Favourite 5 from 2010.....plus bonus matieral !!!!!!

Hello All,

Well the Lovely Debby has asked to see our favourite 5 from last year......although I am so relieved that she has said that we can sneek a few extra in, as I have been trying to cut it down to 5 but have been finding it impossible..........not that I mean that to sound big headed, believe me looking through last years work there was a lot that made me think....why did I ever think that would be ok to put out there for everyone to see...LOL

So I will start with my favourite make:

I keep coming back to this one as my favourite....which I am quite surprised at as it is quite a simple card....there is just something about this I love.
I have got right into using templates this year to make shaped cards.....I love this teapot...and well I just Love tea, so this card had to be in my selection.

I think it is the bright colours and the shape of this one I love.

I think this one is one that I am surprised that I have selected for my final 5.....I think its because it was me branching out and trying a new style...I had never attempted doing my own backing paper before this....and I Love the altered art look...considering it was a first attempt at this style I was happy with it, and I think its kind of quirky.

Again quite a simple card.....I just Love Leanne Ellis images, and I like the bright colours.... Its got the distressed look but without bieng dark........which was always a problem I had in the past.

And My Bonus Matieral.....I just couldn't bring myself to cut these ones off the list:


Thanks for looking
Hugs Juls

First and Latest

Hello All,

Crafty Card Makers have the most fab challenge on at the mo...they are asking to see our latest creations but also photo's of where we started.....I think the girls have been really brave putting their early work for all to see.....I personally want to hide mine....but at the same time I want to join in.......Its fab to see though that extremely talented crafters that I really admire.......and would love to reach their standard had humble beginnings.........I think there might be hope for me yet!!!



I will start of with my latest card.....this is me playing with the collage look again...I have a long way to go before I become any good at this style but I am enjoying playing and learning....and thank you for all the encouragement I have had so far regarding this style of card.

What I have loved is digging out old stamps, and falling in love with them all over again.....Like the scroll stamp I have used on this one.....Unfortunately I have not written down the names of the stamps....and I have packed everything away as the inlaws are arriving tomorrow for a few days.

I have done quite a bit of masking for this one.....and the scroll image has been coloured with copics. I have used "distress ink - shabby shutters".......and then the whole thing has been sprayed with a mica powder spray. I have added some stitching detail with green glittery thread and I have added some micro beads to the chandelier.

Now with regards to my first ever card.....I don't have a picture, and to be honest I am quite grateful, I can remember I used wet glue, wrapping paper and stuck a dried flower on it. I only started taking photos of my cards when I began blogging and I had already been crafting for a few years by then.

However my mum came to me with an old card that I had made, asking me to put an insert in it as I had made out of Black card.....well she is not getting it back....but I will make a replacement for her...

so here goes...............
I remember that the paper was wrapping paper from borders.......also check out that huge amount of glitter card.......eek!!!......I stamped and embossed the image....and it looks like I must have coloured the image with a versamark pen, and embossed it with red embossing powder.

Despite my huge embarrassment right now....this has been good for me, I have just not been happy with my cards recently and feel disappointed in myself and my creations.....but to be honest I have been able to see just how far I have come.

Well I think that has been enough waffle from me..

This is my entry for:

Crafty Cardmakers - First and Last
City Crafter - Stamp it out

Thanks for looking
Hugs Juls

Miss You

Hello All.....

I wanted to thank everyone for their positive comments regarding my attempt at a collage style card (In the post below)...I have had a few of you saying that I should do more like that....I have been having a play and I will show you the results over the next few days or so....for today, something that is a bit more me....

These lovey little Sassy Sweeties from "Sugar Nellie" just popped though the post, so I have to have a play.....I love this one, she is just so gorgeous...I have coloured her with copics..and added a few touches of glitter to her dress and shoes.....The little flourish is my "Kanban" stamp again, which I have inked up in "Momento - Rose Red". The Chandelier is a stamp from "inkadinkado" which has also been stamped with the "Momento - Rose Red".......I have then added some "Martha Stewart - Micro Beads" to add some texture.....I had taken a close up photo, but it turned out really blurry, so I hope you can see it ok.

That's me for today...i am sat in my craft room having a play, but making myself sick eating too many Liquorice Allsorts....even though I feel well and truly sick....I cant stop my hand from going in the box and grabbing a few more. I have still not decided if tomorrow...I will stay locked in my craft room to have a play....or whether to hit the January Sales!!! mmmmmmmmmmm decisions!!!!

Hugs to All
Juls

Pink Lips in Paris

Hello All....

This is me experimenting with a collage style card.....I love it when people do lots of stamping, and mix lots of images together...to me it always looks fab......but I am not that great at creating the look for myself so this is me having another bash...

I started being inspired by Mona's colour combo shown above....also I wanted to include....Paris somehow, as I have still not joined in Brenda's Travel themed challenge over at sir stampalot........ (I hope this fits!)

The main image is "Stampelglede - Maribel".... I have inked around the edges with "distress ink - spun sugar" and I have coloured the lips with "Copic Marker - RV06, Cerise"

The Paris Image is "The Montage Collection - Santa Rose" and the Script detail is "Hero Arts - Manuscript Background" both have been inked with "Memento - Rose Bud"

The Envelope stamp is "All Night Media"......I suppose the idea behind using this stamp was that if you were traveling around the world you would be sending letters home, and finally the flourish is a "Kanban" stamp.

To finish off I just added a little stitching.....and a few sequins....( I bought a big bag of them today from the £1 shop) BARGAIN!!!!!....................and well that's about it!!

This is my entry for:

Cupcakes Creations - cr84fn8
Sir Stampalot - Travel The World
Anything Goes - The Letter C (I have used the colour Cerise)
Crafts and Me - Anything Goes
MAWTT - Anything Goes

Thanks for looking,
Hugs Juls

Chocolate Cake

Hello All.

A quick card from me today!....I have used the left over paper from my last post..on this card. The image is Krafting Kimmie, which I have coloured with copics....the mat has been tinted with "Distress inks - antique Linen & Spun Sugar"....and then I stamped a the foliage with my trusty Kanban stamp......use that one ALL the time!!!!!

I have hand stitched the card, and the ribbon. I have kept the layout quite simple.

This is my entry for:

Simon Says - Anything Goes
ABC - Keeping it Simple
Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Thanks for looking
Hugs Juls

Thanks for Tea.....

Hello All,

Well, we are still coping with the snowy weather here............

Popped into my local craft store today, and they are going to stop selling copic's, as most customers are asking for promarkers....... apparently everyone is asking for them as that's what they see on the tv! grrrrrr!!!! It has been really handy, for replacing colours when they run out e.c.t.......I suppose the upside is that at the mo, they are selling them 3 for 2....so I may have to pop in and get a few more colours to add to my collection.....and find some Internet stockists for when I run out!

Well onto my card... My Lovely Bloggy friend Jane, sent me this stamped image...she is just soooooooo adorable!!!...... I have coloured her with copics, then I have inked around the edge with "distress ink - antique linen and spun sugar", I then inked the whole image up with a versamark inkpad and embossed the image with a holographic embossing powder.......I then added some hand stitching.

The Tea cup stamp, is from this months craft stamper magazine, I added the sentiment... although I kind of used the sentiment stamp free hand rather than on an acrylic block, so that I could curve the lettering slightly so it looked better on the cup.

The DP is "K&Co - Cut and Paste-chocolate lover"

I have f0llowed the sketch from the LOTV challenge....have to say Love this layout, Also it has been years since I have used this embossing technique, and Dena Featured it in a recent Craft Stamper magazine.....so I have to say a huge thank you to Dena for the inspiration of this card!

This is my entry for:

Lilly Of The Vally - Sketch
Crafty Creations - Photo Inspirations ......( I liked the colours of this....also I thought the paper had a similar patchwork effect as the bedspread in the photo)
Alphabet Challenge - H for Hats
Die Cut Dreams - How Girly can you get
Cup Cake - Thank You

Thanks for looking
Hugs to you all
Julia

Just Because.......

Hello All,

I hope you have been enjoying the weekend......

For This Card I have used a fab sugar nellie stamp, which I have coloured with copics and then added 3 different Martha Stewart Glitters.

The background mat...I have used the resist technique...using a Kanban stamp, and distress ink - Tumbled Glass and Faded Jean. then I oversprayed it, and the background paper with a Mica powder.

I have actually pulled the sewing machine out to do real stitching......normally I cant be bothered with the hassle and just do faux stitching.....because the paper warped slightly with the mica spray.....I distressed all the edges to make it look like I planned it to turn out that way!!! LOL!!

Finally a little organza Ribbon and a few punched out snowflakes....and then I stamped the sentiment.

I am not completely sure about this one....not really liking anything I have made for the past wee while...anyhoo....

This is my entry for:

Creative Card Crew - Anything Goes
Crafts and Me - Moody Blues
Stamptacular Sunday - Winter Wishes
Bunny Zoe Crafts - Sparkle and Shine
Simon Says - Silver, Blue, and White
Dutch Dare - Winter
Fussy and Fancy - Show us some Snow
Crafty Catz - Your Choice
Oh Alice - Winter wonderland
Allsorts - Anything Goes

Thanks for looking
Hugs Juls

Fancy A Cuppa???

Hello All,

I apologise for the rather picture heavy post!!.....This is a very random project, I am not sure why It popped into my head to make it..... I Love Tea!!!!! and so I thought of the poem " I like a nice cup of Tea"...and got out all my images that included tea.... I have a nice random mix from Sugar Nellie, Krafting Kimmie, Sassy Studio Designs, Kanban and Bugaboo.......Oh and the free stamp from this months Craft Stamper magazine.

This has been made from all my Scraps...with little bits of card I have cut out various shapes with my nesties....all the papers are from that never ending scrap pile of mine!!!....

I have coloured the images with copics, and I have used distress inks - spun sugar, tumbled glass and shabby shutters, to colour tint the edges of things.

This is my entry for:

Creative Card Crew - Anything Goes
Fussy and Fancy - Anything But a Card
Stamp Something - something digi ( I have used a sassy studio designs, and a bugaboo digi image)
One Stitch At a Time - Anything Goes
PaperPlay - Anything but a Card.

Thank you very much for looking...I am sorry I have not been in and around blogland this week....I have so much on at the mo....as I guess most of you do!!!!...I promise I will catch up soon!

Hugs Juls

Romance In Sherwood!

Hello All,

I am still really taken with the whole castle idea, as you may have gathered!!! This time I have created an easel card! To create the Castle Wall I have used "Paper Artsy - crowns and castles 3&4" and of course the characters are "Magnolia"....They have all been coloured using copics. The paper is from my scrap pile.....the little flowers are some "prima" ones, and the large flower has been created using some scrap paper and the " Tim Holtz - tattered rose die" and the sentiment is again from the "PTI" set given to me by Stephanie.

This is my entry for:

Anything goes - congratulations
Oh Alice - make your own flowers
Cute Card Thurs - Floral Frenzy

Thanks for looking
Hugs Juls

I'm Here For You

Hello All,

Another Simply Sassy Card from me today....coloured with copic's. All the papers are from my scrap pile!.........I have created the embossed detail with a cuttlebug folder, and then cut round the design, it has then been glittered up with Martha Stewart glitter........I have added a little dotty ribbon, some gems...and a border sticker which was bought for me by a friend years and years ago.......I added the sentiment, using the stamps that the fab Stephanie sent me.....I am going to be using those a LOT!!!!!!!

I think that's about it, this is my entry for:

Allsorts - Light Up the Night
Creative Card Crew - Anything Goes
ABC - J is for Jewels and Gems

Thanks for looking,
Hugs Juls

Alice Playing in the Sugar Bowl!

Hello All...

How are you, I hope you have had a good weekend! ........Now no matter how many times I have tried I have been unable to photograph this card, without the layout looking totally squint!!!....I promise you I have measured everything, and it is all perfectly straight....but for some reason the camera like to make it look lopsided!!..............so frustrating!!!

I have been playing with my new Leanne Ellis stamps again.....I definitely think Alice will be a firm favourite, and inked time and time again, I have coloured with copics.I have used a few papers from that never ending scrap pile of mine, some I have embossed and colour tinted with "Distress ink - spun sugar". The Sentiment is from the fab Stamp set that I received from Stephanie. Finally I have punched some snowflakes and added some glitter and a few gems & a bit of ribbon........quite a C&S look to this one.

This is my entry for:

Sugarbowl - Sketch and Snowflakes
Totally Stampalicious - anything goes
Moving Along With The Times - Someone Special
One Stitch at a time - Old Stash, New Stash... (old stash...paper from my scrap pile...new stash, new stamp!)

As Always, thanks for looking
Hugs Juls

Sugar Nellie Simply Sassy Competition - Round One. WOW!

Hello All...

Have you heard about Karen's Simply Sassy competition?..... the prize is a fabulous Spellbinder Grand Caliber, and the offer of a place on the Simply Sassy DT......sooooooooooooo exciting!!!! I do love these new Simply Sassy Images, I have the first set, and I cant wait until my next trip to Elgin so a few more can fall into my basket!!

When I first heard of the competition I had planned to do something quite elaborate, a book style thing with about 4 images......however in the end I decided that White on White cards tend to have quite an impact anyway, and I always think it has quite a luxurious feel to it......so in the end I have gone for quite a simple style of card, who knows if that has been the right decision or not?

I have used some White Gloss card for the matting and layering. The rest is a sheet of white pearlised paper, I created the scallops using my craft ultimate pro, from crafters companion. The embossing is "Spellbinders impressablities - flourish"...then I have just added a little pearl detail.

The simply Sassy image is one of my favourite ones, and I have coloured with copics.

Thanks for looking!!
Hugs Juls