Ali's card making blog

Thought I had better get cracking with my Christmas cards! Particularly thought it was time to have a go with my new Dreamweaver snowflake stencil. Have had lots of fun getting messy with embossing paste, glitter and mica powders :-) I'm rather pleased with the look of this card and it was really quick and easy to make, just what is needed for Christmas cards! I am going to enter this card into the following challenges: A Gem of a Challenge - sketch Lothian Crafts - anything goes Whoopsi Daisy Free and Easy

I dug out all my pink stuff for this card, very girly! Heat embossed the image and then matched it with papers and a random butterfly I found in my stash! I am going to enter this card into the following challenges: Pollycraft Monday Challenge - anything goes One stitch at a time - emboss it Stamp something - something with wings Enjoy what's left of the Bank Holiday!

To make up for my absence from blogland lately I thought I would enter this card I made at a class a little while ago into a couple of challenges. I think it is rather effective! It's off to be a birthday card for a work colleague who loves cats tomorrow having been in my cupboard waiting for her birthday to come round since I made it! Still not doing much in the way of crafting at the moment. I am going to take the plunge and buy some alcohol inks on the interweb tonight though as I had a little win on the Grand National at the weekend! I'm also off to a Tim Holtz inspired class on Saturday as well so watch this space for some different bits and pieces hopefully! The challenges I am entering my cheeky cat card into to: Flashback Friday - faux stiching (flashback as the card has been languishing!) Allsorts Challenge blog - anything but a square

Finally got round to spending a good amount of time on some cardmaking this weekend. Great to do something other than Christmas cards (although soon be time to start again for next year...) I'm trying to do a variety of different cards for the box at work and as there are a few babies due imminently thought I would do a baby boy and a baby girl card. Haven't got round to the baby girl one as yet but here is my effort for baby boy! I used a stamp that clever hubby got me not so long ago from a car boot sale (he is very good at picking which stamps I would like out, amazing really since he isn't a crafter!) I'm going to enter this cute card into the following challenges: One stitch at a time - 'new' (baby and stamp!) Totally Gorjuss - cuddly (forever friends, what more can I say?!) Pattie's creations - anything goes Paperplay - cutie Paperplay - cutie patootie Allsorts - teal blue and brown Stamp something - anything goes Have a good Monday evening, appar...

I've been putting the glitter away this week and getting back to stocking up on cards for other occasions, hurrah! Here is a quick one I made last night for a colleague at work, last minute card for her mother in law. I'm rather pleased with the flowers which I got from Create and Craft (don't usually do telly shopping, but couldn't resist these). They are plastic and you heat them with a heat gun and they go all curly. The only thing I'm struggling with a bit is moulding them before they go hard again, but not bad for a first attempt?! I'm going to enter this card into the following challenges: Totally Gorjuss - sketch Patties - Ribbon plus 3 embellishments (paper ribbon plus glitter, gem and ribbon bow) Off to brave the snow and ice on the way to work again now!

Yes, that's right, I have actually made a couple of cards this year without Christmas trees on! This one was made with a cute penny black stamp I got with a magazine subscription. I'm rather pleased with the result, think the gold goes well with the red :-) Loads of snow here today, not sure I will get the car out to get to work tomorrow! I was going to take a photo to show you but was too disorganised and it's gone dark now...oh well. Believe me when I say it is deep though! Just a quick post today as I have a yummy casserole cooking for tea and need to got and see to it. I am going to enter this card into the following challenges: Paper sundaes - adorn those corners Crafty Sentiments - Christmas Crafty Creations - Christmas is coming

I do seem to be having a bit of a Christmas tree theme this year (although haven't posted many of the results here so far, will have to rectify that, lol!) This card was made using a Penny Black stamp I have been using a lot and my other favourite items of the moment - card candy (can't stop sticking it all over) and my gold leaf (well silver in this case) from which I have been making sparkly, glittery 'ribbons' for many of my Christmas cards. I am going to enter this card into the following challenges: Pollycraft Monday Challenge - glittery Christmas The Crafty Pad - Christmas sparkle 2 Sisters - Christmas Ellephantastic - Xmas Penny Black Saturday Challenge - my favourite things Totally Gorjuss - traditional christmas colours Secret crafter Saturday challenge - sparkle and shine

Here is my latest Christmas Card creation, embossed baubles. I'm doing pretty well with the target of 30 Christmas cards and so far have managed 15, so half way there, hurrah! They are all different as well, despite me initially saying that I would make 4 or 5 different ones and then copy them! Today's card is made with an embossing folder from do crafts, stamped greeting, buttons which I won in a challenge, 'ribbon' made from gold leaf (I'm really enjoying playing with that :-), spotty paper left over from last year and a ribbon bow. I am going to enter it into the following challenges: A Spoonfull of Sugar - a relish to embellish Top Tip Tuesday - Christmas inspired The Crafty Pad - Challenge 96 (2 ribbons and a circle) Secret Crafters Saturday Challenge - red and gold The Stamp Man - Christmas Think that's it for now, lol!

Ooops, I've been absent for a little while, more about the reasons why later... Thankfully I have a week off work now so can get on with doing some Christmas cards as well as some more cards to top up my 'for sale' box in the office :-) This card was made with my recently purchased stencil, glitter and embossing glue. I'm pretty pleased with the results and have made a few now, some in purple and some in turquoise. Here is one of the purple ones which I am going to enter into the following challenges: A Spoon full of Sugar - Winter wonderland Craftalicious - Anything Goes Allsorts - song title (Rocking around the Christmas tree) Ellephantastic - anything goes Have a good evening people!

Have been busy with the Christmas cards, done about 10 now and as I need to do in the region of 30-35 then I think I am on track! Hubby very kindly brought me a present of several rubber stamps from the car boot sale the other weekend. This is one of them, he chose rather well didn't he?! The background is my first attempt with Cosmic Shimmer, am rather pleased with the result. I stamped the image and embossed with black embossing powder. The purple panel is embossed with a Cuttlebug folder and the wire has been in my stash for yonks and haven't really used it very much! The gold stars were made with some gold leaf I got recently, am having fun playing with it. I am going to enter this card into the following challenges: The Corrosive Challenge blog - clean up the dust (on account of the wire) and The Crafty Pad - embossing Off to Barcelona tomorrow till Tuesday, yippee :-)

This is a great idea over at the Cowgirls Sunday Stamp'en challenge blog this week. Basically you make a Christmas card for a soldier to send to a loved one (no glitter as could cause safety problems - felt a bit weird making a Chrimbo card with no glitter, but I am pleased with the result!) So here is my card for the challenge which I am going to send off to the soldiers. It seems to be (I think) a US address to send it to so will check the postage at the post office (well, will get hubby to when he is sending off parcels from his ebay empire!) The card was made with a cute Penny Black stamp (coloured with promarkers) which I got as part of a set with a magazine subscription recently and some cuttlebug embossed paper. I am also going to enter the card into the following challenges: Totally Gorjuss - Wild thing (the hedgehog) Cupcake sketch challenge 2 Sisters - Christmas (also collecting cards for the soldiers, contains full explanation of the no glitter rule also!) Sarah Hu...

And here is a very cute digi image, again unfortunately can't recall where I got it from, I really am going to have to start cataloguing them properly ha ha! I had originally started with a sketch (from spoonfull of sugar) but it kind of went a bit awry! Also, the colour scheme was originally going to be purple, brown and cream for another challenge, until I realised this was the for the penny black challenge and this definitely wasn't a penny black image, oops! Anyway, thanks to those two blogs for the initial inspiration, I am now going to enter this into the following challenges: Something cute at stamp something and Anything goes at Cowgirl's sunday stamp challenge

Here is a card I have made for my Gran (in law - I was allowed to adopt her as my granny as had mine still been alive they would both be 110!!) She will be 80 on 15th September. I've also made one for my other Gran in law who shares the same Birthday, how spooky is that! (She is a bit older than 80, about 84 or 5 I think now). Hubby's Birthday is the 16th and then our wedding anniversary is the 18th so I've been a bit busy with the cards, lol! This one is made with one of my floral stamps, stamped with purple ink and then embossed with clear embossing powder. The dragonfly stamp is a Penny Black one. Cuttlebug embossing going on in the background and the paper buttons were a freebie with a magazine. I'm entering this card into the following challenges (shame there wasn't one for embossing a lot lol!): Craftalicious - purple and green Pollycraft-add a little nature Craft your days away - wings (the dragonfly) I was going to enter it for a sketch challenge too but...

I've had a very busy weekend crafting and another day to go today, woo hoo! No work till tomorrow :-) We are off for a walk in the beautiful countryside of North Yorkshire this morning (better wrap up warm, it's freezing!) and then it will be time for more card making this afternoon, might even do some Christmas cards! So what have I been busy making? You might have spotted this new stamp on my desk last week if you are a follower of the WOYWW posts. It is one of the new ones from S.W.A.L.K and I thought it would be perfect for hubby for our 11th wedding anniversary in a couple of weeks time. I've been having a good play with the CD rom that I got with the stamps too, I love the papers and the verses (as I am rubbish at writing my own!) I'm entering the card into the following challenges: Just inspirational - Sketch and C.R.A.F.T - Anything goes (the celebration being the anniversary) Better go and dust off my trusty trainers ready for the walk, more cards later!

Here is the card I have made for hubby's birthday in a few weeks time (shhh...) I have used a digi stamp (can't recall where from sorry!, coloured with promarkers and backed with paper of my Funky Hand Dreams Come True CD. Finished off with a few gems and a sentiment. Hubby really is a beer monster in real life so hopefully he will like it ;-) I am entering this card into the following challenges: August digi day at Stamp Something Challenge 8 at Just Inspirational (going to the pub being the hobby/activity/entertainment) and Cupcake's blue and green challenge

I've made this card for yet another person leaving from where I work! Seems there won't be many of us left if this carries on ;-0 I've used my buttefly stamp as the main element of the card and had another go at paper piecing. I'm very pleased with the result. The butterfly paper is from a book of papers I got from the 'book man' at work. There are some quite unusual papers in it, so watch this space for more cards made from it. The scalloped circles at the back of the card were done using my nesties dies. I'm entering this card into the following challenges: Charisma - die cuts Sweet Something - sketch Have a good rest of Sunday!

Here is another card I made for a male relative - well it was made for the male relative but from hubby's gran rather than from us, I'm not quite old enough to have a grandson myself lol! The card is as simple design and is made from some glitzy peel offs I had in my stash. I am going to enter this into the Ellephantastic Challenge 8: Male Project . Off up to Durham now for a night out with my bestest friend, hopefully won't be too hungover tomorrow, lol!

Here is a cute little card I have made for my friend to give to her mum who has recently been promoted to being a senior usher (not sure if that is the correct term!) at Durham Cathedral. The card is made with a Lily of the Valley printed image, funky hand papers which I got free with a magazine, two different ribbons and two flowers which I got in the pile of stash from the car boot sale the other week! I'm going to enter this card into the Cupcake Craft Challenge - two papers, two ribbons and two flowers.

I just love the Pink Petticoat digistamps, you may have spotted this one on my WOYWW last week, half coloured in. I've used this particular one a few times now, usually for girly birthdays! This one is for the 30th birthday of someone at work. She is a brunette so I have coloured the hair (with my promarkers) of the digi to match! I am going to enter this into the following challenge: Craftalicious 'Birthdays'

Here is a bright and cheerful summery card which I made as a Good Luck card for someone. Made with (yet another!) Penny Black stickeroo, the backing card is cut on my paper trimmer with the bottom border punched with my X Cut punch. Stamped Good Luck and then framed with nesties. I am entering this card into the following challenges: Summer Days Challenge and Bunny Zoe's Crafts Bold and Bright Challenge at the Pollycraft Monday Challenge Anything goes Challenge at The Townscrapper who have made their last post before they go off on their summer holidays (so last chance to join in for a while!) and, last but by no means least, Summer Days Challenge at the Allsorts Challenge Blog Wish me 'Good Luck' and have a good Saturday!