FESTIVE FEBRUARY

Hi Everyone

I hope you have had a good start to your weekend.

Can you believe that it is very nearly March!!

I feel that February 2020 is going to go down in history here as the most productive and busiest month in my life ever!!  Lots sorted both on the work and personal front .. .. but I am right up to the wire in finishing my five Christmas cards for February and have only just finished them!  Two teeny tiny ones (3.5 inches square).

These used: 

Image and Sentiment:  Pink Petticoat (now known as The Lovely Studio) "Ice Christmas"
Backing Papers:  Winter Wonderland Paper Pad from The Works
Unbranded Circular Dies from Ebay
ProMarkers
My Trusty Sewing Machine
Ribbon
A little bit of chalk for those rosy cheeks!!

So that is me for today .. .. with 10 Christmas cards in my stock box.

Before I go I would like to say thank you to everyone who left lovely comments and sent emails regarding my post of yesterday .. .. .. I am pleased people thought it might be useful.

WOOD MOUNTED STAMPS IN A MISTI

Hi Everyone

I hope you had a happy Friday!

I thought I would take a few extra photographs today to show you how I use my Misti Stamping Platform with my wood mounted stamps.

My Misti has become one of the most valuable and well used items in my crafty stash and for ages I have wished that I could use my wood mounted stamps in it .. .. .. not just the thin cling type ones.

So with some trial and error this is the best way I have come up with to use them .. .. and I am always happy with the results.  Especially useful when I have created my own sentiment and printed them directly to the image panel.(which I frequently do).

I know I can just simply stamp next to the sentiment .. .. but sometimes stamps are not actually mounted squarely on their wooden block .. .. and sometimes there are parts that don't stamp as well as I would like .. ..so using my Misti I can re-stamp in exactly the same position by doing the following:

I start by putting two acrylic blocks in the bottom left hand corner of the Misti
and position my sentiment panel and a piece of acetate under the blocks
holding both in place with separate pieces of washi tape.

I position my stamp hard up against the stamping blocks
to see if I think the image will fit into the white space I have available.  If not I move my card.

Next I stamp onto the acetate, making sure the side and bottom
 of my stamp is tight against the acrylic blocks. 
I remove the blocks to check where the image is positioned .. .. if I am not
happy I wipe the acetate clean, move the card, replace the acetate  and stamp to check again

Once happy I remove the acetate, replace the blocks
and stamp direct onto the card.  If there are areas that
haven't stamped very well it is possible to stamp again .. .. .. provided you
haven't moved the image card.. 

Apologies for the messy looking acrylic blocks .. .. they got marked after I attached some non-cling sentiments to them and they just didn't want to come clean afterwards.   As a last resort I put them in the dishwasher and they ended up worse than ever!!!  But never mind .. .. they are still super useful in my Misti.

.. .. .. and this is what I did with the sentiment and image shown above

This used:

Image:  Penny Black "2521K" Snowy

Sentiment:  Computer generated using fonts "Aracne Condensed Regular" and "Fontdinerdotcom Sparkly"

Backing Papers:  A magazine cover gift .. .. ages and ages ago!!

ProMarkers
My Trusty Sewing Machine
Glamour Dust
Ribbon

and this is my second Christmas card for today produced in the same way:

and this used:

Image:  Penny Black "4092K" A Thorny Affair

Sentiment:  Computer generated using fonts "Aracne Condensed Regular" and "Fontdinerdotcom Sparkly"

Backing Papers:  First Edition "Vintage Noel"

ProMarkers
Ribbon
Glossy Accents

Just two more Christmas cards to make before the month ends .. .. otherwise my five Christmas cards per month won't be met .. .. so I will see you tomorrow with those.

Sorry for the photo overload but hopefully you might find it interesting.

Weatherwise it has been a mixture of rain and snow here today so a nice day to stay snuggled in and catch up with some more crafty missions.  Our birds must feel super posh at the moment because their bird bath has looked like an "infinity pool" for days now!  LOL!!

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JUST TO SAY

Hi Everyone

Happy Sunday!

Up with the lark today as there is a lot I need to complete before the end of the month .. .. I woke up early which meant my mind was mulling over everything .. .. and whilst you are lying there thinking about it you might as well be doing it .. ...  well that's my theory anyway!!

So whilst enjoying my first cup of coffee I thought I would share a card I made for my Auntie.  She had knee replacement surgery a few days ago .. .. .. so many staples and bruises!!  Ouchie!!  But she is doing well and the swelling is slowly starting to disappear. 

This little bunny cheered her up though:

This used:

Image:  LOTV "Little Friends Rabbit with Daisy"

Sentiment:  Computer generated using font "Candy Round BTN"

Backing Paper:  First Edition "Mariposa" (love this pad .. .. such scrummy colours)

ProMarkers

Ribbon

My Trusty Sewing Machine

and that is it.

Enjoy your day everyone.  If yours is starting anything like mine it looks like it is going to be another "very wet and windy" day .. .. and one where you hope not to have to venture out of the front door!

FRIENDSHIP BLOOMS

Hi Everyone

Happy Thursday!

I am here with a card I made a couple of weeks or so ago .. .. and now I know it has arrived with it's recipient I can post it here.

It uses a gorgeous stamp that I fell in love with over on the lovely Carole's blog here way back in November 2018.  It finally made it's way into my collection a few weeks ago and I love it!!  I can tell it is going to be one of those stamps that gets lots of use.  Carole added a second flower to her card .. .. something else to try later!  Thank you for the inspiration Carole xxx

So here we go .. .. my first inking of this scrummy stamp:

This used:

Image and Sentiment:  Julie Hickey Designs "SKU: JH1001" Friendship Blooms

Backing Papers:  Wild Rose Studio Papercraft House "PH005" Vintage

Poppy Stamps Die Set:  Stitched Market Tag
Onyx Black Versafine Ink and Clear Embossing Powder

ProMarkers

Heart Punch

Ribbon and Button

My Trusty Sewing Machine

My image panel was stamped in Onyx Black Versafine Ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder so that the ProMarkers didn't interfere with the ink.

So that is me for today.

Time to get a few more crafty jobs crossed off that list before I head off to Mum's.  I think it will be a day for staying in as the weather isn't decent enough for her to want to go out!  It is throwing it down with rain here .. .. so chances are it will be at Mum's end too.

Never mind, we can put the world to rights .. .. again .. .. and I might even get a few images coloured whilst we share a cozy afternoon together.

Enjoy your day everyone .. .. whatever you are doing.

TEENY TINY TUESDAY - ON WEDNESDAY

Hi Everyone

Happy Wednesday!

I did actually manage to created a teeny tiny card yesterday (a whole 3.5 inches square for anyone new to my blog).

It was made "very early doors" using snippets of card, paper and ribbon that were lying around and about my desk ahead of a bride calling by to look at some wedding stationery samples I had put together for her.

But then the day took hold and I never got chance to actually post my little creation .. .. so here it is today .. ..

This used:

Image: Craft Sensations Clear Stamps"Ref No. CR0274/19A" (not that it links to my stamp set)
Sentiment:  Polkadoodles "PD7995" Super Sentiments
Backing Papers from the snippet collection
Ribbon
Milled Lavender Distress Ink
My Trusty Sewing Machine

I can't resist typewriter images and was really surprised by just how well this lovely image stamped out.  It was part of a super cheap and cheerful stamp set which I bought from The Works whilst we were in Rippon at the beginning of December.   Even taking the stamp out of the packet and inking it up I wasn't expecting much .. .. but I was actually super pleased with the result.

My intention when I purchased the set was to use the images with faint ink to create backgrounds .. .. but stamped out I can see it is going to be a far more useful set than I first imagined and I have my fingers crossed that the rest of the images in the set behave as nicely .. .. ..

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So that is me for today.  Coffee break over and time to get my head down and back into work mode!!  If you can call playing with stamps, paper, inks and ribbons work!!  LOL!!

Stay safe everyone!  Let's hope this rain stops soon!

FEBRUARY CHRISTMAS

Hi Everyone

Happy Sunday!

I hope you are all safe and sound and not having any major problems with all this wind and rain?

Thankfully things here are just super wet and windy .. .. no floods or actual wind damage.  

Each month I am attempting to make five Christmas cards to help with the manic run up to Christmas .. .. and as we are already halfway through February I had better pull my finger out and get cracking.  So here is February Christmas card number one .. .. ..

This used:

Image:  LOTV "A Little Gift"

Sentiment:  Computer generated using font "Sweetheart Script"

Backing Paper:  Docrafts "Folk Christmas" Paper Pack (an old one I am determined to use up)

ProMarkers

Liquid Pearls

Crystal Glamour Dust

Ribbon

Charm

My Trusty Sewing Machine

I am entering my card into a couple of challenges:

Firstly:  The Christmas Kickstart Challenge where the theme for this month is "Red" 

and

Secondly: Fezziwigs Festive Frolics which is a fortnightly challenge and this fortnight "anything festive goes"

So that is me for today.

Enjoy what is left of your evening.

MAKE MY HEART SMILE

Hi Everyone

Happy Friday .. .. .. and happy Valentine's Day too!

Dropping in today to share the card I made for Mr Heart .. .. ..

This used:

Penny Sentiment:  Penny Black "30-164" Edge to Edge
Whimsy Stamps:  "CWSD226" FaDoodles 
Sizzix Die:  "655459" Frame Heart
Emoji Dies:  Unbranded from Ebay
Backing Papers:  Craft Sensations "Chalkboard Love"

and that is me for today.

I am very fortunate and have lots of people in my life who make my heart smile (but only one is my valentine)!!

I hope someone makes your heart smile today!

TWEET WISHES

Hi Everyone

Happy Wednesday!  I hope it has been a good day for you all.

Mine has been a really productive one so I am super happy!

Apologies for the absence .. .. again!!  It is "all go" on the wedding front.  New couples are still signing up so it looks like my final year of wedding work is going to be a busy one.

But I was desperate for a little play this evening using a template that the lovely Mr Heart created for me over the weekend.  It is my take on a card I received from the lovely Maureen quite a while ago now, and it measures nearly 12cm square .. .. which means it is probably smaller than the photograph you are looking at here!  LOL!

This used:

Image:  Kaisercraft "Butterfly Kisses" (quite old now)
Sentiment:  Computer Generated using font "Aracne Condensed Regular"
Backing Papers:  All the papers and card are snippets from my ever growing mountain of leftovers .. .. not that a little card like this uses very many!
X-Cut Flower Punch (also very, very old)
Pearls
ProMarkers
Circle Die
Wood Effect Embossing Folder
Rich Cocoa Memento Ink Pad

and that is me for today .. .. .. off to Pixie's Snippets Playground now to share my use of snippets.

Catch you again soon, more than likely with the Valentine card I am making for Mr Heart!