A reason for making Galaxy Chocolate bars bigger...

If ever there was a reason for buying bigger bars of chocolate, then this is the best. I was using my Reindeer andSleigh Elzy Stamp but YOU CAN'T FIT THE WHOLE OF THE STAMP ONTO THE WRAPPER. They need to make the bars longer next year!!! Maybe we should start a campaign. Well here's a look at the result anyway:

This one was simply stamped and coloured with Promarkers. Quick and easy! It looks much better (and clearer) if you click on it to enlarge it.

Choccie Bar

Well here we go - here's the decorated chocolate bar I said I was going to do after seeing the ideas on the Elzybells blog. I have adapted it a little as I didn't have the reindeer stamp and so used the Eskimo instead - coloured in with Promarkers no less!!! I couldn't find any red ribbon which matched and so went for brown instead. I couldn't believe my luck when I found some metallic red card which I'd forgotten about and it matched the foil of the chocolate bar - what a fluke!!!

After looking at all the other designs on the page, I think I may need to invest in the small snowflake stamp and the set of 4 robins in time for next Christmas.

Linanna's Blog Candy

I think I've come across one of the most amazing Blog Candy Giveaways I have ever seen - check it out for yourself over at Linanna Designs. I've been eyeing up those Nestabilities for a while so I have my fingers firmly crossed.

Some more...

I managed to finish off the blue carol singers card last night. Backed it using silver and blue. I like the colours of this although I prefer the others I made. It just seems a bit too 'cold'.

Also made some quick cards with the Pink Petticoat 'Tis the Season' set. It came in useful for some quick and easy, last minute cards. I haven't used much of this set this year but it'll be ready for next year.


Also, I went to pick up my Blush pen today and an Ivory just happened to fall in too (I had predicted this would happen). Imagine the shock I had when I got to the till and saw that another 13 had 'fallen' into the basket too!!! As you can imagine, I was gobsmacked - well it would have been a lot of work to go back and return them to their original boxes again so I've given them a new home with me!!!

I also bought some Brown Parcel Paper in Tesco today so that I can have a go at some of Elizabeth's ideas over on the Elzybells blog. Can't say mine will look as good as her's but take a look for yourself here. Who would have know brown paper could look so good.

New buy

After resisting for a long time, I finally gave in today. Instead of doing my Chritmas shopping, I went ahead and bought myself some Promarkers!!! I struggled looking at the sets and couldn't decide which to get. I picked 2 in the end but noticed that there were doubles but the shop allowed me to swap some out for colours I wanted as they also sold then individually - how brill are these small shops for doing things like that. So I am now a proud owner of 22 pens and a blender. Unfortunately, they were out of 'Blush' which from what I've heard is great for skin tone. However, it will be in stock tomorrow and so have reserved it.

So here's my first attempt at using them. I was amazed at how well the color comes out - no streaking at all just a pure block of consistent colour. The wording on the bottom is 'We wish you a merry Christmas...' in Welsh. The faces look a bit pale as I used a watercolour pencil which hasn't come out well in the pic.

I liked the card but had another go using different colours - I think I prefer this one as the colours are more traditional and vibrant.

And here's the one I'm working on using only shades of blue for the clothes. The faces are still white as I'm going to wait for my Blush pen.

EDIT

Thanks to Elaine, Poppet and Wendy for suggesting Ivory for skin tone - that might fall into the basket when I collect my blush pen!!!

BTW If you thought my spelling was gettng worse now that I've left teaching and strugged to read the post - it hasn't, just a dodgy keyboard which needs replacing - I think I've corrected all the missing letters now!!!

Some quickies

Here's a couple of quick print and colour cards using Pink Petticoat images. I've used a mixture of Whispers Pens and Watercolouring and obviously some stickles at the end for that touch of sparkle.

I think they look a bit bare right now so might add a doodle frame to them.

Cards for the Infants (of sorts!)

No way - no blogging for ages and then a second in one day...

Seeing as time is running out, I started on my cards for the school children. I wanted to make a different shaped card for the little ones. I wanted to make a triangular card but ended up coming across this template when looking at the Pink Petticoat blog.


So they're not getting a 'card' in the strictest sense as the will be getting a pyramid box instead. Here's close up.

I don't think they'll mind that it isn't a card seeing as there was a little space for some Polar Bear poop inside (don't panic, they're only choccie buttons). The Polar Bear is also from Pink Petticoat as is the Snowflake print. The Polar Bear's belly and cheek is highlighted with Sakura Stardust to add some sparkle and the outside of the tag is chalked to match the colour of the snowfakes.

The only thing I found difficult with these was tying the bows!!! Still need to practice that. Never mind, the bows won't be looked at for long before being ripped open.

A bit of a cheat

A while ago, on the Elzybells Blog, there were 2 challenges - design a stamped gift packaging and a Christmas Decoration. I know this is a bit of a cheat but I thought I'd show you what my Cubs have made for Christmas.

Firstly here are their Christmas tree decorations. The were made using nestabilities and Elzybells stamps. They made two of the Penguin circles each and stuck them onto the scalloped circle. They really enjoyed using the Koi waterbrushes for the watercolouring.

Secondly, they made matching boxes using the same techniques but on boxes. The used the same penguin but an eskimo for the other side. The snowflakes on the coloured sides have silver gel pen accents on them to add some sparkle.

Hope you like them and sorry that I didn't make them myself!

An actual update - SHOCKING!!!

I know it has been a VERY long time since I last posted. Have been very busy between my new course, school an dance weekends. This has meant no time for card making. However I can share with you one I made a while ago as the recipient will have had it now. After seeing a tutorial on Pink Petticoat using the Washed Out papers, I had to get them!!! I printed out a sheet of the lilac and them printed the lilac snowflakes paper on top again. I used them for this 40th card as I thought they looked like sparkles. I printed out a 40 and cut it out and decoupaged the 4 above the 0. Printed a reverse version of the design as backing paper and added some sparkle with peel offs and some gems.

I now have to try and make some Christmas cards this weekend so I may have some updates soon however my camera has decided to play up so fingers crossed!

Been a while

As you can probably tell, I have been missing in action of late. I had a very busy week with work and college two weeks ago and spent all of last week rock climbing in the Peak District. I thought I'd show you a pic of me 'hanging around' on the trip.

So, onto some cards. I made a few Elzybells Christmas Cards. The first is a Gate Fold card with the juggling penguin (the pic was taken before I stuck down the fluffy snowballs). I used Pink Petticoat papers and decoupaged the penguin. This one actualy had an honourable mention in the Blog Competition they ran on the Elzy site.

A simple window card, cut and embossed with my nesties, with snowflakes stamped on using watermark ink.

This octagonal card used a metallic, glitter card base. I made an aperture using nesties and created a shaker window with glitter.

And finally, my favourite (and this one also had an honourable mention in the competition). Simply stamped onto cream linen card stock and coloured in using various shades of brown.

Check ot the rest of the Elzybells Christmas Card winners over on the blog.

PIF Winners

Thanks go to the SPEEDY Elaine, Katie-Louise and Susie and enjoy your goodies. If you could e-mail me your addresses to paul@ford8.wanadoo.co.uk, I'll get it all sorted.

Remember now that you need to put up some PIF of your own on your blog and send it on to the first 3 who comment.

Thanks a lot for joining in.

Second lot of PIF!

Just after I’d received my PIF from Elaine, I stopped over at Val’s blog as she had won some too. I wrote a comment on hers and ended up winning more PIF!!! So as a result, I have another three sets to give away. This time, I have made some Pillow Box sets. The set includes bases, nestabilities scalloped circles and ribbon. Here’s a pic of what is possible. The only thing I have done which isn’t in the kit is chalked the edge of the box and outer circle. I wil also include some of the larger circles which can be used for Spirelli or matting and layering. I haven’t finished the sets yet but have kept the base colours to white and cream as they seem like great blank canvasses. If you in and you have a preference for either colour, or a mixture then just state so in the message. The ribbon might also be of a different colour. There might also be a few suprise elements too – think of it as a ‘luckky dip of PIF’.

Usual rules apply, the first 3 to comment in this section will win a set and then go on to produce a PIF (Pass It Forward) of their own which will be sent to the first 3 to comment on theirs.

As we are talking of PIF, check out Louises’. She won some of mine and is now offering up a great selection of eyelets. And then check out Lisa’s blog to see what she made using the PIF she won from me – it looks lovely.

BLOG CANDY WINNER!!!

The time has come to announce the WINNER of my blog candy. It took me ages to cut up all the names for the draw and I was shocked with the response - I can't believe there have been so many visitors, old and new, looking at my blog. Thank you to you all. I have taken a photo of the draw and I must apologise for the photo, it's not easy trying to take a pic of yourself with one hand whilst drawing a name with the other!!!

So without further ado, the winner is...

WENDY

Congratulations Wendy. If you could send me an e-mail (paul@ford8.wanadoo.co.uk) with your address to me, I'll get your prize in the post.

Blog Candy Up For Grabs

Wow!!! Over 15,000 hits!!!

As I promised, I have got together a few goodies to celebrate this milestone. It never crossed my mind that I would have this many visitors when I first set up this blog. So, if you are interested in getting your hands on this candy then simply leave a post on your blog with a link to mine. Then leave a comment here so that I can include you in the draw. I will put all the names into a hat and select a name at random. As a special thank you for their support, I will automatically include all my followers into the draw.

The set includes some stamped images (cut out with nesties) and scalloped shapes for easy matting and layering, some blank shapes which fit onto the nestie scallops so that you can stamp onto them, some notelet cards with apertures, some large tags, various die cut kits (including banners, snowflakes, teddies, grass, snowman, aeroplanes and people) and some die cut shapes for creating the take away boxes.

You have until the end of the month to enter.

Good luck!

(I shall leave this post at the top so newer posts can be found below)

New Elzybells

My new Elzybells stamps arrived this morning! Very quick delivery indeed. I've used the 'Bethlehem' and 'Little own of Bethlehem' stamps to create these quick and simple cards. I think sometimes that less is more and think that these may become a staple of my Christmas stock this year. The first is stamped onto White Linen cardstock and coloured in blue but I prefer the second one (brown on cream linen).

Here's a close up of the image so that you can see how well they stamp on linen card.

I also ordered some of the storage boxes and they are great. Have spent all morning backing my stamps onto kling-on and sorting them out into groups - only problem is that I only ordered 2 boxes and 1 sheet of kling-on to try them out, now wish I'd bought more!!!

Elaine's Blog Candy

Elaine has offered up some fantastic blog candy to celebrate her birthday. Go and check it out.

Pass It On Challenge

When I went to check my blog updates this morning, I noticed a little message frm Wendy with a little challenge for me. As part of a 'Pass it on' challenge which Elaine had sent her, she had to make a card but only using Pink Petticoat products. So here is my offering:

The card base itself was cut using my scallop rectangle nesties with an overlap to create a fold. I then cut and embossed a piece of gold which I stuck on top (this hides the missing row of scallops on the base card itself). I then layered my PP images and backing papers in Publisher before printing them out. The message is also from PP and cut using oval nesties and chalked the edge with gold. Finally, I attached the tag to a ribbon and put it all together.

Now, the rules of the challenge state that I must pass this challenge on. I thought I'd pass it on to SONIA. She was the one who started the whole challenge so I think it's just right that she gets to participate!

PIF from Elaine

The postie was nice to me yesterday and brought me my PIF from Elaine. I absolutely love the card she made for me. She knows I'm a dragon fan and am now off to hunt down these stamps. Not sure what I'm going to make with this stash yet but I'll post when I do.

Blog Candy!

Seeing as I am posting my first ever candy, I thought I'd have a look at others. I was shocked, there is so much Candy around the place lately!!! I have created a link on the left for easy access and reminder (both for me and others) about blog candy alerts, so check out what’s available:

Alex – some stunning cards and great candy.
Rach – an amazing array of candy to feast on
Maxine – 1000 hits blog, take a look
Gayle – great stamp give away
Julie – is celebrating becoming a SU demonstrator
Leonie – a fellow Elzybells fan
Nikki – ‘secret’ candy (what a great idea)
Daysleeper – 1000 hits celebration
Kadoodle Stamps – weekly stamp candy

Remember that my latest updates can be found below as I am leaving my Candy Post at the top for the time being.

Wine Themed Thank You

I had a (last minute) commission for a Thank You card with a wine theme. These Pink Petticoat images were the perfect thing. I like the sayings they have underneath but couldn’t use them because the card needed to be in Welsh. Coloured her in using Whispers pens and created the background using Pink Petticoat paper in Publisher and put a text box over some of the spots to create the sentiment. Because I don’t have all the oval scalloped nesties, I had to use to round ones but couldn’t fit her in on the second largest so cut her out at an angle. I think I pulled it off (rofl). Finished it off with a bit of ribbon.

And the PIF winners...

...are

Purple Nikki (purple set)

Lulu (Green set) and

Crafting Diva (Pink Set).

Congratulations to the three of you. I can't wait to see what you make wih it and hope you post it on your blog so I can see. If you e-mail me your addresses to paul@ford8.wanadoo.co.uk then I will post them off to you ASAP. Remember that you must now put up a set of PIF of your own and send it on to the first 3 to comment and they in turn do the same.

PIF Bags

Made a quick bag using my Sizzix Dies. I'm not really happy with it because of the colouring (the pens and the card didn't want to play together!!). So why am I showing you it? I wanted to show how they can be put together because...

...I won some PIF on Elaine's blog!!! Yipee. And as the rules of PIF state, I must now pass on some of my own and have decided to give away 3 sets of die cuts, ribbon and brads in PINK, PURPLE and GREEN colour ways. I have also included some ready cut panels for easy matting and layering too. The first 3 people to comment shall receive them, however, in my haste to be ultra organised, I have already stuck down the stamps on the envelopes and so I'm afraid I'm going to restrict it to UK residents only - sorry. When commenting, if you want to add a preferred colour option, providing it hasn't already been taken, I will send you it.

The rules for PIF are that in return for my PIF Candy you must then show this on your blog and do the same, that is, arrange PIF Candy for three lucky bloggers and then they do the same!

Cubs Halloween

We are having our Halloween party early with the Cubs because of half term hols and thinking of making a treat holder. Haven't decided which yet!!! Boxes are easier I think. Both are made using Sizzix die cuts and a clipart I found on my computer. If we make the boxes, the Cubs can personalise the orange sides themselves.

Quick Christmas

Just working on a quick Christmas card today. Used Cuddly Buddly Angel from the Giggles Nativity set and layered her on a background. Then, simply deoupaged but cut out the backing from the first layer to crete an 'alcove' type effect and then the angel on top. I think she may be in need of some stickles though.

Mooooooooooooo

Here's a card I made for a physiopherapist who loves cows!!! Not your everyday combo for cardmaking. The small little dangly thing on the cows tail is a mobile phone charm I made using a rubber stamp on some shrink plastic.

Edit - A few people have asked about the font I used. It is called STARRY NIGHT. I downloaded it a long time ago but Elaine has managed to track it down here: http://www.dafont.com/starry_night.font. Hope that helps.

Folder Cards

Here's are a couple of pics of some Folder cards I have made with a space for gifts inside. I have used the Cuddly Buddly Daffodil Fairy (wish as a Welshman, comes in handy quite often). I hope you like them more than the camera does! Sorry about the blurred pics, the camera has been tempromental lately.

P.S. This was also a test to see if newer posts will go below by blog candy one, so if it has worked, then Edna's instructions were not as 'clear as mud' as she thought! (fingers crossed)

Friendly Snowman

Updates 2 days on the trot! Can't quite believe it myself! Made a card using the Friendly Snowmen set from Cuddly Buddly. Simply decoupaged and stickled.