Goodbye 2016

What a strange year 2016 has been. It has made me cry often, left me confused at times and been a year of new beginnings. Of course, 2016 has seen me achieve one of my creative goals of being part of a papercraft design team, not once but twice, and I am loving creating for Craftwork Cards and Hunkydory Crafts.

For my last blog post of the year, I've gathered together a few of my favourite makes of the year. There were lots more but I managed to choose 5. I would like to thank you all for the fabulous support you have given me in 2016 and wish you a very Happy New Year xxx

Tartan heart

Hi everyone. Having been behind with Christmas cards for months, I'm now sharing a Valentine's Card way ahead of time!

I have used papers from the Craftwork Cards new Contemporary Tartans pad, weaving two of the papers together. The white panel has been embossed with a Crafter's Companion Sara Davies embossing folder. I added some Liquid Pearl drops to the panel and sentiment to finish.

Hope you have a lovely day- I have paperwork to catch up on but will also spend some time chilling with the boys. Thank you for visiting today x

Goody bags!

Hi everyone. Hope you are having an amazing Christmas. We had a lovely day with the boys and today we're off to my parents to do it all again!

One of my my favourite things this Christmas was being turned into an Elf, along with all the Design Team, by the lovely folks at Craftwork Cards on our very special DT Christmas card.

Today sees the start of the sale at Craftwork Cards and you can get your hands on some brilliant, bargain Goody bags. I made some samples but it was a bit of a panic- my parcel went missing and arrived two days late. I only had a couple of hours to make some cards so had to go with very quick and easy cards! I guess we all need to make cards in a hurry sometimes...

Once Christmas festivities are over, I'll make some more cards and take more time with them.

You can buy the Goody bags here http://www.craftworkcards.co.uk/finishing-touches/boxing-day-sale/ and check out the other sale items whilst you're there. There is more inspiration on the blog too, http://blog.craftworkcards.co.uk/2016/12/craftwork-cards-boxing-day-goody-bag-extravaganza.html

In case you missed it, there was a Craftwork Cards shows on Create and Craft on Christmas Eve. I made some little gift bags with chocolates in and Dean had great fun handing them out to the crew (though he kept the best ones for himself!). I managed to get a screenshot- but will be sharing a tutorial for the gift bags next month.

Hope you have a lovely day, however you are spending it. Thank you for visiting today xxx

Landscapes

Hi everyone, been a while since I last blogged. The past two weeks have been a blur of Christmas preparations but with 3 days to go I'm starting to  relax a little.

Today I'm sharing my samples made with the new Hunkydory Little Book of Landscapes. I've combined the images with Adorable Scorable and 50 Shades Darker Mirri to make these cards:

I'd love to know which is your favourite- I think mine is the green one with the pub garden- I love how well the mirri card has embossed.

Thanks for visiting today, hope you all have a lovely day x

Floral Shimmer

Hi everyone. Well I am so behind with everything at the moment. We had such a fabulous time celebrating my son's 5th birthday, with a party tea and a fabulous trip to Longleat. At the moment it is their Festival of Light and the displays are stunning:

Lots of inspiration to be had for sure!

Of course, being busy meant putting crafting and blogging to one side, so I didn't share any of my cards from last week's Hunkydory launch. The new collection is Floral Shimmer, which includes a beautiful  shimmery 8x8 paper pad, as well as the usual elements. I also got to use some pearlescent Adorable Scorable card which is gorgeous.

For this card I did some paper weaving using 1cm strips of paper from the paper pad:

I embossed some of the Adorable Scorable card with a Crafter's Companion folder before cutting a heart aperture. The backing paper is also from the 8x8 pad. I just love these colours and was really happy with how well the card embossed.

My next card is an acetate easel card:

I don't often use acetate but this was so easy to make, I really should use it more often.

Finally for today, one of my favourite cards using the topper set. I really like these soft colours:

Back to the Christmas cards now- I have few more to make as well as some birthday cards for weekend parties. Thank you for visiting today and for your lovely comments x

The Great Outdoors

Hi everyone. I have been incredibly busy lately so the blog has had a bit of a break. Today though I'm able to share some cards I made with Craftwork Cards' brand spanking new The Great Outdoors collection.

Often when faced with a new collection it takes a while for ideas to come. That definitely wasn't the case with this collection- I had far more ideas than time for this one.

These are a few of my favourite samples:

I do love these shaped cards and the sentiments are fabulous too. It's a stunning collection for males of all ages.

Thank you for visiting today and for your lovely comments x

Paradise Jewels

Hi everyone, today sees another  beautiful Hunkydory collection launch on Create and Craft TV and yet again I had the pleasure of making some DT cards.

My parcel arrived on Saturday and contained not just the main Paradise Jewels Card Collection, but also the Little Book, A4 Paper Pad, inserts and a pack of Adorable Scorable card in beautiful matching colours. It was like Christmas Day for me! Needless to say, it wasn't difficult to come up with ideas.

I really love the A4 paper pad and so used the papers to make a gift bag:

 

This was so easy to make and decorated simply with toppers from the main collection.

This card uses an image from the Little Book, the Paper Pad and some Adorable Scorable:

I embossed the card with a Crafter's Companion embossing folder and used Rainbow Mirri Card for a pretty finish.

My final card for today uses another page from the Little Book.:

I created the background for this one by blending 3 Distress Inks: Cracked Pistachio, Tumbled Glass and Scattered Straw, which reflect the colours in the background of the image. I do enjoy using these Little Books, they are so very versatile.

I hope you can catch some of Ruth's shows today, there are sure to be some amazing demos. Thank you for taking the time to visit today x

Christmas embossing

Hi everyone, hope you are all well. Today I'm sharing 3 cards I've made for the Craftwork Cards blog. For each of them I've used an embossed card blank in a different way.

The papers, toppers and embellishments I've used are all from the Frozen Forest collection.  I'm still totally in love with the collection!

Thank you for visiting today and for your lovely comments x

Twilight Kingdom

Hi everyone, today is an exciting day for me as it sees the first Hunkydory launch for which I've made DT samples.

I was thrilled when I got the parcel because the collection is so beautiful, full of dragons, unicorns and fairies. Here are a few of my samples:

I had so much fun making these and I get to do it all again this week- I've just had another Hunkydory parcel delivered!

Thank you for visiting today and for your lovely comments x

A Floriferous Card

Yesterday I learnt a new word whilst on the school run, so I'm showing it off to describe this birthday card made using Craftwork Cards Boutique Floral range. Who knew floriferous was even a word!

I've simply added a Dovecraft doily, ribbon and pearls to papers and die cuts from the collection to make a pretty card.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend. I have just had my first Hunkydory DT parcel so will be working on some samples this afternoon. I have something very lovely to work with so will definitely enjoy it.

Thank you for visiting today and taking the time to comment today x

Just for men

Hi everyone. The next month sees almost all of the important men in my life having birthdays, with my dad, husband and youngest son all celebrating. So, when I was deciding on a theme for my latest Craftwork Cards blog post, it seemed obvious that I should concentrate on cards for men.

For these two cards, I've used the Take it Easy collection. I love blue and orange papers for men's cards and the matching candi is fabulous too:

My other card today uses the Man Made collection. I love the star and tool embellishments in this collection as well as the chalkboard sentiment:

Thanks for visiting and commenting today. If you get a chance, do please pop over to the Craftwork Cards Blog for more inspiration from our amazing Design Team xxx

My Besties UK inspiration

Hi everyone. I am slowly recovering from last week's half term. I was astonished how much I achieved yesterday in an empty house.

As some as you know, I had some amazing news on Friday when I found out I've been chosen to be a member of the Hunkydory Design Team. I am so excited as Hunkydory is a brand I often use- thank you to all of those who have already congratulated me x

Unfortunately, I realised that I couldn't keep up all my DT commitments so I have decided to step down from My Besties UK. Today I'm sharing my last project for them:

The challenge is currently having a little break but today the DT are all sharing some Fluffy Bestie inspiration on the blog at My Besties UK. Please pop over and take a look- I do love these fabulous Fluffy images.

I have used Fluffy img037 available to buy here. I've coloured her with Copic markers. The papers and embellishments I've used are Graphic 45 By the Sea. The anchor was cut using a First Edition die.

Thank you for visiting today and for all of your lovely comments x

Out of this world

Hi everyone. Today I'm sharing a kinetic rocket card I have made for my youngest son's birthday in a few weeks.

A couple of weekends ago, we all went to a talk by the astronaut Chris Hadfield. He was such an inspiring man and, ever since, Isaac has been drawing pictures of rockets and space. I'm sure he's going to love this card, made using my favourite Hunkydory Little Dudes collection. This topper set is 'Out of this World'.

To make the card, I cut a 17cm square of printed cardstock and cut a rectangle where I wanted the rocket to go:

I cut a strip of matching card to place behind the rocket so it could be pulled along. I added a 2p coin to the back of the rocket using a foam pad making sure the rocket was in front of the rectangle and the coin behind.  I then added a double layer of foam pads at the back of the card where my strip would move back and forth. 

I attached the card strip to the 2p using super sticky tape and attached the card to a card blank (pre prepared with a silver mirri layer), using foam pads so there was room for the card strip to move freely.

I decorated the front of the card with small toppers and coloured gems. When the rocket is pulled across, it reveals a little alien.

Thank you for visiting today and for your lovely comments. 

Keeping it clean with Craftwork Cards

Hi everyone. Yesterday was my turn to post on the Craftwork Cards blog. I wrote about the difference between Clean and Simple and Clean and Layered cards.

This is one of my CAS cards:

This is one of my CAL cards:

Both cards use the Christmas Cheer collection.

I really enjoyed writing the post and it really made me think about the labels we give cards. I'd love to know how you would define these two card styles.

Thank you for taking the time to visit today, I really appreciate all the lovely comments.

Cathy x

Let it snow

Hi everyone. I have finally started to really get into Christmas cards. These are a few I have made with the really cute Hunkydory kit Let it Snow, which was free with Crafting with Hunkydory issue 30.

The first card I made was a little circle shaker card. I love the snowglobe effect of this one- perfect for kids.

I made my own circle easel card from a 6x6 card blank then cut another circle from card for the topper.

To create the shaker card, I placed the topper in the centre of the circle and sprinkled some Hunkydory Soft Snowdrift Diamond Sparkle Glitter in the centre. I added Hunkydory Acetate to the back of the topper frame and placed this over the topper using foam pads. I added this to the top part of the circle easel blank.

I then completed the card with a circle of matching cardstock on the bottom of the easel card and made a stopper using a sentiment tag. I finished off with some Hunkydory gems, a bow and a small sentiment.

I also made these cards:

A good start to my Christmas cards and such a cute collection of characters, I think.

Thanks so much for taking the time to visit today x