Ali's card making blog

I haven't been too successful with my little card sales box at work over the last few weeks for some reason. Perhaps it has become part of the furniture now so people aren't noticing it so much (or it could be because everyone seems to either be on holiday, off sick, or to have left)?! I recalled that this time last year I sold quite a few cards as thank yous for children's teachers. So I thought I would make a few that would be suitable for this purpose this weekend and send an email round my previous customers on Monday. We will see how it goes! Here is the first one which I did yesterday, made with a cute penny black stickeroo. I am going to enter it into the following challenges: Craftalicious challenge 3 - cute Penny's paper crafty challenge 33 - 7/7

Well it's that time of the week again, comes around quick doesn't it?! I'm writing this very early on Wednesday morning (well, very early for me, 7.40am, others tell me this isn't very early at all!) as I have a bit more time this morning. Unfortunately the reason for having a bit more time is not that fantastic, I'm going to the dentist :-( Only for a check up but I hate going due to my overly sensitive stupid teeth! So, what's on my desk this week? Not that much has changed since last week really as what with hubby getting a new toy (Mazda MX5) and me going away to visit a friend at the weekend, I haven't had that much time for crafting. I managed to do an hour or so last night so took the photos then. On the desk you can see a couple of Craftrak cards, one is an 'England' themed card for the World Cup - better get it sent before we get knocked out (please don't lynch me, my theory is if I am very sceptical and negative then maybe I will b...

Hello fellow woywwers (that's assuming you are a fellow WOYWW blogger, if not and you haven't got a clue what I am going on about, check it out at Julia's blog here ) Sorry I didn't get around to posting last week. To my shame I didn't manage to do a one year anniversary project nor did I get time to even post an ordinary post, life is just way too hectic! I'm actually typing this up on Tuesday evening ready for posting as yet again I won't have time tomorrow. I have to type quick as well as I have just discovered a brand new 'Zumba' class on at my local leisure centre so I want to give that a go and it starts in half an hour! No rest for the wicked eh?! Well, TA-DAH, here at last is my new crafting corner in the conservatory. Didn't take long for it to become a complete and utter tip really did it, lol?? Shame about the rain teaming (or should that be teeming?) down the conservatory windows really! It's still light enough to craft on a...

I'm getting into this challenge thing now, especially as I now (as of yesterday afternoon) have my craft area set up in the conservatory! No more tidying everything away, hurrah!! So, I came across the Allsorts Challenge Blog and decided to enter their challenge this week, which is 'black, white and one other'. You can visit their blog and this week's challenge here My card used a gold decoupage flower I have had for a while and have been waiting for some inspiration to use. The white backgound is embossed and cut using my favourite new(ish) toy, the Cuttlebug. The black and white background is from my funky hand CD, I love all the different patterns and colours you can print out from that range. Topped off with a bow and a simple greeting. More about my craft room later :-)

I was having a virtual chat with a fellow crafter yesterday about creativity. Now, I have never considered myself as a very creative person at all. At school I was always bottom of the art class and dropped it as soon as I could. I did, however always enjoy other ways of being creative, but had never really thought of them as being 'creative'. I suppose I always had the opinion that you had to be able to draw or paint to be truly creative. My school age self was however good at creative writing (seem to have lost that skill now however, or maybe not, maybe it will return as I add more blog posts lol..) knitting and cookery. The knitting has now gone as things seemed to get baggier as I got older for some reason, but I still love cooking and messing about with recipes and different ingredients in the kitchen. Last night I cooked dinner for some friends and was very proud of my pudding, tweaked from a recipe in the TV chef Jamie Oliver's book. It is meringue with peaches, cre...

Well after all the comments about my very tidy workspace last time I thought I would take a picture of it in full crafting flow this time! Still looks a bit tidy though! Basically I have to share my craft space with the dining room table so have to clear everything away whenever we want to eat which is a bit of a pain! Items you can see on the table therefore include vinegar bottle, brown sauce and salt and pepper, lol! So, one of my favourite items is on my table this week, my Sakura glaze pens, I love them they are so shiny and versatile. I've used them here on acetate with some glittery outline stickers which I had in my stash. Then I've cut them out and layered them up - here is the finished result. The card also incorporates the use of my Cuttlebug which you can see near the tv. Still a new item for me and I am loving it! I've just got some new nestabilities (labels) delivered and I was going to take a photo of them too but unfortunately I had a bit of a disaster with ...

A lovely time was had by all at Centerparcs this week, I just love it there it's so relaxing :-) We went to the Whinfell site, the one with the red squirrels, I adore them, they are so cute! Where we were staying we saw two or three each morning right outside the door so I was well chuffed! My Mum and Dad, who live in Kendal so only about half an hour away from Whinfell, came to visit us on the Wednesday. It was then it clicked that as they are going away to France for a month in their caravan (an annual thing now they are retired) on May 22nd I am going to have to crack on and make a Fathers Day card and also a birthday card for my Mum to send to them before they go. After spending some time planting things in my newly dug over garden yesterday morning, I finally got round to doing some crafting in the afternoon. I don't know about you but I find it really difficult to find ideas for male cards? Girls' cards are just so much easier to make. I had a good trawl through...

I just love daffodils, they are such a welcome sight in Spring I think. Here is a lovely vase full on my mantelpiece next to a Spring themed card which I received from my friend Kathleen on Craftrak. I love the sheep stamp, very cute :-)

Well I haven't had nearly as much time as I had hoped to get stuck into card making this weekend. We had the garden re-turfed and the overgrown shrubs dug out this week, so hubby and I set to pressure washing the patio yesterday morning. Just need to regravel the gravelled bit and plant some new plants now, photos to follow once it is finished! So, after that and also a 2 hour stint in the hairdressers yesterday there was no time left. Today I've been busy packing for our trip to Centerparcs and also took time to visit the local farmers market, yummy roast pork for tea as a result ;-) I did manage to do a couple of cards this afternoon - I've used the bunny stamp which was in my WOYWW last week to do a baby girl first birthday card for a colleague at work. I've also been playing with my nestibilities, they are great, I can't wait to own the whole set! I also saw some Spellbinders pendant dies on Create and Craft this morning, they look fabulous, but I refuse t...

Alizabethy @ http://alizabethy.blogspot.com is offering some girly candy. Do go along and have a look at her lovely blog. Open until 31st May.

I do really need to stop buying so much stash! Buying card making related items has replaced my previous passion for buying lots of clothes that I never wear, now I just buy craft stuff that I don't have time to use ;-) New items this week included some rectangular nestabilities and some scalloped circle nestabilities for my (new earlier in month!) Cuttlebug! I didn't pay full price though, they are soooo expensive aren't they?! Got them on ebay for around £14 a set, bargain! I've also got a stamp on order and a butterfly embossing folder. I also got a set of stamps last weekend at a craft shop I discovered in Whitby. 3 of them are Smirk Stamps so I'm enjoying playing with those! Anyhow, I was supposed to be going to a card making class yesterday to get some inspiration for what to do with all my new stuff. However, I was streaming with cold so thought I wouldn't go and infect everyone but would stay in and use the internet for inspiration instead. It wa...

I rescued this flower fairy decoupage today from down the back of my craft drawers! The sheets come in sets of 3 and I must have done the other two then shoved the third unceromoniously into the drawer! My drawer got stuck and when I peered into the back, there was this little fairy waiting to be rescued! Luckily she was still in perfect condition and waiting to be turned into something pretty ;-)