Cute Bears Decoupage

During my clear up and clear out session, I found some cute bear decoupage sheets.  I think my daughter chose them to make a birthday card for me as one design had been used, but several more remained.  I went for very simple cards with them.  The first 3 were just matted and layered using scraps of co-ordinating cardstock and placed onto small white square card blanks.  The 4th one (the orange one) actually used a layer from the roses card which I felt wasn't really needed and made a nice card on it's own.  Again it was simply layered up with co-ordinating cardstock and patterned paper and I added some coloured gemstones to add a little something.  Once of the cards (the first one) has now been sent off to my brother (from the children) for his birthday today.

A New Desk

Deep within the garage has been a desk that has gone unused for 11 years since my hubby stopped working for himself and rejoined the 'employed' ranks.  After we moved we had no where for the desk to fit so it just stayed in the garage.  After one hard weekend of garage sorting out, I finally found a place for it to go in the play room/dining room/conservatory/craft room and I now have a place to sit and create.  I made loads of cards when it was first moved into it's new home and I have to say that I love sitting at my desk.  When my mojo deserts me I can gaze out onto the garden.  If it gets too hot (are there any conservatories that don't?) my desk is right by the door which, when opened allows a nice breeze (and the door opens onto a shaded area so no really hot sun all day).

I have also been having a really big clear up of my stash - amazing how much better that alone can make you feel.  Some has gone onto e-bay, some went to car boot sales and some of it just went into the bin!  I can't believe I actually used to like some of the stuff I came across.  I have lots of folders each neatly holding varios topper and decoupage sheets, my Big Shot is within easy reach and the printer is just an arm stretch away.

I haven't taken a picture of my desk yet but as soon as I have one I shall post it randomly in the middle of something else.  Meanwhile, I shall enjoy sharing some of my creations over the next few days.

Little Cupcake

I made this card for my daughter's friend who will be 8 during the summer.  Although you can't see it from the photo, it's actually a stepper card (from a pre-scored card blank, I haven't mastered the art yet but I'm getting there!).  The image and papers are from the 'Fairy Cakes' decoupage pad by Helz Cuppleditch.  A simple card that will hopefully get me back into the swing of things.

Simply Stampin' Challenge

It's been a while since I've entered a blogland challenge but yesterday I was in the mood and found this sketch on http://simplystampinchallenge.blogspot.com/ which seemed like a lovely way to try to get back into things.

Here's the card I came up with which is for my niece's birthday at the end of the month.

I used a stamp from the Stampin' Up set Summer by the Sea and stamped it simply in sepia ink (Versafine) onto white card. I used my nesties to mat the image and used paper from the Hanoverian collection by Papermania (which is one of my paper collections) for the background. I think the brown card was part of a Stampin' Up set but I can't be sure! I found flowers, card candy, button and some ribbon in my stash and used a Stampin' Up scalloped oval punch to layer a Craftwork Card sentiment oval on.

As it's been a long time since I've used a sketch for a card design I've followed the sketch just about to the letter - experimentation will come in time!

Happy Valentines Day!

Long time (again) without any updates. Lots of reasons and excuses but here I am posting once again. I don't really 'celebrate' Valentines Day - I find it strange that there should be one particular day a year that my DH should buy me flowers or chocolates. I think it means more when it happens on a completely random day because he thought of it and not becuase some supermarket is trying to flog roses and meals for 2! However, I did buy my children a bar of chocolate each and made them a card and, for once, I even remembered to take a picture! It's taken me ages to get the photos edited as I've bought a new laptop since I last posted with updated software and my old brain just doesn't cotton on to these things as quickly as it once did. Got there in the end though so....drumroll please....here's my first post for 2012 and my first in over 6 months. Hopefully it will be the start of many and not the end of it for the year.

Just a brief note of how the cards were made - Me To You decoupage. The pink one has some glitter stuff on the heart (magazine freebie) and I've used Glossy Accents on the nose of the blue one. The paper is from a Me To You 12x12 pack. The mat was cut with a nestie and embossed using Crafts Too Daisy and Swirl embossing folder.

Retirement Card

More apologies for a poor quality photo - I made it the same time as the last card and again forgot the photo until it was all bagged up and ready to go. This one uses a Kanban kit (Sepia Patchwork Pals).

Tulip Birthday Card

This card was made from a kit for a friends birthday - the girl on the card looks just like her! Apologies for the photo, I'd already bagged it up before I thought to take the picture but at least it shows I'm still crafting away!