Prima SHE dolls

This week I have been trying out my new Prima She doll stamps which I think are fab, they are  especially good because after watching some Christy Tomlinson videos on You a Tube I wanted to have a go at some SHE art using mixed media but am totally hopeless at drawing!
The 1st picture will probably become the next page in my art journal, it is my 1st attempt at this style of crafting and I took a hint or 2 from Christy to begin with and then just sorted added a bit more paint, glitter and another newfound favourite - my newly purchased Modge Podge.  The text came straight to mind when I asked myself  'what would others think? ' because as we all now craft is all down to the individual, plus it also sums me up quite well.
The 2nd picture is of a card I made today using one of the matching tags which I have stamped on using the gorgeous Grunge stamp set from Stampin Up. Scraps of paper came in really useful too as they are great for using as dolls clothing. To finish I added some gems across the neckline and sprayed with mica powder for a slight shimmer effect. Can see me using these stamps a lot in the future.
Well that's it for tonight, nearly time for the final episode of Downton.

Karen xx

I am me

Whilst listening to the rain outside I have finally completed the scrap pages from a class held by one of my crafty friends 2 weeks ago. The papers are all from the I Am Me range by Stampin Up and there is also hints of the new Dictionary and World Map stamp too used as background pieces. I love the Simply Stars stamp set too but am resisting the urge to add it to my collection for the time being.
Hope you like the pages, they do a great job of demonstrating how many pages you can make  without using too much paper & also shows you  can still create a page using the leftover scraps ( see last page).

Thanks for looking in
Karen x

Postage Stamp papers scrap page

Evening anybody calling in to take a peep

Hope everyone's had a good day despite it being a miserable cloudy Monday and not the sunny one we were promised. Today's page is using Postage Stamp papers from Stampin Up that I really love, well actually I'm guessing on the name because I've had them a while and know they co-ordinate with a stamp set of the same name. As usual I struggled trying to match photos with papers and cards so this took me a while to get together, the wording letters are actually from a piece of G 45 paper I had left over and luckily the word Mexico doesn't have any duplicate letters so it worked out quite well.  I wasn't sure everything really worked together but in the end I went with it as it took me so long to get there.

Hope you like it

Karen

Scrap page

Hi Again

Finally today I m able to attach photos to my blog, not sure what went wrong before but fingers crossed problem has been fixed. Finally got my craft room sorted out this week and so had a quick half an hour finishing this page from our holidays last year. Sat here wishing I was back there again!

Anybody not been to Thailand should give it a go, it's a really lovely place to visit and the food and people are great too.

Oh no struggling with pics again, think I'll need to seek some blogging advise from one of my crafty friends soon!!

Hey presto, many frustrated moments later page achieved.

Bye for now
Karen

Graphic 45 Xmas Cards

Hi Everyone, hope you're all having a good chilled out Sunday & looking forward to the week ahead. I'm having problems attaching photo's on the blog today so am hoping this will work. These are a few Xmas cards made with scraps left from another G45 project, love these papers so much had to try and use every bit. I have added glitter, glossy accents to bits n pieces but not sure they show so well on the pictures.

Thanks for having a look
Karen x

Xmas Cards

Well while all my crafty friends have got stuck into Catherine's September scrap page I have been busy making some cards with my new Xmas papers and Stamps from Stampin Up.
Here is today's cards and one I made last weekend that I haven't had chance to put on yet.
Scary it's September today & X Factor started last night so the Xmas countdown is on its way!

Finally managed to attaced pics 2 weeks later, hope you like them

Karen x

G45 A Ladies Diary

Happy Wednesday Everyone

It's  been a while but have been taking advantage of our recent heat wave I'm afraid, too good to miss even for crafting! This is a page using leftovers from a G45 project and I'm pretty pleased with the result especially as the scraps were originally veering towards the rubbish bag. I added a little extra to the page by using a doiley courtesy of a recent Indian and also a Kaisercraft wooden flourish that I painted and glittered, the tag is from Stampin Up and is a great addition to any page. The photo is from my younger days taken by a work colleague on a day out to Stratford Upon Avon, our company had a boat in the annual boat race so it was a good day that of course a bit of drinking on the river edge whilst cheering the team on.

Enjoy the rest of the week & hopefully I'll be back soon
Xx

Another scrapbook page

Monday over with and even time to write a blog!

Whilst sorting through some photo's the other day I came across these from a holiday in Lanzarote way back in 2002, the photos were pretty dark and had other unknown people in a couple of the pics but rather than throw them away I decided to do a bit of cutting and use them in a layout, I sorted through scraps and managed to create the page purely on left over pieces of card and paper adding a couple of other bits along the way to finish it off.

Another page using scraps from G45 A Ladies Diary in progress so watch this space I may ven manage 3 in a week.

Happy scrapping
Karen
X

More divided pages

Evening All

Just realised I have 2 more divided scrap book pages to share that I did last weekend inbetween an ongoing G45 project. The 1st one is really basic mainly because I wanted to use all the photos - this just left the top section for doing anything with so I used my new SU frame lits and embossed a couple of them prior to using. The 2nd page uses photos taken earlier this year during a visit to the Manchester United ground, an Xmas present to Az fom Alex which was a great choice. I used the hexagonal & circles embossing folder and also Gumball Green & Cherry Cobbler card stock, all SU products from the summer catalogue. There are a few other bits and pieces that I used just to add a bit of colour. Hope you like and comments always welcome.

Night
Karen
X

SU Divided Page pt 2

Evening All

Hope you've all had a lovely chilled out Sunday and got in a bit of crafting along the way. Today I have done the reverse side of yesterday's divided scrapbooking page and one thing I can definitely recommend is sticking to SU products, mainly because everything co-ordinates and will make life much easier when trying to design your page.  Here I have a mixture of SU and non SU! The photos are from afternoon tea at the Ritz last month and I tried to colour match the design with colors in the photo's hence the terracotta and jade colours. I then came across a sheet of Prima Marketing paper called Emotion which I thought fitted the elegance of The Ritz whilst not quite fitting in with the colour scheme. Anyway here is the finished article, as always comments welcome.  I ave more photos  from the afternoon and will attemp another page using some of them soon.
Thanks for looking & enjoy the rest of your evening.

Karen
Xx

Swallowtail - Helen's class

Hi again for the 4th and final time this evening but at least I've made up some blogging time from the last few weeks.
The 3 cards below are all using the Stampin Up Swallowtail that I fell in love with the 1st time I used it.
These cards were done at Helen's the other night and used 3 different techniques, the 1st one was so simple but looks so lovely, the image was stamped in Rich Razzleberry onto Whisper White Card stock and the sentiment stamped in the right hand corner. A line was then added all around the sides to bring it together, tip - use a long ruler or you'll end up with being slightly off like I managed. The finished piece was then adhered to a piece of Rich Razzleberry card.
The 2nd card took a more more time as it involved embossing, brayering and colouring. Firstly we stamped the image using versa mark and then embossed it in black before colouring it in using SU pens.
Stage 2 involved stamping in versa mark onto a piece of white glossy card and then embossing in white powder, we then brayered over the card using Cherry Cobbler to create a background for Swallowtail. Finally we added some ribbon and a sentiment & the card was complete, will definitely be using this idea again as I think it is stunning.
Finally card 3 involved stamping part of the image onto natural card and colouring it in using daubers and various ink pads before adding a sentiment.
Hope you like them & give them a go yourself.

Serene Silhouette Card

Hi Again

I'm on a roll tonight!! 3rd post of the evening with 1 more to go. This is a card made using an idea from
Pinterest I came across last night using a stamp from Serene Silhouettes by Stampin Up, the image is stamped in Cherry Cobbler ink and I have used the SU Tulip frame embossing folder as a surround.
I've added some Cherry Cobbler twine and one of the new gorgeous brads & to finish off  i've put a few gem stones on the flower heads.

To complete the card I've used ready made letters down the side.

Hope you like it

Cheers Karen x

Stampin Up Divided Page

Hi Again

Today I have attempted my 1st (solo) divided page and it seems to have taken ages. I love the idea of these but am not sure how practical they are as every piece has to be exact and both sides have to be precise or will look a bit of a mess as I learnt when I did side 2 after C's class. I used Cherry Cobbler card for this and the hexagonal embossing folder which I love, both Stampin Up, I've also used a couple of pieces of washi tape that I bought a few weeks ago but hadn't got round to using yet.
The page is using photo's taken on Mothers Day because I got spoilt by both the boys, it's always good to remember that they love me really :-)

Any comments greatly welcome, good or bad, no offence taken :-)

Cheers Karen x

Xmas Cards

Been a while seen I've had time to craft and blog but today I have a few things to post so I'll make a start with 2 Xmas cards I came across this afternoon while sorting my stash.  The stamp is called 'Starry Night' by 'Wild Rose Studio' and I just love it. I've stamped and then coloured the image using Promarkers and just to add a bit of sparkle have added glitter to the bottom of the hat. I know some may think it's a bit early to be thinking about Xmas but it will be here before we know it.

Hope you like them as much as I do

Karen
:-)
X

Cards from scraps

Just thought I'd share a few cards that I've made using left over pieces of Stampin Up papers from recent craft sessions.  After having a tidy up a couple of weeks ago & getting rid of quite a lot of scrap paper my challenge to myself is to try and use any scraps from scrapbooking etc on a card before moving on to something new, lets see how long it lasts this time as it's not the 1st time I've tried this.

SU Divider Page

After starting these pages at Catherine's last week I finally got to finish 2 pages using Tea for Two designer series papers and the Artisan Embellishment kit, the hardest thing was for me to find photo's to match the pages so lesson for the future is to pick my photos 1st. I have a pack of the Divided Scrap Pages and am beginning to think they may be harder than I originally thought, that said I am looking forward to giving them a go, I just have to remember to make sure the card stock is cut evenly on both sides of the page.
Take a look and I hope you like the results. Just need to practice the photography now x

Helen's Henry Card Class

Last week I went to Helen's cards class and we made 5 cards using the oh so cute Henry says stamp set from Stampin Up, the papers were Parker's Pattern dsp, also from SU. As you can see the stamp set is really versatile and can be used for several occasions, I'm sure cards made using the Henry set will be enjoyed by all ages. The 1st card is actually the front of a box we made to hold the cards in, using the box enables you to give the cards as a gift or it can be used to hold the cards until you're ready to part with them. A good class and step by step instructions were provided so we could continue at home if we hadn't got finished on the night.

Card class leftovers

Got some crafting time today and while deciding what to do I came across some leftovers from a brayering class we did at our crafting group earlier in the year, below is what I created, 2 simple scrapbook pages and 1 simple card and I still have a full piece of paper and a few bits left! The 1st is based on catiecuddles page of the month, the first one I've got round to doing for a while. The photo's were taken 2 years ago when we had a long and fab weekend in Lisbon with my sister and family when they were over on a holiday from New Zealand.

G45 A Place in Time

Today I was torn between going to the gym or having a crafty afternoon, as I've done quite a bit of the first this week and none of the second crafting deservedly won. I decided I had better finish a mini album from a class I did at Lady Hayes a couple of weeks ago using the Graphic 45 papers  'A Place in Time' . I love G45 and am always looking on their website, they have some fab things on there and obviously have creative and imaginative people on the team, wish I had a tiny bit of their talent to come up with the fantastic stuff they do. Anyway here is my virtually finished article, just a couple of blips to sort out and then to decide what to use it for.