl which has been inked and then covered with crackle glaze, pearls, lace, paper roses (local craft shop)

Hope you are all enjoying the last remnants of the holidays. Maybe some of you are back to work already. Hope you all have a great weekend. I've kind of got lost in what day is which. It will soon hit home Monday morning!!

Take care

Judy x

Sugar Bowl Challenge Number 1 !

Happy New Year!

I hope this is a great year for you all and may God bless you all richly in 2009!

Welcome to the the Sugar Bowl's first challenge. I hope you will all manage to participate. There is a great prize on offer. Who wouldn't want to win not 1, not 2 but 3 sets of Promarkers!

This fantastic sketch is by Tiets and I love the layered paper look so I really enjoyed this challenge.

My card is made with one of the new Leanne Ellis designs. It reminded me of spring time and I love Jan 1st as it feels like time to have a good clean of everything!! And spring is on its way.....

She is coloured with prismacolor pencils and blended with Sansador and I have then used liquid pearls for the centre of the flowers. The DP is from Pink Paislee and is called 'Pop Fashion'. The edges have all been inked with distress ink - 'Frayed Burlap.'

For embellishment I have used half pearls, lace, flower charm and flowers all from my collection.

The sentiment is punched from the SU word window punch and is a rub -on. For this months 'Sugar Sugar ' project we had to make paper beads as demonstrated by Marlene. These were really simple and fun to make. All instructions on how to do this can be found on the Sugar Bowl blog.

I decided to decorate a pail and used a new Elisabeth Bell stamp from Sugar Nellie called 'Hug in a Mug'. I used promarkers to colour her and she is matted with nestabilites curvy rectangles.

Again the DP is from Pink Paislee and is punched around the bottom with a Martha Stewart border punch and I've added a wee bit of lace too.

I decided to use the paper beads wound around the top of the pail and they are threaded with scrappers floss.The sentiment on the front is made from a chipboard tag and covered with paper and stamped with a Hero Arts sentiment.

Here is a view of the top of the pail.

Well done if you've made it all the way to the bottom of this post!!!

Have a wonderful day and thanks for taking the time to look. Your comments as always are gratefully received.
Love
Judy x