52 Cards Wk8: Sketch number 2

For this weeks 52 cards prompt Nat set us another sketch

Seeing the sketch I knew straight away that I wanted to use a doily for the circular element, you can't go wrong with a doily! I must admit I cheated a bit, if you are a regular reader this card may be ever so slightly similar to another I made last month even down to the papers! 

I used papers from American Crafts Mayberry collection. The butterfly was a white die cut I received in a swap sometime ago misted with some Mister Huey's. For the sentiment I cut part of a manufacturers strip from one of the papers. 

Sketchy Scrappers: Best Laid Plans

This months sketch over on Sketchy Scrappers was set by Fiona who as a recent Instagram convert set this sketch which allowed us to use two Instagram photos

For my layout I revisited my Best Laid Plans blog post & chose two Instagram pics from back in the summer. 

I decided to try and pick up on the grunge type look of the sketch by using two Glitz papers from the Finley collection with a running paint effect on them as well as spraying some pink Miser Huey onto a background paper from Heidi Swapp. I wasn't sure how to create the tab tops to the papers until I found some Fancy Pants stickers. If anyone knows of any tab punches please let me know. 

I had to add some Washi to the top of the photos as I originally placed one photo in the wrong place, tried to pull it up and ripped the paper slightly...oops! The bottom cluster is made up of an Elle's Studio banner, a Lillybee Design sticker and a resin star from my scrappy friend Julia. 

In other news, I have set myself a crafty challenge. I recently received my latest Quirky Kit and canceled my subscription as I need to catch up and use my stash up. So I have been inspired by Kitty Nancy on Instagram to not buy any more stash until I have completed 20 projects (layouts or cards), Nancy did 30 but I'm starting small lol! I'll be starting this when I go to Meadow Barn and collected stash Gemma has brought for me from TK Maxx in a couple of weeks so keep checking back on my progress! 

52 Cards Wk7: Aqua, green & blue colour combo

This weeks prompt for the 52 card challenge was another colour combo. This time Nat chose this lovely fresh colour combo of green, aqua and a hint of blue 

As with the last colour combo challenge I went through my scraps bag and pulled anything close to the colours. I had more light blue and aqua scraps than soft green so I went with these. I will admit now that I had a crafty tantrum while making my card as my original idea of running banners over a white doily on white card back fired as the doily blended  in too much for my liking and I just couldn't get it to go how I pictured it. I tried misting the doily, inking it with an ink pad to match the colours but no it just didn't look right. After lots of shuffling of papers & browsing through Pinterest I decided to scraplift this card from Page Maps 

Using only scraps I made this card

I used scraps from three different Echo Park collections and one (the ledger paper) from Dear Lizzy. I'm still not completely happy with it I admit, but it is growing on me. 

52 Cards Challenge wk6: using a collection pack

For this weeks challenge Nat asked us to use a collection pack to make a card. I do not have full collection packs and only a few 6x6 paper pads. Then last week I was naughty and purchased the Glitz Hello Again collection pack as I have had my eye on this for a while, and had intended to use this for the challenge. Then when I was over at my mums I noticed the Tilly Daydream collection she had brought have price. The images of this collection are so cute and even though the majority of them are autumninal or wintery there are a couple you could use all year round. So I changed my mind and "borrowed" some of the collection to make a birthday card for my friends daughter who is 6 in a couple of weeks. 

I matted the topper on to some gold mirror card and matted this onto some of the paper from the collection and then onto a kraft card blank. I used a Martha Stewart punch to punch some butterflies from some more paper from the collection and finally added some ribbon from my stash. 

Kitty Heaven

Once a month, or when we can, my friend Gemma & I set each other a sketch  which should include an element of that persons choosing. This month was Gemma's turn. She chose this sketch and said we had to include some bling

I looked through my photos and decided on two photos from my pre Christmas trip to London with my friend Nicola. The photos were taken in the toy department in Harrods where I was in Hello Kitty Heaven! 

I used a piece of 7 Dot Studio paper mounted onto pink card as my base which had a cool brick and mist effect on it. I decided to draw colours from the Elton John style Kitty (which I wished I'd brought) for my layout using papers from Echo Park, American Crafts and Dear Lizzy. On the reverse of the blue Echo Park paper were some chalkboard speech bubbles so I decided to cut two to add to my clusters. 

For my title I didn't have enough letters to make the title I wanted to use so I decided to colour some white Thickers with some Picked Raspberry Distress Paint I had just brought. Even though they are a bit patchy the colour matches perfectly. 

While trying to decide what bling to use I came across a pink flourish I've had for ages. As I was holding over my paper trying to figure out how to use it I noticed a section of it resembled a heart, so I cut it apart and used this on the layout.

52 Cards Wk5: Valentines Card

For this weeks 52 Cards Challenge Nat dived into her prompt jar and pulled out three prompts for us to use

The first idea which springs to mind on seeing these prompts is obviously Valentines Day. Luckily for me on Tuesday I room delivery of the Beloved paper pad from Fancy Pants which has some lovey dovey Valentines designs but also some which can be used all year round which is why I brought it (that and also to make my order of page protectors look more interesting lol). So using my new papers and some glitter card stock, once I could find it, I made this card for Ian. 

I didn't want it to be too pink as obviously it is for a guy and not for me lol, so I chose the blue triangle paper to sit with the gorgeous watercolour effect heart paper. I used some XCut nested heart dies to cut the hearts from glitter card, I've noticed in using my Big Shot more since making cards which is good. The heart trim is from a roll I've had in my stash for ages. The sentiment is made using Authentique letter stickers. 

A spot of Sunday baking

Remember last year when I said I was going to learn to bake and make a cake a month? Well me being me that never happened! I had other things going on leaving me with little time to myself but it was mainly due to me worrying that I would mess it up, it would taste awful and be a black burnt mess. That's the kind of person I am, I think about things too much rather than doing them. 

Then this week my dad had some test results back which showed he was borderline diabetic which made him reevaluate what he eats. He read that bananas contain a lot of sugar so the bunch he had brought for his weeks pack up was goring spare. A couple were turning very ripe and being a fan of banana bread I decided to have a go at making one. 

So I called on Queen Mary Berry and while it was pouring with rain this morning actually baked! Me Mrs can't cook, never learnt to cook! I'm rather chuffed with the finished result and can report it taste as good as it looks and smells.