Bag Lady

I seem to be turning rapidly into a 'bag lady' - not made any cards for several days but I have been tinkering on the sewing machine.  I had made this quilted panel as a sort of experiment, then thought that it could form part of another bag.  I had to play around with the sizes to accommodate the panel and also within the limits of the matching fabric I had available without going shopping.  Paper crafters know how much 'stuff' accumulates within no time at all and I have been sewing on and off for years so you can imagine my fabric stash would probably stock a small shop!!  These two bags haven't really made many inroads into the hoard but it is a start and my machine has had an airing so that it doesn't feel neglected.

Quiet Again

I must apologise for being quiet on the blogging front for a few days - slight health problem but thankfully starting to feel more 'normal' now (whatever normal is!!).  I spotted a patchwork bag on You Tube yesterday which used 12 charm squares and some other fabric for lining and handles and as I have loads of squares I thought I'd have a go.  This is the result using up some of the floral squares which are all different - I quite enjoyed making this and it turned out to be fairly straightforward to make.  We actually have blue skies and sunshine at the moment although the day started with torrential rain, thunder and lightning!!

Wedding Card

Posting on my blog two days running - can't be bad eh!!  I guess the weather can be partly to blame for that because it is wet and windy again today so I decided indoors is a good place to be.  Looking through my box of cards I noticed I needed a few more cards in various categories other than birthdays so started with this one suitable for a wedding or engagement perhaps.  I used the piece of Centura pearl card embossed using a Creative Expressions folder and added die cut circles from Marianne (the large frame) and Spellbinders.  The sentiment was produced using Craft Artist and then cut out using circle dies.

Celebration

Celebration is the theme for the challenge on the Male Room blog and it can be any type of occasion as long as it is suitable for a male.  I've used a stamp from the Wetlands set by Stampin' Up and a Cuttlebug embossing folder with just a simple birthday greeting.  The frame for the image was cut using two Spellbinder dies, the framing layers are gold mirri card which looks brown on the scan.  I'm quite looking forward to the challenges starting again after the break - maybe they will give me some impetus to get into the craft room which has been neglected a little of late.  I've just noticed that the picture is a little skew-whiff - the card itself is straight!!

Very best wishes for 2014 to all my friends and followers.

Yellow Flower

It seems ages since I actually made a card and I seem to have lost momentum so I'm planning a bit of a tidy up in my room and then really must get down to using up some of my stash.  For the moment I've decided I don't need to buy anything more and have managed so far to resist all the offers which arrive daily from the various companies I deal with - not sure how long that resolution will last!!  This card was made before the Christmas rush began and I used a Marianne die set which really didn't need  much more to finish it off apart from the flower in the centre which was layered up using three ready-made flowers with a large brad in the centre (all from Papermania)..  A simple greeting produced on the computer and layered onto Cuttlebug die cut shapes and a piece of toning background paper completes the layout.

This will be another fragmented week with a Bank Holiday in the middle and I'm looking forward to normal weeks which start and finish on the right day.  Wishing everyone all the very best for 2014.

Seasonal Wishes

I would like to wish my followers and on-line friends all the very best wishes for Christmas and the New Year.  This card was made using decoupage from the La Pashe 'Oldies' Christmas collection.

Bicycle Girl

Earlier this week I met up with two of my lovely crafty friends for lunch at our local craft shop and was, of course, tempted with a little retail therapy in the form of some toppers by Hobby House.  I’ve combined one of these with die cuts – Stately Circles from Spellbinders and the larger circle was cut with two of the dies from Tonic Verso Decorative Bow Rings, all using Centura Pearl card.  The flower was made using a Marianne die and two X-cut punches, some die cut leaves were added. Background paper is a piece of pretty floral from my stash. It is nice to be working in delicate colours as a break from the Christmas cards and I don’t think I need any more of those for the moment.
                                    

I see this has come in with a wide margin which I don’t normally do – sadly I was unable to use the programme I'm really used to for getting pictures from the scanner to post on the blog which is a real pain. I’m still trying to work around my various options with programmes on the computer and obviously haven’t really got to grips with it yet – previously I could do it without thinking!!  I will persevere.

EDITED - I managed to get the picture to look as I'm used to but by a very circuitous route, just hope I remember what I did!!