In memory

I've been missing in action for a while as very unexpectedly, my mother died.

I've not felt very creative since and am struggling a bit to make cards.  But I did want to make a tribute to her, so I used my My Memories software to make this page. 

Crafty Cardmakers challenge 69 - distress it

This week at Crafty Cardmakers, the challenge has been set by Feebsy .  She would like you to distress something.  You can use inks, chalks, distressing tools - anything that creates a distressed/shabby chic look to your project.

Unfortunately, due to a family bereavement I am not participating in the challenge this time, but please go over and have a look at the lovely examples provided by the Design Team, and join in with us.  We are sponsored this time by

DIGI DOODLE SHOP

$10 Gift Certificate for the Store

and
We are also sponsored by
HOBBY ART 

We have two gorgeous stamps sets to give away from Hobby Art

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 68 - Balloon images

It's another Crafty Cardmakers challenge, and our Hostess this week is Mynnette

She says 'My birthday is May 13th, so I'd like to see some projects with balloon images!!! :) Any type of balloon will do - hot air balloon, heliumballoon, balloon animal.  And anything birthday will do, but I want a balloon on it :)

Now, I don't often do decoupage, but on this occasion I couldn't resist the teddy bearing balloons for a child's first birthday card.

The base card was a 7 x 5 inch plain white portrait folded card.  I layered it with the balloon backing paper, which was from a Sharon Duncan cd, Country Kids.

The blue "1" was hand drawn (!) and cut out, and I distressed the edges with tumbled glass distress ink.

The teddy bearing balloons came from a diecut sheet I got in a create and craft goody bag, and I layered him up using pinflair gel.  

Finally, the greeting and name was added using peel off stickers - sometimes, they come in very handy!!

We are sponsored this time by

THE STAMPMAN

We are kindly sponsored for this challenge by The Stampman (and Lady of course!) who are offering the winner a £10 voucher for their store, you can spend this online, in the shop or if you're lucky enough to see them at a show! They have a ton of items in store, enough to tickle any crafty taste bud.

and

DI'S DIGI DOWNLOADS

$10 Gift Voucher

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 67 - for the boys...

This week at Crafty Cardmakers we have a new challenge and our Hostess this time is Sally

 

She would like a male themed project.  This could be for a big boy, a little boy or a baby boy, so long as it's male themed.

My card was made for a friends 10 year old nephew.  She was very specific - he liked Jonny Wilkinson and England.

So,  I utilised my pc to print the grass background and used a picture of the rugby player cut from a magazine, mounted onto a card base as the topper.  The card itself was a plain white A4 piece of card folded in half  and then in half again to form an easel.  The rugby ball was stuck on first, and then the rugby player.

A silver piece of card was used as a stopper, and a peel off greeting was placed in the centre.  Finally, I added the child's name and age using peel off letters and the England logo.

End result - an easel card for a rugby mad 10 year old.

We are sponsored for this challenge by

ONE STOP CARD CRAFTS

who are offering a £10 voucher for their store as a prize.

At One Stop Card Crafts we have a big range of ever changing discount making and card making craft supplies.

We are always adding to our range of craft supplies which are ideal for making handmade greeting cards, do-it-yourself invitations scrapbook pages, altered items and much more.

Our card making craft supplies include free UK postage, our popular discount scheme and quick service means our customers keep coming back for more.

Our prices are very competitive and this & makes us an ideal place to buy your card making supplies online. Some of our new products include Petaloo flower layers, Ranger Glitter Glue and Martha Stewart Punches. We also host a regular challenge at http://onestopcraftchallenge.blogspot.com/

and

DIGI DOODLE SHOP

$10 Gift Certificate for the Store

Digi Doodle Shop is the results of a mother and daughter’s love for the arts and crafts. It was started a little over 3 years ago with a little more than 100 stamps, and has since then grown to almost 500 stamps. Joy (the mother of this team) designs realistic images, while Judy (aka/daughter) loves the “fun side of life”, and create images with a cartoon flair. Having these two complimenting styles have enabled Digi Doodle Shop to offer a wide variety of stamps.

 It is a real honor and pleasure to sponsor this challenge, and we look forward to seeing all the amazing creations. We thank the design team for their incredible creations, and wish all the participants the very best of luck in this challenge.

Thank you so much for having us, and again the very best of luck to all of you.

Sincerely,

Judy and Joy

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 66 - Fantasy

Lin is the host this week for the challenge at Crafty Cardmakers and her chosen theme is Fantasy.  Real Life has hit back at me this week, and I haven't managed to make my card for this challenge, but why not pop over and have a go yourself?  We have two fab sponsors -  firstly

CROP STOP

$15 Gift Certificate to the Crop Stop Store

If you’re passionate about paper-crafting whether it be scrapbooking your memories, making cards or altered art, CropStop is your one-stop solution. We offer an extensive selection of dies, embossing folders, inks, stamps and punches by all the popular manufacturers and the CropStop die and embossing folder storage solutions Pocketz Pages™ to keep everything organized. Our selection of embellishments and adhesives is continually expanding and we are excited to be the home of the colorful Ribbon Candy™.

In need of inspiration? Visit the CropStop Gallery, Blog or Message Board and participate in a competition or class. If you have questions concerning your machine, we have a team of experts waiting to help you.

• Message Board - come and meet like minded paper-crafters.
• Blog - we have prizes and giveaways every week.
• Gallery - lots of inspiration from all over the world.
• YouTube - demonstrations, how-to’s, projects and much more.
• FaceBook page - be the first to know of new arrivals in the store.
• Twitter - we always find something worth Twittering!

CropStop ships internationally as well as domestic. Our personalized customer service is only one of our strengths. Call or come visit us at www.CropStop.com and see what’s new in the world of paper-crafting.

and our second sponsor is

DI'S DIGI DOWNLOADS

$10 Gift Voucher

I have been drawing since a child and studied graphics at College many years ago, I now work as a Medical photographer part time but my love was always drawing. I started cardmaking about 4yrs ago when I bought my daughter a cardmaking kit which we did together, but I’m afraid I got the bug! My daughter preferred scrapbooking. I then started looking online at other blogs and this then became my passion and I loved sharing my cards with likeminded people.

I love stamping and loved finding images, but sometimes I could not find what I wanted so I started to draw myself. This then has become my second addiction and I have never looked back, I love thinking of new images, and its just fabulous to see others take them and make them into beautiful works of art. Long may it continue!

Joanna Sheen has blog candy...

Joanna Sheen has some spiffing blog candy on offer on her challenge blog - this fab 7 Gypsies 8x8 conservatory paperstack. 

Why not pop on over there and have a look?