Duke

Hello my (hopefully) loyal blog friends.

I have been conspicuous by my absence once again, I mean seriously, 5 months since my last post!!

I have no excuses, except life getting in the way.

I have been making cards, and have photos of everything, but just finding the time to blog has been beyond me.

This is a card made for a male friend, I absolutely adore this image from Mo Manning and once I had purchased it couldn't wait to use it, I think it is perfect for male cards.

I kept the card simple, as I think the image is quite a statement on its own, plus adding lots of embellishments on male cards never seems to work for me.

There has been another 'small' distraction in the household for the last couple of months .....

Please meet Misty

Misty is a Westie and is now 4 months old, she is such a naughty puppy, but adorable.  I have wanted a Westie like forever and finally I have one (didn't think hubby would let me get her, but he did).

Card recipe:

Image: 'Duke' Mo's Digital Pencil coloured with my Copics

Sentiment: Craftwork Cards (sadly it doesn't look as though these are still available)

Brad from my stash

Wow that was a simple card, hardly any ingredients!!

Thank you for visiting, and I really appreciate any comments that you leave.

Monochrome Cat

Hi everyone (is there still anyone following this blog)?

Just thought I would stop by and show you a card I made recently for my MIL Birthday which is two days after mine.

I have used a stamp from a set that was purchased from another blog person, but unfortunately there are no details as to what brand or the name of the stamp set, something is saying 'Woodware' to me, so if any one can enlighten me I would be most grateful.

CARD RECIPE

Image: Unknown stamp set ~ can anyone help me identify it?
Backing papers: DCWV All Dressed Up paper pad
Sentiment: Craftwork Cards ~ 'Mini Messages Birthday ~ Black'
Gems from stash

I would like to enter this card into the following challenge:

Fashionable Stamping Challenges ~ Challenge #85 Animals

So that's me for today ~ my hour is up!  You may well ask why only an hour?  Well, one of my friends on the Friendly Beardie club Facebook page posted that she was doing these 'hourglass' challenges 'Interested Ears'.   Basically you get a box or tin or anything really and write loads of different chores and nice things to do in an hour and put each piece of paper in the box/tin.  Each day you pull one of the bits of paper and do that chore/nice thing for an hour.  I have to say it works for me, so far I have done all my paper shredding, cleaned two ovens and have now blogged ~ fantastic idea.

Thank you for visiting and any comments you may leave.

Love

Happy 80th Birthday

Hi everyone,

I hope you are all well and if in the UK not being battered too much by these awful winds.  We have had some strong gusts here in Warwickshire and a little bit of rain, but we have got off lightly judging by what I have seen on the news.  

Well it has been pretty hectic here (yet again), a couple of weeks ago saw us off to North Wales to celebrate my Dad's 80th Birthday, hence todays card.  On our return Bailey Beardie was booked in at the vets for surgery, we had noticed a small lump near his bum whilst grooming him a couple of weeks before and when I showed it to the vet at his annual vaccination appointment she recommended it was removed.  Our Bailey boy is a lumpy Beardie and had two other lumps that she agreed should be removed at the same time, since he was going to have a general anaesthetic, but the body blow was that she recommended that he was neutered at the same time to prevent further 'bum lumps' occurring.  So, the decision was made, after all he is 10 and a half years old now and we do have two intact female dogs who are now too old to breed from ~ so our dream of having a 'Bailey' puppy have gone.  He had his stitches out on Monday and the histology on all the lumps has come back with them all being benign.

Anyway, here is my card for today.

As my Dad is a photographer (which obviously has not rubbed off on me) I thought this Penny Black image was perfect.

Card Recipe:

Image: Penny Black ~ 'Say Cheesecake' ~ 1644L coloured with Copics
Backing Papers: Stampin' Up
Cardstock: Bazzil Basics
Sentiment: Hobby Art ~ 'General Greetings' ~ CS016D
Punches: Stampin' Up ~ 'Decorative Label' (used for sentiment) & EK Success ~ 'Retro Flower'
Craftwork Cards Candi (used as flower centres)
Dovecraft ~ 'Glitter Alphabets' in Comet Gold
Ribbon from stash

I would like to enter this card into the following challenge:

The Paper Shelter ~ Special Birthday
The Stamping Chef ~ Anything Goes
Crafting For All Seasons ~ Challenge #66 ~ Birthdays

So my friends, that's all for now.  I hope to catch up with you all before Christmas.

Thank you so much for visiting today.

Hitting The Right Note ...

Hi everyone,

I hope all my lovely blog buddies are well and are enjoying this gorgeous Summer we are having (here in the UK anyway), we did have a couple of cool evenings this week and hubby even lit a fire on Tuesday as the drop in temperature was quite noticeable ~ I did comment on the fact that he was only wearing a T-shirt and shorts and that might be why he was feeling cold ~ lol.

The list of things breaking down is still growing, the hot water system has failed another two times, despite the plumber replacing what we thought was the faulty part, we now think it is the timer control unit that is faulty, but the plumber is on holiday and I can't get hold of him.  The indoor barbecue grill (I know posh or what) is still managing to trip the fuse box when in use ~ we have already had one of the elements replaced (under warranty thankfully), but it now knocks out the fuse box when you switch it off ~ not sure where to go with that one!  The good news is that the extractor fan has got over its strop and gone back to full time work, but the lights in the bathroom have started flickering when you turn them on full power.

Anyhoo ~ enough of all that, on to my share for today.  This is a card I made for a friend of ours who plays the saxophone.  I feel it's a bit of a cheat because I used an image downloaded off the tinter web ~ I did try to find a digi image that was suitable, but couldn't find anything in time.

CARD RECIPE

Image: Downloaded from the tinter web
Cardstock: From scrap box
Die: CC Designs ~ 'Music Border'
Sentiment: Craftwork Cards ~ 'Mini Messages ~ Birthday ~ Black'
Punch: Stampin' Up ~ 'Large Oval'
Candy Dots: Stampin' Up ~ Candy Dots 'Neutrals'

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp ~ Monochromatic
Creative Creations Challenges #16 ~ Monochromatic
Crafting By Designs ~ Anything Goes

Just to finish we went on a ramble last Sunday with the Midland Bearded Collie Club it was at Lyth Hill County Park which has breath taking views, a lovely ramble followed by Sunday Lunch at the Three Fishes Pub which was delicious.

A couple of photos for you Beardie people out there (and everyone else of course)

Group Photo Before the Off!

Hubby giving a puppy a lift!

Thank you for stopping by and for all those lovely comments ~ I do so enjoy reading them.

Love

Cupcake Bees

Hi everyone,

I Hope you are all well and that those of you residing in the UK had glorious weather over the weekend as we did here in Warwickshire ~ it was gorgeous, particularly yesterday, which considering it was a Bank Holiday Monday was amazing!

I have a Birthday card to share with you today using one of my newer stamps ~ the recipient of this card keeps Bees, so ~ I thought it very appropriate.

CARD RECIPE

Image: Wild Rose Studio ~ 'Bees with Cupcake' CS309 coloured with Copics
Backing Papers: Bazzill Basics & Dovecraft ~ 'Back to Basics III'
Dies used: Magnolia Doohickeys ~ 'Leaf & Swirl' & Memory Box ~ 'Fabulous Phlox'
Sentiment: Craftwork Cards ` 'Mini Sentiments ~ Birthday'
Punch: Stampin' Up ~ 'Large Oval'
Glamour Dust
Brad (used in centre of flower), pearls and lace from stash

I won't tell you how many times I coloured this image before I was happy with it.  I can see why so many of you say black is such a hard colour to do ~ I finally settled on not using black at all ~ but the darker greys!

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Alota Rubber Stamps Blog ~ Challenge #106 Bugs..Bugs..Bugs
Natalie and Amy's Challenge #9 ~ Things with Wings!

On the subject of challenges ~ I always struggle to find a challenge that my cards fit, may be I am doing it the wrong way round and I should find the challenges and make my card fit ~ but I am much better at thinking of something in my head and then transferring it into a project than having a set layout or colour scheme to work to which seems to block my creative juices ~ what do you all think and do?

Right that's it for today ~ weather still gorgeous here, so off into the garden for me this afternoon.

Have a good day and thank you for your much appreciated comments.

Just Fluttering By!

Hi everyone,

I'm back!  

A very Happy New Year to all my blog buddies and wonderful followers.

I often wonder while visiting all your blogs, how on earth you all find the time to blog so regularly, and some of you have full time jobs and a family!  I do work, but from home and definitely not full time and do not have any children (except the furry kind) and cannot seem to blog more than a couple of times a month?

Anyhoo ~ Christmas was a success, even if I say so myself, and New Year very quiet.  Things are moving along with MIL, I heard just before Christmas that I had officially been appointed her Deputy by the Court of Protection ~ oooh I'm all official now!!!  Also, we have a date from our solicitor for the exchange on her flat after it being on the market for over four years!  So, hopefully things are calming down a bit.

Before I move on to my card, I have to say a huge THANK YOU to a company called Storage4Crafts. I ordered a paper storage cube from them in November and when it arrived it became apparent that a previous storage cube that I had purchased was the wrong wood colour ~ as I had nothing to compare it with I didn't realise at the time.  I contacted their customer services people and explained what had happened ~ not expecting anything to come of it as I had had the other unit for just over twelve months, but after sending them photos of the two units together they only replaced the original one free of charge!  I am so grateful that they sorted it out as it would have annoyed me for ever more (I would probably have bought another one if they hadn't swapped it out for me).  Excellent and friendly customer service and this should be applauded.

Today I have a card to share which is for a friend's Birthday.  I have unashamedly taken my inspiration from THIS card by Sue (thank you Sue), as I had found a forgotten First Edition paper pad whilst having a tidy up and was totally lacking any inspiration at all.

I had several attempts at different colourways and designs before I was happy with this one!

CARD RECIPE

Images: Large central Butterfly ~ Kaisercraft 'Tigerlilly' stamp, smaller Butterflies ~ Kanban ~ Butterflies clear stamp set
Colouring Medium: Copics
Backing Papers: Bazzil Basics & First Edition 'Noir et Chic'
Sentiment: Craftwork Cards
Ribbon & Gems from my stash

It is trying to snow as I type ~ not a fan of the white stuff, tomorrow we are supposed to have more.  I might just have to do some crafty stuff to take my mind off it!

Hope you are all well and cosy warm and thank you for visiting.

Cheers!

Hello everyone,

I hope you are well and keeping warm!

I have not been around much in blogland because (drum role) I have had my first commission ~ yay!

Remember this card, well the recipient contacted me and asked if I could make it into Christmas cards for him and I said yes ~ well what else was I going to say!  They finally went in the post today all the way to Spain ~ yes I've gone international!  Will post some photos later.

Today I have a quick share ~ this is a card I made for a friend, who like me enjoys the odd glass of red.

I saw these stamps in a magazine feature earlier in the year and bought the whole set, ideal when you want a slightly quirky and humerous card ~ not everyone likes cute.

When I had finished colouring the image, I decided I didn't like the colour of her dress (blue), so I had a lightbulb moment ~ don't get many of those ~ and decided to paper piece it.  I think it works okay?

It doesn't show up on the photo, but I used Glossy Accents on the wine glass to make it sparkle.

CARD RECIPE

Image: Katy Sue Designs ~ 'The Wine Buffs'
Colouring Medium: Copics
Backing Papers: Dovecraft ~ 'Sugar & Spice'
Sentiment: From the same stamp set
Craftwork Cards Card Candi
Nestabillities: Classic Circles Large
White shaped mat from stash (unknown origin)
Glossy Accents

Well, must dash ~ housework to catch up on after all that card making ~ lol!

Have a lovely evening and weekend.

Love

Topsy Turvy Cake

Hi everyone,

I hope you are all well.

Well what a stunning weekend we had weather wise here in Warwickshire ~ we even managed a barbecue on Saturday evening and stayed out until well after dark as it was so warm.

Today I have a Birthday card to share ~ not made for anyone in particular ~ but will go in my card box for future use.

First time I have inked this stamp up ~ but it could fast become one of my favourites me thinks!

CARD RECIPE

Image: Whimsy Stamps ~ Meljen's Designs 'Topsy Turvy Cake'
Colouring Medium: Copics & Spica Pens
Cardstock: White hammered card base, Bazzil Basics & Polka Dot card from my scraps box
Sentiment: Craftwork Cards ~ Birthday Messages
Rhinstones: Doodlebug Mini Jewels 'Limeade'
Ribbon from my stash

I would like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Charisma Cardz ~ Challenge #32 ~ Monochrome
Just Inspirational Challenges ~ Photo Inspiration
Meljen's Design ~ Challenge #123 ~ Tie A Ribbon
Stampin' for the Weekend ~ Challenge 15 ~ Monochromatic

Thank you for stopping by ~ I hope you like my creation.

What A Swing

Hi everyone,


Well, what wonderful weather we have been having here in Warwickshire ~ I have finally managed to get some serious gardening done ~ instead of pottering around in the greenhouse.


Today I would like to share a card I made for my Step Brother who lives in Southern Ireland and enjoys the odd round of golf.

I have printed out the image which is a digi image from Karen's Doodles called 'What A Swing' and coloured it in with my copics, I then ran it through my die cutting machine with a Nestabillities oval die (I don't know why, but every time I use this image it always ends up in a oval shape ~ it just seems to suit it somehow),  I have then mounted the image onto a piece of Bazzil Basics lime green card also cut with a slightly larger oval die.  For the base card I have used one of my cut down hammered white card blanks and layered with the same lime green card stock and some purple Bazzil Basics card stock, I then used two pieces of patterned paper from the Kaisercraft 'Lilac Avenue' Collection and hid the join with a piece of purple self adhesive ric rac, which I thought was more manly than ribbon!  I added a sentiment from Craftwork Cards 'Messages' pack which was coloured with a copic marker and to finish added three Craftwork Cards 'Candi' dots.   When it was all assembled I thought the image was a little too white, so I distressed the edges with a Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad in 'Old Paper' to tone it down.


I hope you all like it and thank you so much for visiting me today.

Rockin All Over The World!

Hi everyone,


It is me the elusive blogger ~ busy busy again.  After all the work we had done on the house last year (and some this year) I have struggled to get everything straight again ~ I do like things straight!  There is a lot of finishing off to do and a lot of things seem to have lost their homes and keep re-appearing around the house.  DH loves this because all of a sudden there is something where there wasn't something before and rather than look where he is going he trips over it (no matter how big the item is) and swears a lot!  His two biggest bug bears are my cardboard box mountain ~ literally ~ in the workshop and my eBay mountain ~ again literally ~ on the landing, of course the two go hand in hand, I sell stuff on eBay and need boxes to send it out, he doesn't quite see this train of thought!  


I have been busy organising another sale on eBay and trying to sort out my craft room.  A lot of my craft stuff lost its home in the work ~ I have been having a major sort out (hence the eBay sale) and re-organising the way everything is stored.  I will be posting my latest storage solution on here tomorrow ~ just because I am so excited about it ~ lol.


Anyhoo, enough of all that.  My share today is a card that I made for a friend who now lives in Spain.  He is mad about Status Quo and I was thrilled to find this image for free on the tinter web.

For this card I used one of my famous cut down hammered white card blanks, the background papers are from the Echo Park 'Yours Truly' paper pad.  I have mounted 'Francis' onto a piece of metallic grey glossy card stock and then again onto a piece of blue Bazzil Basics card stock, I was trying to pick out the colour of his denims.  To finish I have added a black grosgrain ribbon, three blue Craftwork Cards 'Candi' dots and a sentiment also from Craftwork Cards which has a Josy Rose nail head attached to it, so it looks like a brad.


I do hope you all like it.


I'll be back tomorrow with my storage photo.


Thanks for stopping by.

Bella With Balloons

Hi everyone,


Just popped on to share a card that I made for my Step Mother's birthday which was on Wednesday.

I couldn't resist using this 'Wild Rose Studio Bella With Balloons' stamp, I have been waiting for an appropriate opportunity to ink her up!  I stamped the image using Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto a piece of Craftwork Cards Digital Ultra Smooth Premium Cardstock and then coloured it in using Copics.  I have then cut a mat out using some pink docrafts Papermania Textured Cardstock (the pack it came from is called 'Sizzling Red Hot'), the base card is again one of my cut down hammered white card blanks which I have layered with another piece of the pink Papermania card and then layered again with a very pretty paper from the First Edition 'Dreamcatcher' paper pad.  To the side I then stamped the balloon from the Stampin Up 'Crazy for Cupcakes' set and although it is hard to make out on the photo, I have stamped the actual balloon out again and then coloured with copies to match the other balloons in the image and attached with silicone glue.  The sentiment is from Pink Petticoat and this is mounted onto another piece of the pink cardstock and attached with 3D fixers.  I sat the card on my desk for a day or two and decided it needed an 'edging' around the patterned paper, so with a ruler and a Marvy Le Plume pen in colour no 57 'Rose Pink' I drew faux stitching all around the edge ~ hope you like it.


Woo-hoo ~ I have found out how to make my photos bigger on blogger ~ purely by accident.  They look so much better now.

Twit Twoo!

Hi everyone,


I'm back after a short absence, the builders are back.  More work, but nothing major this time, all the same I find it hard to concentrate or in fact get anything done when they are here!


Today I have a card that I have made to enter into the Sketch N Stash 88 challenge.

For this card I took one of my A5 white hammered card blanks and cut it down to make a square card blank {old stash}.  I have then taken a piece of Papertrey Ink 'Perfect Match' cardstock in Ocean Tides and cut a square slightly smaller than my card blank, I have then layered onto this a piece of My Mind's Eye paper from the 'True Blue' collection {new stash}.  For the border on the left I have used more Papertrey Ink Ocean Tides and layered over this with another piece of My Mind's Eye paper from the same collection.  The image is Whimsey Stamps ~ 'Whimsey Owl' (the link takes you to a Digi Image version) and he was stamped onto a piece of Craftwork Cards 'Ultra Smooth Premium Cardstock' with Memento Tuxedo Black ink pad, coloured in using Copics and then run through my Grand Calibur with a Netabillities circle die.  The image was then mounted onto a mat cut from the Papertrey Ink Ocean Tides cardstock.  To finish I have used a scrap of ribbon {old stash} from my ribbon scraps box (there was literally only just enough to tuck under the edges) a Prima flower and a sentiment from Craftwork Cards which has been colour tinted with VersaMagic ink in 'Oasis Green' to tone with the colours of the rest of the card and finally some Jose Rose nail heads - whew!!


Thank you for visiting and for any of your lovely comments ~ always welcome.

Just Saying Hello ...

Hi Everyone


As I write the rain has started falling again, I just managed to get the dogs out for a walk before it started.


We have new neighbours, well they haven't moved in yet, but are busy decorating and preparing for the move.  So, the card for today is a 'New Home' card.

Now first of all I am a bit annoyed about the colour reproduction on this photo, I took several in different locations and none showed the vibrant orange colour as it should be.


For the base card I have taken a piece of Craftwork Cards Softies cardstock and then cut a border across the middle from the same cardstock and attached a piece of tangerine (yes it really is a vibrant tangerine) polka dot grosgrain ribbon (sorry I do not know where this came from) around this before attaching it to the base card.  The image is a Stampendous stamp called 'Home Tweet Home' and this was stamped onto a piece of the Craftwork Cards Softies cardstock and coloured with Copics.  I have then taken a piece of Papermania textured cardstock in a matching tangerine colour (this was from a pack called 'Warm Sunshine' which has 6 different colours in it) and cut a mat which has been added to the card with 3D foam pads.  The sentiment is from Pink Petticoat and was cut out with my Stampin' Up punch 'Word Window' and mounted onto a piece of the Papermania card which was cut out with my Stampin' Up punch 'Modern Label'.  The card was finished off with Doodlebug rhinestones.


Thank you for visiting today, have a good afternoon.

Westie Wishes

Hi everyone,


Well another miserable day weather wise, I have just done a second load of dog towels in the washing machine and am fast gathering another pile!!


I have a Birthday card to show today which is for someone who's Birthday is tomorrow (I don't think she looks at my blog so it is safe to post it today).  The person who it is intended for has a Westie so I thought this DigiStamp Boutique image was perfect.

Using one of my 'cut down' hammered white card blanks I have rounded the corners back and front with my WRMK Corner Chomper.  I have then taken a piece of K&Company 'Brenda Walton' design patterned paper from my scraps box (this is very old stash so I would be surprised if it was still available)  cut it to size and again rounded off the bottom corners.  A piece of My Mind's Eye floral patterned paper was used for the border across the middle, this came from my scraps box also (oh what a good girl I've been) and was a free paper pad with Cardmaking & Papercraft magazine ages ago.  Around this I have wrapped a piece of pink organza ribbon from my ribbon scraps box, there was only just enough to make the little bow.  The image which is called 'Mac & Flowers' was printed onto Craftwork Cards Digital Cardstock and coloured with my Copics  it was then mounted onto yet another piece of card from my scraps box which had been cut using a Nestabilities 'Lacey Circle' die and mounted to the base card with 3D adhesive squares.  To finish off a Craftwork Cards sentiment which I have rubbed over with a Dew Drop chalk ink pad in 'Pixie Dust' to tone in with the card and mounted onto a little mat cut with my Stampin' Up Large Oval punch which seems the perfect size and shape for these sentiments.  Finally, I have used three JosyRose nail heads for which I am eternally grateful to Jules for pointing me towards these, they are fabulous and I want loads more … lol!!!!! 


Right that's it for today ~ my photos are marginally better, but I would love them to look bigger on my blog once the post is published ~ I look at other peoples photos and they seem so much nicer than mine, but I can't find a tool on blogger to change the picture size.  If anyone out there knows the trick I would be most eternally grateful .....


Thank you for visiting today.