Creative Expressions April 2012 card design winner

Look what the Postman has bought me today .

I am over the moon. I have won the April design a card competition, on the creative expressions website. You can see the card i made further down the page, and you can see how i made it  under the tile clean and simple. The prize was 3 stamp sets of my choice. So i chose fairy 1, Antique dress forms and steam punk dreams by the very talented Sam Poole.Guess what i am off to do, yes play with my new stamps, back later to show you what i have made, crafty hugs Julie Ann

Charlie's Grandy's Birthday

Good morning, woke up this morning to no rain !!! Not getting too excited as it is the beginning of a bank holiday weekend, and that normally means wet and windy. It is Mr Charlies Grandy's birthday. Charlie loves birthdays, even when it is not his. Right from a toddler he has loved unwrapping parcels, and cards. Especially any one Elsie's. H likes to put the cards on display, not with the picture showing but the writing inside, all we can think of is he likes to see who the card is from.
 The card i would like to share with you, is the card i made for Grandy from me. Since Charlie was born Bob lost his identity as a husband, son etc and know every one calls him Grandy.
Recipe 
8" White card blank
Patterned paper is from the papermania capsule collection
A4 textured card from Docrafts Papermania capsule collection
Digi stamp, Gus collecting wrinkles with sentiment by Bugaboo, printed onto Neenah super smooth card
http://www.bugaboostamps.com/Gus-Birthday--Collect-Wrinkles_p_1289.html
Shaped label metal die by Go-Kreate
Swiss dots embossing folder
Promarkers, Ivory, Almond, Sun kissed pink, Cinnamon, Sandstone, Blue pearl, Cornflower blue, China blue, Powder blue, Tea green.
Blue gems from my stash.

I am going to enter this card into 3 card challenge Blogs.
Simon Says Stamp Challenge 
http://www.simonsaysstampschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/simon-says-stamps-challenge-blog.html
They are celebrating their 3rd birthday this week. The challenge theme is any thing goes. I recommend you pop over and take a look at the design teams card, they are beautiful. There is also a little thank you for joining this weeks challenge, a 10% discount code for on line orders. I have bought several rubber stamps there, and normally arrive like the speed of lightening to the UK in approx 7-10 days.
Catch A Bug Challenge 
http://catchthebugblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/time-for-recipe-challenge.html
The theme this week is to dry emboss and bling it up. I have only recently discovered Bugaboo Digi stamps, and i love love love them. They are full of humor and perfect for coloring in with promarkers. I think they could be a start of a new stamp addiction. The design team have made some lovely cards, go and take a peek. After visiting i am sure you wont be able to the stamps, and will join in the challenge too. They are offering a great prize, some of their fabby downloadable Digi stamps.
Fetch A Sketch
http://fetch-a-sketch.blogspot.ca/2012/04/challenge-23.html

Below you will find their sketch i used to make my card, This is a new challenge blog i found this week while blog surfing. I took a shine to the sketch, as it is quite different to my normal layout when i make cards.I love sketch challenges, as they make me think outside the box. They have 2 smashing prizes on offer, a $12 gift voucher from A Day For A Daisy , and a down load from Funky Hand. I love the down loads and CD-Rom craft disks by Funky Hand, i have several in my collection.

Be back soon with other things i have made this week, that i would like to share with you, crafty hugs
Julie-Ann

Red and White

Good morning, How are we all?
The card I would like to share with you today I made for my friend. It is her granddaughter's birthday soon and she is having a bike. This cute image of Magnolia Tilda I thought would make a smashing card.

Recipe:
Blank 5" white card
Red and white textured card from the Capsule Card Collection by Paper-Mania
Stamped image Magnolia Tilda
Memento Black Tuxedo Ink
Patterned papers by DCWV
Promarkers - ivory, blush, vanilla, sandstone, cinnamon, coco, red lipstick, red, ice grey 1, warm grey 2 and warm grey 3
Ribbon and card candy from my stash

I am going to enter this card into two craft challenges.

Polka Doodles challenge
The theme is red and white and it is the first time I have entered this challenge. I follow the wonderfully talented Nikky Halls blog and I love her CD-Rom's, especially the Love and Cherish and Paper Boutique, which has a fabulous monkey on, which i have used lots when Mr Charlie needs a card for his school friends. Please pop over and see the wonderful cards and projects the design team have made.

Sketch n Stash challenge blog
The sketch this week was perfect for the card I was making. Are you like me, make the same kind of cards using a similar card layout? That is where sketches come into there own, stretching my imagination and challenging me to do a card or project out side my comfort zone. The other thing is that Sketch n Stash encourage you to find a neglected piece of stash and use it on your card. For me it was the gingham ribbon and the Tilda image, which I stamped for months ago, but the right project had not cropped up. I recommend you pop over and look at the sketch and the great cards the design team have made to give us some inspiration.

Julie-Ann x

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Personalised Rubber Stamps

Look what the postman has brought me!

I have been thinking for a while about having a personalised rubber stamp made for the back of my cards with my contact details on. My friends would freely tell you, if I could make a decision, I would be more decisive.

Last week i was talking to my friend, Nicky, from the amazing online shop Stamping All Day. We chatted about what I would like, font size and information and I gave Nicky artistic license to do what she thought would suite my personality, along with size and font. I am over the moon and she just got everything right. Nicky makes the most wonderful stamps. Most of the sentiments I use on my cards and scrapbook layouts have been made by her. Nicky offers a friendly professional service and most orders are posted out on the day of payment. The personalised rubber stamps take approx two to three days. You can find Stamping all day here and the personalized stamps can be found here.

Sorry that picture quality is not very good, but I ran outside and took the picture between the rainy showers. I had two stamps made, the top one has all my details on, name,email and blog and the second has my name and email address.

I hope this is helpful to some of my crafty friends, catch up soon, crafty hugs Julie-Ann x

Plain and Simple Fairy Card

I am on a roll now.
I have had a right royal play with this card. I challenged myself to use just one colour, plus the stamped image. What do you think? So very different to the cards I normally make. Edward my youngest son has been at home today and passed the comment. Mmmm! Not sure what that means, but I thought it was better not to ask.

Recipe:
Blank 8" white card
12" sheet of white card
Stamped image is by Creative Expressions "Fairy 2"
Memento Tuxedo Black
Promarkers ivory, primrose, pale pink, pastel blue, meadow green and cool grey 1
Cuttlebug embossing folders Swiss dots and Debs devine
Magnolia Doohickey Tilda lace die
Nestabiliities labels one die
White ribbon from my stash

I am going to enter this card into two craft challenges, the first being Creative Belli. Their challenge is to make a card for a child or to have a child's image on the card. I just love the this toddler fairy image I used; it makes beautiful cards. The design team have made some stunning cards. Each member has made something very different, from very modern, bright and bold right through to vintage. Go on pop over and take a peek, I think you may be tempted to join in.
The next is Creative Expressions. On the Creative Expressions website, they have a card of the month competition. April's theme is to make a clean and simple card. They want to see stylish and uncomplicated designs that aren't overly embellished. Fingers crossed I have fulfilled the brief. I love the stamps they make, my next purchase will be one of Sam pools steam punk stamps. If this has tempted you to join in pop over to their site, where you will find links to all of there designers blogs and entry's can be emailed to ryan@creative-expressions.uk.com

I hope you like this card, catch up real soon, crafty hugs Julie-Ann x

EDIT: SOMETHING MISSING
I have been looking at this card I made and there is something missing! I have changed it and added a sentiment and am loads happier with it. What do you think ?

Art Deco Card

Well, at last it has stopped raining. It was so windy last night I thought we would wake up and find the Isle of Wight blown onto the beach. I have made quite a few cards over the past few days, but it has been too dark to take nice photos, meaning I was unable to share them with you. The card I would like to show you is a beautiful Art Deco style card.

Recipe:
Blank 7" white card
Stamped image by Debbi Moore Designs
Sentiment stamps by Nicky
Black Memento Tuxedo Black
Promarkers - ivory, satin, lilac, lavender, aubergine and warm grey 1
Patterned papers from the textured materials collection by Hot Off The Press
Frame cut with my Silhouette die cut machine
Flourish and border I cut with a spellbinders metal die
Gems and glitter from my stash.

I am going to enter this card into two craft challenges. The first is Lexis Creations. The theme is to use punches or die cuts. There are some amazing inspiration from their design team and I recommend to hop over and have a look.

The second is over at Simon Says Stamps Challenge. This weeks challenge is a sketch by the very talented Dawny P. If you have never seen any of Dawn's work, I highly recommend you go and take a peek, they are beautiful.

I will be back later with another card i have also made today, crafty hugs Julie-Ann x

All We Need Is Love

Good morning from a very wet and windy south coast.
I was blog surfing last night and I found a lovely challenge blog; Fussy and Fancy Challenge. The thing I like about it was the fact you can go completely over the top or clean and simple. You can find their challenge here. I have made another card for my friend to take on her prison visits.

Recipe:
Stamped image is Sweet Love by Bella 'n Whistles
Memento tuxedo black ink pad
Promarker's - ivory, satin, sandstone, cinnamon, umber, blossom, rose pink, cool grey 1, blue pearl, cornflower, blue cyan and moss green
Pink textured co-ordination card
Backing papers from the Love and Cherish CD by Polka Doodles
1.5" Heart punch by Woodware
Spellbinders Nestability circle die
Card candy from my stash
I cut the love word using my Silhouette electronic die cut machine
I cut out 6 1.5" hearts from textured card, to put around the circle to make a frame

Someone Special

Hello! I thought I would share this card with you all today. A close friend asked me to make a couple of cards for her, she does prison visits, and likes to give them cards so they can keep in touch with their families. This week she asked if i could make two different cards, one "To My Fiance" and the other "To The Person I Love".
This is the fiance card, I hope you all like it

Recipe:
Blank 8" white scalloped square card
Love and Cherish CD-ROM by Polkadooles which can be found here
12" pink textured card from the Papermania capsule collection
The hearts I cut from a Sizzix primitive medium die
The pink circle with hearts was cut from a spellbinders Nestability die
Buttons and ribbon from my stash

I am going to enter this card into the current challenge over at Joanna Sheen's blog. The theme this fortnight is to make a card for somebody special. Joanna has a very talented design team, I highly recommend you pop over and have a peek at the beautiful cards they have made. I am sure you will be tempted to join it. Joanna's challenge blog can be found here. 

I will be back soon to share some more cards I have made and something i have been knitting.
Happy crafting, Julie-Ann x

One Very Confused Grandson

Good morning! Mr Charlie is very confused! Nanny how did you get your card from the real world into the pretend television world? I have tried to explain but he still can not work it out, bless him. He watched me make some of the cards for the Mimic Creations shows and he can't work out how they are now on the telly. Off to answer more difficult questions, crafty hugs Julie-Ann x

Card Hut Design Team / Mimic Creations / Card Creations Plus

Hello! Well, the exciting day has arrived; the unveiling of the new Card CreationsPlus + CD-ROM Mimic Designs.
I am very proud to be part of a very talented design team who have had the priviledge of making the card samples for the launch. Mimic Creations is the pick of the week over on Create and Craft. The lovely Hayley West will be demonstrating what super things can be made from this CD-ROM . Nigel has realy pulled out all the stops with this one, with everything from toppers, backing papers, invetage, pyramage, decoupage, inserts, envelopes, screen creator and, my favourite, digi-stamps.
Here are some pictures of the card samples I have made for the show. Later, I will come back and put links to the blogs for the other members of the design team who have made some fabby samples too. We hope to give you all inspiration for when your CD-ROM hits your doormat. The pick of the week is going to fly, so I would recommend you snatch it up quickly. If you would like the details on how i made any of these cards or scrapbook pages please feel free to contact me.

Crafty hugs, Julie-Ann x

hello

Hello, well what a week, and were do i start? Mr charlie was five on Tuesday, i don't now were the time has gone. It only seems like yesterday he was born, and how instantly i fell in love with him. His birthday and party was a great success, but his birthday ended with a big bang !!!!!!!!!!!! He fell out of bed an hit his head on his alarm clock, and yes we did buy it. Off to the hospital we all went, were Mr Charlie has 3 stitches, well that's a day we wont forget in a hurry.
I have been a very lucky girl, and asked to make some samples for an upcoming show........will have to keep mum about it until Friday, but it will be worth waiting for. After a very wet and windy Easter, the sun in shinning down on the south coast, i have made the most of it, getting loads of washing done, all jobs done, so off to craft. Will be back later to share some bits with you
crafty hugs Julie-Ann

Flower Girl Card

I am on a roll today. This is the second card I have made, which is very impressive as we have Mr Charlie staying. It is his birthday on Tuesday and he is very excited. Tomorrow we have a day of baking planned and he wants a chocolate birthday cake.

Recipe:

I made a pink 6" card blank from some A4 pink card from my stash
Patterened papers are from Nitwit
Stamped image is tilda by magnolia, which I stamped with London Fog memento ink
Promarkers; Ivory, Saffron, Blush, Light pink, Coral, Light lime, Lime green, Warm grey 2 and Apricot
Card candy and pink card from my stash

I am going to enter this card into 3 card craft challenges; the first is Papertake Weekly, which has a fab sketch as it's theme this week by the very talented Dawny P. They are being sponsored by Simon Says Stamp. There are some lovely examples by the design team and I recommend you pop over and take a peek.

The next is the Allsorts Craft Challenge and it has a photo inspiration theme this week. It's all spring and ice cream colours and plenty of room for artistic licence. The design team have made some beautiful crafty bits and I recommend you take a look and hopefully they will tempt you to take part. Allsorts have been sponsored by Digi Stamp Boutique. I am off in a minute with my coffee to take a look and may not be back for some time!

The last, but no means least, the Emergency Crafter has the theme of flowers. Well, come on! Don't we all like to make a card with flowers somewhere on the image or to decorate our cards with some kind of flower embelishment? They are being sponsored by Glitter Monster Crafts, which is a new place for me to investigate and maybe spend a few pennies. It would be rude not to!

I bid you all goodbye for today, Mr charlie has had a busy day and his bath bubbles are calling.

Crafty hugs to all, Julie-Ann xx

My Easter Bunny Card

What beautiful weather we've had over the last few days on the south coast. I hope it will last through to Easter. A few of the business' here rely on a good Easter to keep them going until the summer. I have another Easter card to share with you today, the last one I have made for Mr Charlie's school fair.

Recipe:

6" square card
Tilda bunny image, which I watercoloured with distress ink
Nitwit paterned paper
Tim Holtz distress co-ordinations card stock
Greeting stamp by Nicky at Stamping Allday
Prima flowers
Lace and card candy from my stash

I am going to enter this card into two challenges; the first is Sketch Saturday, which is a fab sketch I really enjoyed doing. It is so easy to fall into doing the same kinds of cards, whereas a sketch makes you think and try a diffrent style to the norm. This challenge has been sponsored by The Craft Barn.

The second is Stampin' For The Weekend. Their theme is anything goes, which is lovely, so I have artistic licence. They are being sponsored by The Stamp Fairy. I would highly recommend you take a look. The design team have done some beautiful cards to give inspriation to anyone who would like to take part. I have had a peek at The Stamp Fairy website and there is some really nice digi-stamps. I will be popping back with a coffee to do a little shopping, as one does.

Crafty hugs Julie-ann x

Easter card

I have been making Eater cards this week, for my little grandsons school fair. I am going to enter this card into the Joanna Sheen challenge the theme this month is a spring card.

Recipe:

I made a 6" square card from some Tim Holtz co-ordination distress card pad
Ink pads; Memento Tuxedo Black and Rich Cocoa

Magnolia Tilda rubber stamp
Easter greeting from Nicky at Stamping All Day

I made the butterfly with my cameo silhouette die cut machine

Card candy and white ribbon from my stash.

Joanna is giving a £30 gift voucher as a prize for the winner of the challenge to spend in her on line shop. If you have never visited you must go and look and the prices are amazing. It's a must for stamps and the best price I have personally seen for Promarkers and the new Tim Holtz distress pens. The cards made by the design team, are beautiful, pop over and have a look.

crafty hugs Julie-Ann x

Cute Cupcake card

Hello! Have been making a few cards this week, but I have only just remembered I had not shared them; how rude of me... Sorry the photo is not very good, but the sun is bleaching out the colours. Not that I am complaining, it is so beautiful here on the south coast.

Recipe:
8" blank white card
Ink pads; Memento Tuxedo Black and Rich Cocoa and Victorian velvet distress ink.
Stamps used; Magnolia Tilda table and bunting, Bildmalarna mimosa cupcake, Cupcake stand by stamping up, Sentiments from Nicky at Stamping All Day.

Decorative papers by Nit wit
Nesting square metal die by Go-Kreate
Promarkers; Blush, Saffron, Vanilla, Dusty Pink, Coral, Sandstone, Cinnamon and Cocoa
Flowers, card candy and coloured card from stash

I am going to enter this card into two card challenges, Allsorts Card Challenge and Sweet sketch Wednesday. I do like sketch challenges they are really fun. I hope you will pop over to these challenges and see the beautiful cards both design team members have made and I hope they inspire you to join in. I hope you like my card, I am off to finish some Easter cards for my Granson's school Easter fair.

Crafty hugs Julie-Ann xx

Mr Charlie on the beach

Charlie loves to throw stones into the sea on the beach

A Card I Made For My Sisters Birthday.

My little sister is celebrating her birthday this coming weekend. She is off to Paris with the girls, so I thought I would make her a Paris style card. I am also going to use it to enter the challenge over at Allsorts Challenge, which you can find it here.

The theme is 3 in a row. I have put 3 buttons, 3 white card candy and 3 images. They are being sponsored by the Pretty Little Ribbon shop so pop over and have a look at the design teams cards, they are beautiful.

Recipe:

Blank white card 8" x 6", bought it from Creative Expressions.

Downloaded papers and images from Free Vintage Digi Stamps

Black textured card
Black Soot distress ink

White card candy from Crafty Work Cards

Vintage buttons and black satin ribbon from my stash
Large Bazzill Bling flower from Crafts U Love

The weather here on the south coast is beautiful today and is meant to stay so all weekend. We are having Mr Charlie, so I am hopping we can take him to throw stones in the sea. The method in my madness is that the sea air might help to wear him out.

Catch up soon, crafty hugs Julie-Ann x

Card with Matching Shopping Bag

I would like to share with you all what I made for my mother in-law for mother's day. Helen, like myself loves cats, so I made her a card and matching shopping bag.

Recipe:

8" blank white card
Memento black ink pad (to use on card with Promarkers)
StazOn black ink pad (to stamp onto cotton to make shopping bag)
Promarkers blossom, rose pink, ice grey 1 and ice grey 2
Poshpets rubber stamps & other stamps from my stash
Patterned paper and frame is a digi-download from Free Vintage Digi Stamps
Material from my stash

Assortment of Tim Holtz distress inks
Pink gems from my stash

I took the frame and patterened paper from Free Vintage Digi Stamps into My Craft Studio and changed the size and colour to match my card design.

I hope you like them! Crafty hugs Julie-Ann x