SWALK samples

Busy busy this week, prepping for my demo and class at The Papeterie this Saturday and I'll be using these wee cutie stamps... SWALK from Crafters Companion, aren't these just too cute!

This one is called "Thinking of You" and of course I've coloured them with promarkers 
The papers are all Earth Love from Cosmo Cricket, cardstock is all core'dinations, buttons are American Crafts and the MS border punch is called Arch Lattice


I'll be demoing in the morning so please feel free to pop along and say Hi, sorry but the afternoon class is fully booked - but if you call Charlotte @ The Papeterie, she'll tell you what classes if mine still have places left.


I'd like to enter my wee cuties into...

Oscar and a Teaser

Morning!
it's getting closer to the end of the week, and tomorrow I'll be away on a wee jaunt across town to meet up with my crafty buddies Anne and Kath and blonde deliciousness that is Buddy for a catch up. This'll be the first time we've got together since - is it as long ago as the SECC?? Then I'll probably see them both again plus Jacqui at Simply Create for the shop relaunch and Kath's Hero Arts demo. If you are within driving distance of Alford then you really must see Kath in action - the woman is amazing.


So what have I been up to? well with a lovely tidy desk again (see previous WOYWW posts) it's been a joy to craft. And it will be even better from now on because after hopping round half of the WOYWWers yesterday I decided that I needed a hutch for the top of my desk as the wee shelf just wasn't cutting the mustard. I did my usual and googled "desk hutch" but oh my goodness they are expensive, and with "adapt and overcome" being my motto of the moment - I had a bit of a brainwave. I had previously picked up a faux leather DVD holder at Asda, and that was where I kept all my 8x8 and 6x6 papers, so I thought I could turn it on its side and it would make a great hutch - especially if I bought another 2 so that it stretched the length of my desk. So last night was spent rearranging all my bits in my nice new hutch, but I won't show you just yet - think I'll keep that wee surprise for next week's WOYWW.


I think I mentioned before that I'd splashed out on the 4 new soft centre stamps from Sugar Nellie last week. Just to be different I decided to colour Oscar the Owl - he's dead easy to colour.

Image: Oscar from Sugar Nellie, coloured with promarkers
papers are all Cosmo Cricket Earth Love, stitched on . The brads are papermania and the wooden button is from a stall at the SECC in October.


I followed Kiki's sketch at The Sugar Bowl, so I'd like to enter him there
as well as
Fab n Funky - Animal Magic
Crafty Creations - Its a Bird Thing - plus polka dots and green
Creative Card Crew - For Men


LOL I nearly forgot the teaser - tomorrow I will be back with some fabulous candy, have some brand spanking new goodies from Letraset to give away and after my clear out I've unearthed lots of other goodies to give away too - including some of my favourite Sugar Nellie stamps, so remember to pop back tomorrow.

Simply Sassy Calendar

I'm not one to make New Year Resolutions, but I have decided that I'm going to try my best to enter a select few challenge blogs on a regular basis this year. So of course The Sugar Bowl has to be top of that list of selected challenges as where would I be without my favourite Sugar Nellie stamps.


I made this calendar yesterday for the SFL teacher who runs the Lego Club that Scott goes to. Scott absolutely loves going, and I think every school/community should have a Lego Club. Anyway, she was over the moon with it.

 Image: Hippie Chick from Sugar Nellie, coloured with promarkers.
Papers are Cosmo Cricket Earth Love, cardstock is all core'dinations, lace from Angel Crafts, card candy from Craftwork Cards
Here's a close-up to show you the image in more detail and also the embossed panel under it.

I'd like to enter this into the following challenges:
The Sugar Bowl - sketch plus embossing
The Crafty Calendar Challenge - new beginnings (new year)
Cupcake Craft Challenges - something new (new year)

Crafty Cardmakers

Hi there, 
well I've been asked to take part in something very special - I was asked to represent Letraset who are one of the sponsors for this super fun challenge. I must admit it did cross my mind not to join in - because one of the things I had to do was dig out a photo to show of one of my first cards - argh!!
so, before I go doing that and scaring you, here's some more about the challenge and prizes ...


Good Afternoon!!  We're having a very special challenge here at Crafty Cardmakers for the next 4 weeks and it's something a little bit different and a lot of fun!  We've also managed to persuade the sponsors or their representative to join in the fun :)
We'd like to see your LATEST OR GREATEST creation so anything you like or a particular favourite AND here's the important bit, we'd also like to see your FIRST or the OLDEST one you have a photo of!  I can see you cringing and thinking oooooh nooooo mine's really baaaad!  Don't worry, we ALL started somewhere and I hope you can see from the samples that everybody was new once and with a bit of practice you can get better and you'll also see how much you've already got better by digging out your first efforts!
The Rules:
You can enter up to 3 times but each must contain a picture of one of your first designs and must be different techniques or items e.g. first card, first stamped card, first scrapbook page, first tag etc.  They must also be separate posts.

You can enter your latest creations or your favourites previously published alongside your old design.  You can enter in as many other challenges as you wish but many challenges do not accept older creations so just be mindful of that.

Please link back to the Crafty Cardmakers blog and mention Crafty Cardmakers in your post.
The challenge runs for 4 weeks from 13th Dec and closes at 9am GMT on Monday 10th January


We are very proud to be sponsored by a number of very kind stores for this challenge with lots of winners for this one and the prizes on offer are...

£10 voucher from Joanna Sheen

£10 voucher from The Stampman

$10 voucher for Stitchy Bear Stamps

Pack of 5 promarkers from Letraset

£10 voucher for Crafts & Me

£10 worth of stamps of your choice from Stamping all day

So here goes, this is one of my first ever cards back in January 2006, I started off with some peel-offs, card blanks and mulberry paper...now please don't laugh...

So moving swiftly on... the second part of the challenge is to post your latest or greatest card or creation so I've gone with my latest, it was the birthday card I made for my mum from Graham and myself. I had to use the stamp that got me hooked on stamping and of course my beloved promarkers from Letraset. 

Image: Daisy from Sugar Nellie (unfortunately no longer in production) coloured with promarkers
papers are Cosmo Cricket - Earth Story, card is core'dinations, MS valentine lace border punch, twill ribbon from SU, glitter dots from Papermania

So, are you brave enough to reveal your earliest card or creation? go on, I dare you - it can't be any worse than mine :)


I'd also like to enter the Daisy card into the following challenges...


The Sugar Bowl - sketch
Passion for Promarkers - anything goes

Passion for Promarkers #51 - Strawberries & Cream

We have a gorgeous summery theme for you this week at Passion for Promarkers - chosen by Sue - Strawberries and Cream. Now you can interpret that in a number of ways, whether its the colour strawberry and cream or more literally like I did.

The prize this week is a pack of 5 Promarkers from Letraset

Image

Image: Shy Willow from Whiff of Joy, coloured with promarkers: Sunkissed Pink and Blush for her skin, Warm Grey 3-5, Meadow Green & Apple Green, Pear Green, Grass and Berry Red

Papers are all Cosmo Cricket Garden Variety, ribbon is Smirk, and the greeting is also from Whiff of Joy

Here's her close-up...

I wasn't entirely happy with that card, so I decided to make another, but this time I focussed more on the colour scheme of strawberry and cream, using Vanilla Cream core'dinations card as my base...

Main image: Gorjuss Girl from Sugar Nellie, strawberry stamps are from Whiff of Joy, the top greeting is Hero Arts and the bottom one is Whiff of Joy.

coloured with promarkers: Cardinal Red for her dress and the strawberries, Marsh Green for the trim on her dress and the strawberry leaves, Warm Grey 3 for the shading on her tights, Ivory, Vanilla and Sunkissed Pink for her skin, Caramel, Cinnamon and Cocoa for her hair.

The cardstock is all Vanilla Cream core'dinations (I even stamped the images and coloured them directly onto this cardstock)

Pearls are Kaisercraft.

Here's her close-up....

Passion for Promarkers #46 - The Young Ones

Oh no, I'm running a bit late this week - forgot to do this post yesterday and schedule it for 9am today. Never mind, better late than never.

This week at Passion for Promarkers, the theme has been chosen by Emma - one of our brand new team members, and she chose The Young Ones. Basically this means to make a creation for the children, and I chose to make a baby card. Remember you can use any colours of promarkers for this challenge.

So what's the prize this week? Well our sponsor this week is Sugar Nellie, who have given us 2 beautiful stamps to give away, Purrfect Playmates and Come fly with me

So here's my wee offering this week...

Image: Koetie Cow stamp that I bought at Simply Create, coloured with promarkers: Oatmeal & Soft Peach, Cinnamon, Cool Grey 1 and 4, Tulip Yellow. I used Glamour Dust on the moon.

Papers are all Cosmo Cricket Earth Story, cardstock is core'dinations and the greeting was a freebie stamp from Papercraft Inspirations magazine this month.

Here's a close-up of Koetie Cow...

We're looking forward to seeing all your Young Ones entries this week.
Remember to pop over to the Weekend Workshop to see Emma's fab colouring tutorial and for a chance to win some digi images

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Truly Scrumptious - sketch and "fly away" - I think you would need to fly away to get to the moon!

By the Cute & Girly - fairytales (have gone with the nursery rhyme - hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle, the cow jumped over the moon)

Crafty Calendar - April Fools

Passion for Promarkers #42 - Mango & Bright Green

It's Tuesday again, which means another new challenge over at Passion for Promarkers. This is our last colour combo for a wee while and it was chosen by our current GDT, Sarah W. So we want you to use the promarker colours: Mango and Bright Green.

Now, I know this is going to look and sound a bit bizarre (I'm an Aquarian, what do you expect?) but that colour combo just screamed "CARROTS" at me. Don't ask!! my brain seems to be wired up completely randomly lol

So, the prize this week for PfP #42 is a £10 voucher from Joanna Sheen

And before I show you my bizarro card, have you seen this week's fabulous double whammy tutorial on the PfP Weekend Workshop? If you haven't then you're missing the chance to win some digistamps from Bee Crafty, so hurry over and have a nosey.

Image: Carrot J -Jeannie, from the colouring pages of KinderBunnies, coloured with promarkers: Mango with Mandarin for shading, Bright Green with Grass for shading, Pine, Emerald, Grass for the thing on her head(?!) Poppy for her lips
Patterned Paper is Cosmo Cricket Earth Story, Core'dinations card, orange grosgrain ribbon from stash and black papermania brads and the greeting is Daisy & Dandelion

Here's Jeannie's close-up...

Springtime

Well, I've actually managed to make a card to fit some more challenges, I'm so much more productive when Graham's at home lol

Image: Chick-a-dee from Sugar Nellie, coloured with promarkers: Lime Green & Bright Green, Vanilla and Mustard, Mango, Blush, Pale Pink, Tulip Yellow, Primrose, Spice.
Paper is Earth Story from Cosmo Cricket, core'dinations gemstone cardstock punched with MS doily lace border punch, ribbon is Dovecraft, Pearls are Papermania and the flower is Prima E line

Here's her close up...

I'd like to enter these challenges with this card
I love promarkers - Spring theme, using promarkers and sketch
ABC Challenge - O for One paper
A Spoonful of Sugar - Spring Time

Halloween

Because we stay between the village and the town, I don't let my kids go "trick or treating" or "guising" as we call it up here. But we still have carved pumpkins and get dressed up. Willow's nursery had a Halloween theme going, complete with Wizards Brew and spooky cakes at snack time.

 

I had to go and buy another of the deep bookcases from Argos today for my crafty stuff! The plastic drawer cart thingy was starting to disintigrate so it has now been replaced. I had purchased half a dozen of the purple Craft Tonic storage boxes, and spent most of the afternoon sorting stuff from the drawers into organised boxes. So now I'll probably not be able to find anything :)

Also placed a wee order with Mad About Cards so that I could buy the new Creativity and Creativity Life magazines. Their pound shop is well worth a visit for stocking up on odds and ends, I decided to get some of the Papermania colossal pads which have to be the bargain of the day. I got a few packs of buttons, Core'dinations card and the x-cut border system for only £2.49!

Haven't had time for anymore crafting this week, but am just itching to try out the Basic Grey Urban Prairie and Granola paperpacks and the Cosmo Cricket Fleuriste Craft pack that arrived from the US this week. 

Tattie Holidays, birthdays and the camera in the lavvy - argh!!

Well, that's us into the tattie holidays - if you're not from Scotland then you'll probably call it the October Mid Term or Autumn mid term holiday, but up here it's still the tattie holidays (for the uneducated its called that because it co-incides with the potato harvest and generations of kids used to gather potatoes in the fields - I did it and used to make a fortune!, well it was in those days :))

We had a great weekend, Saturday was spent with an old school friend of mine and his family. Adrian and I went to Aboyne Academy together and it must be 20 years since I last saw him. We've been in touch again for about 6 or 7 years but only really online, so it was lovely to catch up in person. His wife Shirley is lovely, they make a terrific team and she was quite happy to show me their local craft shop which I'll tell you all about in a minute. Adrian and Shirley have 2 beautiful little girls; Jess is a wee bit older than my Scott and their youngest, Emily is the same age as Faith. Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera so didn't get any pics.

I also managed to forget my handbag - dinna ask!!! so had to "borrow" Graham's debit card to go to the craft shop....so...... Letham Crafts - well what can I say! I thought i had died and gone to crafty heaven :) what a fantastic shop, its like a rabbit warren, loads of wee rooms leading off other rooms and each one crammed to the rafters with every possible crafty thing you could think of. If you are ever within travelling distance of Letham in Angus then it is well worth a visit. Adrian tells me they even have coach parties arrive at weekends. Now I will warn you, their website is pretty awful IMHO and according to it they only really stock embroidery thread and dolls house furniture, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. In fact I can feel a bit of an adrenaline rush just talking about it. haha

Sunday was Willow's 4th birthday so we had a quieter day after she had opened all her parcels.... Until everyone arrived in the afternoon. My mum and dad arrived first, then Pamela and Michael with Daniel and Emma, and finally Cath and Kyle - so there was complete pandemonium for the rest of the afternoon. Willow had a great day and got thoroughly spoiled.

The weekend ended on a bit of a sour note however, when I discovered my camera down the toilet!!

Yes, Faith had done her latest party trick again and lobbed my poor camera down the pan. Graham managed to salvage the memory card - hence why I managed to post the above photo's, but it looks like my poor wee kodak has lost its life. I was going to ask for a new camera for my xmas from G and the kids so it looks like its now a necessity and not a luxury anymore. Any recommendations anyone? I'm looking for something around the £100-£150 mark, not too complicated but powerful enough to take nice sharp pics in most situations.

I recently took out subscriptions for Scrapbook Magazine (because WH Smith is the only stockist here and its not too handy for me) and Scrapbook Inspirations Magazine. SIM came with the Cosmo Cricket Honey Pie collection and SM came with the Ultimate Crafters Companion which I'm sure is a wonderful thing but I just didn't fancy it so I thought I'd flog it on eBay, which I have done.

Then I had the terribly hard job (:)) of spending the proceeds so I have stocked up on Dress It Up buttons and Cuttlebug embossing folders and dies from Sue Hallam. This woman runs a super shop on eBay and her service is second to none. If you have never bought anything on eBay before then she's the perfect seller to start off with, and if you have bought on eBay before then you have to try her out, highly recommended! I also purchased the Cosmo Cricket Fleuriste 12x12 paper pack, the Basic Grey Urban Prairie and Granola 12x12 paper collections and the Basic Grey precision file set from a lady called blondness73 in the states, so we'll see how long they take to arrive. I just love buying stuff from the states, for the 4 things I have ordered I am cheaper (even including the postage from the US) than I would be here - isn't the internet wonderful?!