Squeeeeeeeeeeeal!!!!!!!!!!

Forgive my overexcitednessnessness!

 Recently I made this card using the Birds of Paradise stamps from My Favorite Things ... see post here...(Groovy Birds Do Abbey Road)...

... and today I found out that, along with 9 other MFT-a-holics, I was chosen as an MFT Superstar .

To say I am overwhelmed is an understatement.

Thank you sooooo much MFT!!!!

Missing You Already

So today was the day my baby girl left home for university.

I thought I'd bawl, howl, sob & not be able to let her go.... but I didn't. 

She was so excited, so ready to go, oozing with confidence and impatient for life's next big adventure. I wanted to burst with pride than into tears.

Her new home is here....

...at Royal Holloway University and....

... it's Founders building is jaw-droppingly spectacular. It's one of those buildings that you have to see to believe.

I've had a text message tonight to say 'I love it here.'...so I'm happy.

Being a sentimental ol' wotsit I made our Sophie a card and gave it to her as we left with a few 'pennies' enclosed to see her through Freshers Week.

I used the perfectly apt and cute stamp set 'Adventure is Calling' from MFT, masked off the little girl and used distress inks to create the background.

I used my Zig markers to colour her in....

...I hope you can see the colours I used.

Again I've used my Zigs just like regular markers, no water colouring.

A day I had dreaded turned out to be a beautiful day.

Our Oliver is happy as he now gets Sophie's bigger bedroom. The day hasn't ended, her bed still warm, the paint pots have been opened and already her purple walls are now a dark, slate grey. 

Two happy kids...

...what more could a mum ask for?

Clear Stamp Storage

Please ignore the post below as I've now revised my clear stamp storage system.
Read this post Here.


This is a hugely exciting post (Not!) about my clear stamp storage solution.

I have lots a few (in case Mr C reads this) stamp sets and some of the plastic packaging is starting to tear. I've trawled the universe looking for clear storage pockets, especially for the larger sets from Altenew, Winnie & Walter and MFT's tall sets. My fav' online store Make The Day Special is able to ship in the smaller pockets from Avery Elle in the US but otherwise it appears the Americans are keeping the larger pockets to themselves for now...lol.

Today I found some A5 punched pockets in Rymans (£1.97 for 20) and thought I'd give 'em a go. (I know, I need to get out more!)

Anyway...Result! 

The larger stamps fit perfectly and there's room for a piece of white card behind.

These large Altenew and Winnie & Walter sets are about 6" x 8" so I'm dead chuffed I've found a replacement pocket to store them in and...

...MFT's tall sets don't stick out the top...Yay!

I'm soooooo easy to please.

Because I'm a bit of a saddo, I'm going to move all of my stamp sets into these pockets now, even the smaller sets.

I haven't got a label machine (Hint! Hint! Mr C if you're struggling for a birthday present idea), so for now I've cut off the company header from the original packaging, stuck it on the reverse of the white card and written the name of the stamp set.

I can also keep any special instructions in the back or...

...Post-It masks that I've cut out.

So there you have it...my incredibly interesting (yawn) clear stamp storage solution.
It's gotta be up there with the invention of the internet or landing on the moon on the scale of 'interestingness' & 'enlighteningnessnessness'

I'm off to get a life... see yer x

Popping In with a Pop-Up

Ahoy!
The countdown to our Sof' leaving home for uni' is now into the final week... Sniff! Today has been a day of packing and checking that we can actually get everything she needs to take into the car. As a shoe & clothes-a-holic it's been quite a traumatic experience for her having to narrow down what to take and what to leave behind.

Can you imagine what it would feel like having to make the same decisions with our crafty stash...what to take, what to leave behind....Shudder!
Anyway, enough rambling. I've used MFT's Blissful Blooms stamp set today. I made a circle stencil using a plastic divider (scroll down to penguin post for details) and loosely taped it down with Post-It tape. 

I stamped around the stencil, masking the images and moving the tape as I went along.

I love the vibrancy of Zig Clean Color markers, so forgive me (again) for using them.

This time I remembered to photograph as I went along so you can see the colours I used.

If you're still wondering whether or not to give the Zigs a try then I really can't encourage you enough...I have no regrets except I wish I'd found them sooner.

Finally I used a brilliant die, again from MFT, called Pop-Up Birthday that leaves the bottom of each letter in tact so that the letters pop forward...Genius!

Behind the letters I stuck a small strip of card that I'd coloured with patches of colour so that they would show behind the popped-out letters.
A few clear gems, sequins and a swoosh with a Wink of Stella et voila!

Entering ths card into...
MFT Stamps Card Design Superstar contest (3rd entry)

A John Cleese Moment in Time

For those of you out there who think card making is a stress-free, calming, soothing hobby you are wrong!

Trust me.... the amount of finger-wagging, cursing n' Grrrrring that went on while making this card put me right up there with that famous John Cleese moment when his car broke down....here

There are no instructions on how I made this card coz quite frankly in all my angst I forgot.

All you need to know is the ol' Zig markers performed on request and the stamps are Mr Holtz's Crazy Birds with their Crazy Things and a Winnie & Walter sentiment.

Off to the garden to regain my composure :-)

Penguins in Paradise

Greetings peeps!

Another week is hurtling by, almost time to shimmy Mr C up into the loft for the Christmas decorations. 

My card today features some cutie-patootie images from the MFT 'Penguins in Paradise' stamp set.

Having stamped & masked off my images, I made a circle stencil from an A4 plastic divider. The whole pack of 10 dividers was only £1, so I'm going to cut them all in half and make lots of my own re-usable stencils with the different dies I have.

So with my stencil taped down, I used Squeezed Lemonade & Salty Ocean distress inks to create the background...don't you just love those names?!

I can't get enough of these Zig brush markers, I hope I'm not boring you with using them.

I don't have a black so used the Light & Peacock blues to colour those cute little penguins.

3 shades of pink for the rubber-ring and drink, but trust me you don't need 3 pinks. You can get sooooooo many shades with just 2 pens.

Greens, oranges & yellows for the little fellas trunks and beach towel.

For the finishing touches I added dots with a white pen, glossy accents, Wink of Stella highlights and uber-trendy sequins (I am soooo down with the kids...lol).

Voila!

Entering this card at...

MFT Card Design Superstar contest (2nd entry)
Moving Along with the Times -Cute Animals

Groovy Birds Do Abbey Road

Some of my greatest ideas for cards come just as I fall asleep.

99.9% of my ideas have disappeared by the time morning arrives so it was a miracle that this card made it beyond breakfast.

The idea was to use the 4 birds from the MFT Birds of Paradise set, that weren't surrounded by foliage, in a version of The Beatles & their famous Abbey Road crossing.

The more observant viewer will have noticed that the birds are not all facing the same way.

PANIC!!!!!

Several 'Googling' hours later and I found a brilliant video by Unifyhandmade on how to reverse the direction of your stamps. The technique is soooo simple yet pure genius. I encourage you to watch this video if you ever need to mirror your stamped images. (Give a thumbs-up while you're there too)

The ol' Zigs are certainly earning their keep and here are the colours I used. I just used them as regular markers on Neenah Solar White card and in the words of the awesomeness that is Laura Bassen, they 'blend like butter'.

The addition of a hand-drawn zebra-crossing, googly-eyes & a hint of shimmer and job done.

I'm quite chuffed with this, twaz almost a nightmare but my dream turned out pretty sweet.

Job done!

I'm entering this card into the MFT Card Design Superstar contest.

Losing the Plot

I could have sworn but I won’t, wot wiv being a lady n’ all that, that I’d posted this card before but it appears not. Found all these photos on yee olde laptop.

Twas made back in March with a floral stamp set from Mama Elephant called ‘Freestyle Florals’. I stamped lots of the images & embossed with silver pearl Wow embossing powder.

I painted them with Windsor & Newton watercolours & then fussy cut them…

…before adding them to my card and stamping a sentiment from Winnie & Walter.

I’m sure I’m losing the plot, off to quadruple check my blog again…if you’ve seen this card before just smile & wave.

Thank you.