Smoochie

Here's my card for the latest Tiddly Inks challenge which is to follow a sketch...

This turned out to be one of those cards. You know where you have an image in your mind of how it's going to work, but the reality just isn't right? As you can see from the photo, the sentiment is on the inside of the card - to cut the shapes in the front of the card I used my cuttlebug, not thinking about the fact that the die was going to have to cut through a piece of card and two pieces of paper...I'd already stuck my ribbon on too so it was a struggle getting it all through the machine! The stitching ended up bigger than I'd intended, and the lettering doesn't look how I wanted it to... Consequently, this has been a WIP for several days, and I'm still not sure about it! Never mind, we live and learn...

I've been busy...

A few things to show you today...

Firstly, a card for my little (or not so little anymore) brother's birthday. As I've said before, I struggle with men's cards, so this time I attempted a little bit of grunge, with...hmmm...ok results!

I'm entering this card in this weeks Studio L3 Compendium of Curiosities challenge which is to use the Alcohol Ink Agate on Grunge technique on page 53 in Tim's book. It's not obvious but I did stamp onto the grunge! The bird is a chipboard piece by Tattered Angels which I sanded and inked the edges of and the sentiment background in your common household brown paper, inked with Distress inkpads (the paper took the inks really well btw).

I also have another scrapbook page to show you! Yes, page number 4 of the Egypt holiday has been completed courtesy of Kirsty Wiseman's Wednesday night cyber crop...

Finally, today I've been at a Tiara making class at The Bead Shop in Afflecks Palace. The class was run by Perri Shenton, who was lovely, and a great teacher...

I'm hoping to make some more over the next few months then start selling them - I'll keep you updated on my progress!

Isn't he clever?

It's Tim's birthday weekend after next so I'm being incredibly organised (for me) and have got Connor to make a birthday card for his Daddy - isn't he talented?...

The image is from Tiddly Inks and is coloured with ProMarkers, with Glossy Accented noses! The image is so cute I knew it would be perfect for hubby's birthday. I should probably point out that our son is only one and obviously incapable of producing anything more than a few crayon scribbles or a smeary painted handprint...yes, the card is my own work and therefore I'm entering it in to this weeks Tiddly Inks challenge...

King Tut

Here is my layout for last nights cyber crop hosted by Kirsty Wiseman.

I struggled a bit last night, I must admit, I was feeling very underinspired - nothing to do with the sketch, that helped immensely! As did Kirsty's UStream feed of her scrapping at the same time - it all adds to the feeling of being at a crop, but without leaving your house!

What a difference a bit of daylight makes!

Here's my layout photo - taken at night...

And taken in the day...

 

As you'll gather, the page carries on my Egypt photo scrapping. We went to the Valley of the Kings and, naturally, had to go in King Tut's tomb. Unfortunately you're not allowed to take your camera in so the only pic we have is of us stood in the entrance, me looking particularly hot and bothered as we'd just climbed about 50 million steps and it was HOT.

If you'd like to join in the next crop, you'll find details on Kirsty's blog or facebook. We also have a Flickr group now to upload our photos onto if you're not a facebook person.

So, we're off to New Brighton tomorrow so Kirsty can take some photos of us - looking forward to it - pray for a tiny bit of sun!

A very merry Un-birthday to youuuuu!

The challenge over at Tiddly Inks this week has had me singing this tune in my head for days! The challenge was to make a birthday card, but as Christy wished everyone a happy un-birthday, I just had to do an Alice inspired card, using of course, the Alice and the Mad Hatter images...

The images have been coloured with ProMarkers, I've tried to follow the colours from the film (the original Disney cartoon, not the wierdo Tim Burton one...which I've still not seen) and the papers are from Kirsty Wiseman - perfect for a Mad Hatter's Tea Party! The whole card is possibly a bit too bright, but then surely that's in keeping with the theme?! Oh, and I've even Glossy Accented the watch, though you can't see it here.

My next card tonight is simplicity itself...

The butterfly is from a wooden dangly ornament thingy (descriptive) from Paperchase, sprayed with Cosmic Shimmer. The papers are Kirsty's again, the middle bit is cut with a Nestabilities Die. Yes, I've joined the 21st century, binned off my ten tonne original Sizzix machine and got a Cuttlebug, well done me.

If you're interested in a cyber crop, Kirsty has another one going this Wednesday, there is now a Facebook group you can join and upload your photos to - come and join us - there's prizes too!

Cyber crop Pt 2

Last night was the second cyber crop organised by Kirsty Wiseman - you can find the challenge here, which was to follow the sketch, use the recipe, or both! There was also a freebie download, a lovely curly swirly frame.

Kirsty treated us to a live UStream feed while she created her own page - lots of hilarity ensued and fun was had by all, a few people just came on to chat. Personally, my computer is on the other side of the room so I didn't do much chatting. I'll have my laptop next to me next time, though not sure Kirsty will be UStreaming again!

Here is my layout...

Another page for our Egypt scrapbook (2 whole pages - wow!).

A Few Quick Cards

Just a couple of quick cards to show tonight using Tiddly Inks digistamps.

The first is using Big Wishes Bean...

Coloured with ProMarkers as usual and the papers and sentiment are from Kirsty Wiseman.

And this one using the coloured Roboto (which I think was a freebie on the PCP Tiddly Inks group, but don't quote me on that)...

I layered the image up, added a few Stickles and the papers and sentiment are from Kirsty Wiseman.

There's another cyber crop over at Kirsty's blog tomorrow night if you're interested...2 hours to do a layout (or something else is you're really not a scrapper) using a sketch or recipe, or both!

Hot Chicken Soup

Ok, so I've not been around for a bit... we've had various things going on - visitors, my 30 somethingth birthday, and best of all, Connor is now walking! Crawling is still his fastest mode of travelling but he's using his feet more and more...hurrah!

So, having not done any crafting for a week or so (but managing to spend plenty of money in Graphicus at the weekend) I plunged back in at the deep end and took part in Kirsty Wiseman's 2 hour cybercrop tonight - you can find the challenge here. I used the sketch and the recipe - it was great fun - though I must choose some photos beforehand next time as I spent the first half hour choosing which ones to use!

Here's my layout...

There'll be some journalling on the tag at the top but until then perhaps I should explain the title... the pictures are of Hatshepsut's temple in Egypt near the Valley of the Kings (quite possibly the hottest place I have EVER been). The guide kept calling her "Hot Chicken Soup", trying to be funny, it's stuck with us ever since, though we can remember her name so perhaps it wasn't that silly!

If you fancy a challenge then keep a eye out for Kirsty's next cyber crop...x