Crafting Musketeers Challenge - Anything Goes

Hello lovelies!

It's challenge time again over at the 

Crafting Musketeers 

The theme is 

'Anything Goes'

Our fabulous sponsor this month is

The Paper Shelter 

I've made this Christmas Card using a lovely image from The Paper Shelter.

Such a cute image!

Don't forget to hop over to the Crafting Musketeers challenge blog and see lot's more goreous design team inspiration.

Have fun and happy crafting,

lot's of love

Nicola 

XXX

Petal Lu Challenge - Anything Goes

Hello lovelies!

I can't believe we are in December already. This year has just flown by. It's a busy time at  work for me, I do enjoy the Christmas rush. I have to confess though that I've hardly made any Christmas cards except for design team ones! It's a time thing...eek!

Anyway so as usual, the challenge theme is anything goes.

So, I've made a quick and simple Christmas Card using one of the gorgeous trio stamp sets from Lili of the Valley. I've used the beautiful Petal Lu flower at the top of each stamp.

Hop over to the PETAL LU CHALLENGE BLOG  to see lot's more gorgeous design team inspiration. You can buy the beautiful Petal Flowers HERE 

Have fun and happy crafting,

lots of love

Nicola 

XXX

Petal Lu Challenge - Anything Goes

Hello lovelies!

It's challenge time again over at 

PETAL LU 

The theme is

'Anything Goes'.

I've made a Christmas card for my design team project this time.

I love this cute digi, this bear is adorable from Lili of the Valley. 

I've coloured using Promarkers.

You can buy the beautiful Petal Lu flowers HERE 

Hop over to the challenge blog to see lot's more gorgeous design team inspiration,

have fun and happy crafting,

lots of love 

Nicola 

XXX

My Making Cards Magazine Project...

Hello lovelies!

 

Well today I am very excited to be able to show you a project that I made for Making Cards Magazine.

 

I am absolutely delighted to be in the December issue of this fantastic magazine.

 

I used a stamp from Lili of the Valley 'James The Snow Angel' and coloured with Letraset Promarker's.

 

 

I love this stamp it is so cute!

 

Thanks for stopping by,

happy crafting

lots of love

Nicola

XXX

 

 



The Crafting Musketeers October Challenge...My Design Team Card...

Hello lovelies!

 

Well, October already! The time is certainly flying by.

Before we know it, we will be at Christmas and looking forward to all the things the festive season brings. I must admit I do enjoy the run up to it, trying to get organised.

 

We have another fantastic challenge this month over at

 

The Crafting Musketeers 

 

It is a great theme for Challenge 6...

 

' Christmas In October'.

 

We would love to see your festive creations for this theme. We have a terrific sponsor too...( I am slightly biased as well because I am married to this month's sponsor..lol).

 

Darren Saul from Bridlington Stationer's has kindly sponsored the challenge for this month with a fabulous prize of the Letraset Promarkers Autumn/Winter Limited Edition Collection for 2013.

 



 Bridlington Stationers is owned by Darren Saul.
Established in 1986, Bridlington Stationers Limited is a company brimming with experience. We are a customer focused business supplies company delivering over 30,000 products available on a next day delivery basis on a local and national scale.

Our commitment to personal and friendly service ensures a high level of continuity. We are here to advise, recommend and supply the office products that you need to assist in the smooth running of your business. Our aim is to save you money, save you time and give you the opportunity to buy all your office needs from under one roof.

 

Bridlington Stationers also stock Promarkers and a wide selection of Artist Materials !

 

A website will be available soon.

 

This is a fabulous prize. The colours are gorgeous, I just know you will love using them if you are the lucky winner of this months challenge.

 

Here is my 'Christmas In October' card...

 

 

I have used the Crafter's Companion Makey Bakey Mice Collection.

 

I love these traditional colours together. Making this card has certainly got my Christmas Mojo going!

 

Myself and the rest of the design team would love too see your creations for the challenge. Hop over to the

 

CRAFTING MUSKETEERS

 

Challenge Blog to see the rest of the design team inspiration.

 

Thank you for stopping by today, I always appreciate your visits and your lovely comments.

 

Have fun and happy crafting,

lots of love

Nicola

XXX

 

 

 



PRODUCT REVIEW - DREAMEES....

Hello lovelies and welcome to my product review.

 

Before I go on, you may ask yourself why I do these product review's? Maybe your thinking perhaps I have an association with the companies, why do I do it?

 

Here's why......I am a passionate crafter...who loves all things craft! Over the years of crafting I have bought lots of craft goodies, from die-cutting machines to stamps, cds, pens and the list goes on and on. On occassions I have been very undecided when buying things and sometimes wished I could be helped to decide....do I really need it? Do I really want it?

So, that's where my review comes in!

I am a crafter, using things daily like all other crafter's so I speak as I find the product's, honestly and  how I've used them and do I think they are good value.

 

I just like to share, what I use, why I use it and would I recommend you to buy it!

 

So, here goes.....my review this time is a fabulous company called

 

dreamees

 

Designer's of original artwork CD's, stamps & accessories.

 

Dreamees officially became a manufacturer of polymer plates/stamps on 1st January 2012.

Hayley does original artwork and took pencil to paper and drew all the topper images. Hayley produces stamps, cd's, accessories herself as she is an independant artist.

 

I bought my stamps at the NEC when Dreamees had a stand their a few weeks ago. I have met Carol and Hayley a couple of times now. What I love about the Mother and Daughter team is how friendly they both are, how they love what they do, their enthusiasm is like a feel good tonic! Very hard worker's, who enjoy bringing you fantastic designs.

 

The products are excellent quality, they are so versatile to make any project you wish to wether it be cardmaking, scrapbook or altered art. You have so much choice with designs wether its stamps or the cd's. An important point too is that all the products are such good value, without skimping on quality. I can vouch for how fabulous they are as I have been using them all day and the stamps have given me excellent, crisp images. The quality of the paper designs when printed out are fantastic.

 

You can also make as many cards as you like. On the website Hayley says...

"You are free to use them a million times if you wish and we don't mind!"

Which is brilliant if you make large quantities of cards as there are no limits to how many you can make using Dreamees Products.

 

The CD's are in jpg format, meaning you can use them with any graphics program.

 

There is a great selection of good quality, great value STAMPS on the website!

 

I have just made three projects using the stamps I bought. I absolutely love the stamps!

 

I used these...

 

 

To make this ...

 

 

I have coloured the heart and sentiments with promarkers, the ribbon is velvet and all the papers are from the cd which I will show you at the end.

 

My next project I made using these stamps ...

 

 

To decorate this...

 

To look like this ...

 

 

I stamped all the flowers onto pink papers from the cd. I cut them all out and arranged them as shown. I have added stickle centres and a ribbon hanger. I am hanging this in my craft room, I love it!

 

My final project today is made using these ...

 

 

I have just used the sentiment stamp from the bottom set....this is what I made...

 

 

I have stamped the images and used Wow embossing powders, I also used embossing powders around the edge of the card too.

 

This is the cd all of these papers and embellishments are from ...

 

 

Prices of the products vary but they are very reasonable so check out the website

 

dreamees

 

also they have a blog too which you can find

 

HERE

 

I hope you have enjoyed my review today. Dreamees is a company that will grow and grow and I for one will be excited to follow their journey as they do. Hayley is a very talented person and she will have an exciting future, and bring you exciting new designs.

 

I am sure you will enjoy browsing the dreamees website, the service is excellent too.

 

Have fun and happy shopping and crafting,

till next time,

lots of love

NJ XXX

 

 

 

 



Kanban Quick Christmas Cards.....

Hello lovelies,

 

Wow what a busy night of blogging!LOL

 

I just wanted to share with you four very quick and easy Christmas cards I have made using Kanban Santa Cutie Toppers and Christmas Cuties Toppers.

 

I have used some papers I already had in my craft stash.

 

 

In the run up to Christmas we all know how short on time we can be. I just wanted to show you four very quick makes to speed up that Christmas Crafting!

 

Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog I really appreciate it.

 

Have fun and happy crafting,

lots of love

NJ XXX

 

 



Sweet Gingerbread, Today's Post at Studio 12...

Hello lovelies,

 

Today is my turn to post over at the fabulous

 

STUDIO 12 AT POLKADOODLES BLOG 

 

I have made a Christmas card using a sweet gingerbread character from the

 

STUDIO 12 PICKNIX COLLECTION 2 - GINGERBREAD TWIST 

 

I absolutely love this cd, so many gorgeous, scrummy images to use and lots of lush backing papers and digis too!

 

I wanted to give my card a distressed feel so I tore the edges and inked with Distress Inks....

 

 

I love the gingerbread characters!

 

Also have you seen the fantastic new dvd by Nikky?

 

COLOUR THERAPY WITH NIKKY DVD

 

It is fantastic, Nikky shows you how to colour sepia tones, hair and skin tones and much more!

 

Thanks for stopping by and looking at my card today,

look forward to your next visit!

 

Have fun and happy crafting,

lots of love

NJ XXX

 



I Heart Christmas.....Studio 12 Post.....

Hello lovelies,

 

It is my turn to post today over at the fabulous

 

STUDIO 12 AT POLKADOODLES BLOG

 

I decided I would go for something quite simple so I chose to make a very quick Christmas card!

 

I have used the PICKNIX COLLECTION 2 - GINGERBREAD TWIST and kept the embellishment simple using only twine!

 

 

I love the ticket greeting, its really cool!

 

Have you seen the fantastic new dvd brought to you by our very own Nikky?

 

COLOUR THERAPY WITH NIKKY DVD

 

Click the link above to see what the excitement is all about and to order your copy!

 

Also, don't forget that Polkadoodles will be at the GNPE in Harrogate this week-end

Saturday 6th & Sunday 7th

 

GNPE HARROGATE

 

It will be a fantastic fun filled week-end and I hope you stop by and say hello, I will be working on the Polkadoodles stand. Let me tell you I am beyond excited, lol. I look forward to seeing you there!

 

Have a fantastic week-end,

have fun and happy crafting,

lots of love

NJ XXX

 

 

 



Studio 12 at Polkadoodles October Giveaway...

Hello lovelies,

 

Well it's the end of September which can only mean one thing! It is time for the October Giveaway over at

 

STUDIO 12 AT POLKADOODLES

 

Click on the link above to hop over and find out about the giveaway and also to see some fab creations from the design team.

 

My project for this is a Christmas Card. I have made an easel card and printed off the gorgeous papers from the Picknix Collection 2 - Gingerbread Twist. I wanted to show off how beautiful these Poinsetta papers are, they are just too lovely to cover up. I just had to add lace and pins, I love these!

 

 

I think these colours go well together, just a twist on the Christmas Card!

 

Have fun and happy crafting,

lots of love

NJ XXX



Reindeer Love at Studio 12....

Hello lovelies,

 

Well it is my turn today to post over at

 

STUDIO 12 AT POLKADOODLES

 

I wanted to share with you a quick Christmas Card I have made using the gorgeous new

 

PICKNIX COLLECTION 2 - GINGERBREAD TWIST

 

I absolutely love the reindeer, so cute!

 

 

I love the little heart hanging off the antler's. I have added lace and bead trim for texture.

 

Make sure you tune into Create & Craft TV for the Polkadoodles show on

 

Saturday 29th September

 

at

 

12 noon

 

with the fantistic Rosemary Merry.

 

Have fun and happy crafting,

lots of love

NJ XXX



Docrafts Creativity Club Sketch....

Hello lovelies,

 

I hope you are all well.

 

I thought I would show you another card I have made using one of the Creativity Club Daily Sketches, which is available to download if you are a member of the

 

DOCRAFTS CREATIVITY CLUB

 

If you are'nt a member yet, just click on the link above to see where you can join. You get fabulous discounts in the online store, special offers, daily sketch downloads, Creativity TV and much, much more. Excellent value membership!

 

Anyhoo, for my card this time I wanted to show you how you can use a daily sketch with the Docrafts Digital Designer Collections.

 

I have used Daily Sketch 51 Designed by Katy Godbeer and for my papers and embellishments I have used the Docrafts at Christmas Time Digital Designer.

 

 

Products used...

 

Docrafts Creativity Club Daily Sketch 51 ~ Docrafts Papermania at Christmas Time Digital Designer ~ 8x8 Papermania Kraft card blank ~ Docrafts X-Cut Nesting Dies Scalloped Squares ~ Papermania self-adhesive silver dew drops ~ Gold Glitter Glue ~ Clear Glitter Glue ~ 3D foam pads

 

How to make...

 

1. Decide which paper you would like to use and print off 1 sheet. Trim to size leaving a border of the kraft card showing.

2. Print off a co-ordinating sheet of holly paper and using a small scalloped square, die- cut four squares.  Attach these as shown with foam pads.

3. Add dots of gold glitter glue along the centre, inbetween the four squares.

4. Select a flower of your choice from the Papermania at Christmas Time, resize the flower to fairly small, copy this 15 times, print out and cut the flowers out.

5. Use a foam pad to attach each flower to the card as shown and embellish the centres with dew drops.

6. Finally print a greeting, trim to size so it fits on the first square, decorate with glitter glue.

 

I think this card shows off the sketch that I chose really well. I like the flowers, it's just a different twist on the traditional Christmas Card, but in keeping with traditional colours!

 

I hope you have enjoyed your visit, thank you so much for stopping by!

 

Have fun and happy crafting,

lots of love

NJ XXX

 

 



Polkadoodles DT Card.....

Hello lovelies,

 

well it's that time of the week again where we have another fantastic challenge over at the

 

POLKADOODLES CHALLENGE BLOG

 

The theme this week is

 

'Song Title'

 

Your project this week must depict a song title. For my card I have used the

 

POLKADOODLES HERE COMES CHRISTMAS CD

 

I have inked the card using distress ink and I have used a snowflake punch on the papers and embellished with the punched out snowflakes. I have finished with stickles to add some sparkle..the song is 'Frosty The Snowman'.

 

 

I bet your singing the first line lol......

 

 

Have fun and happy crafting,

lots of love

NJ XXX



Polkadoodles Samples for Create & Craft TV......

Woo Hoooooo.........Here Comes Christmas..........

Hello my lovelies and a very merry hello it is too lol. I wanted to share with you all the samples I have made for the fabulous Polkadoodles shows that were on Create & Craft TV today using the gorgeous new

Here Comes Christmas CD 

I absolutely loved working with this CD. It is so easy to navigate around and all the elements are absolutely gorgeous.

I thought I would share with you all the samples I made for the shows.......

I hope you enjoyed looking at my samples and thank you for taking the time to see them.

I just know you will love using the

Here Comes Christmas CD

Have fun and happy crafting,

lots of love

NJ XXX

Christmas Card for my Husband - entering into the Joanna Sheen Challenge

Hello my lovelies, this is the Christmas card I have just made tonight for my lovely husband. I am also entering it into the Joanna Sheen challenge

Christmas Card

http://joannasheenchallenge.blogspot.com/search/label/Joanna%20Sheen%20Challenge%201

I have made the card blank using Spellbinders Grand Nestabilities Labels Eleven.

I matted and layered using the various sizes in the set. The decorative paper is Forever Friends Retro Collection A Christmas Tale. The stamped image is from Tatty Button Tattys Christmas Tree which I have coloured with whispers pens and sakura pens. I have embellished with hat pins, stick pins, ribbon and greetings.

Thanks for looking, I hope you like it,

love NJ XX

Christmas Cards

Good evening my lovelies,

just thought I would show you these Christmas cards I have made this afternoon.

I have used a mixture of products to make them...

Fizzy Moon decoupage,pyramage and papers,First Edition Festive Treats paper pad,

Papermania Deck the halls paper pad,elements and holographic lace stickers

and Craftwork Candi...

Hope you like them and thanks for looking,

lots of love NJ XX



Design Team Project for the Glitter Geeks Challenge

Hello my lovelies. Well so here we are Friday night, I hope you are all looking forward to a fab week end ahead!

As you may have read in my earlier chatter I am now a Design Team member for the fabulous Glitter Geeks

http://glittergeeks.blogspot.com/

This weeks challenge is to use a Digi stamp called Rudy,

so as soon as I saw him I knew exactly what I wanted to make. I decided to make a Christmas scene and I printed out 9 Rudy's, because that is how many Santa used to deliver our pressies!LOL

Can you remember all their names.........if you can't here's what they are all called...

Dancer, Dasher, Prancer, Vixen, Cupid, Comet, Blitzen, Donner and of course my favourite Rudolph the red nose reindeer.

So heres what I made........

A Christmas Scene...

To make this I used thick A4 white card for the base and covered in Christmas themed decorative paper. I inked the edges with red ink.

I printed out 9 Rudy digi stamps and coloured them in with my Polychromo pencils. I made sure I coloured 1 Rudy with a red nose and all the other's with a brown nose.

I then drew tabs at the bottom of the feet and carefully cut out the images making sure the tabs are attached to the feet. These tabs are glued down to the base, this is how the Rudy's are able to stand up. Once cut out, put aside till ready to use.

I then made a sleigh out of red card and covered with decorative paper. I used a santa head topper, and stuck it to the top of the head rest on the sleigh. I cut a bauble die cut so that it would fit just under the head making it look like Santas body. I attached the sleigh to the base with pinflair and then glued various diecuts and embellishments in and around the sleigh.

I used pinflair to then stick each of the Rudy's to the base. Make sure you have two rows of 4 and  Rudolph at the very front. Apply the glue to the tabs and press down firmly. I then used red stickles on top to blend them into the rest of the colour scheme. Add various embellishments and die cuts to the base to make a Christmassy scene. Finally I wrote the names on the fronts with a fine pen and threaded red ribbon through from the front to the back and tied in a knot so this looks like the reigns.

The great thing about this project is you can use any colour scheme you wish and vary the embellishments to suit what you may already have in your crafty stash!

I loved making this and it is now sat on show in my dining room.

I hope you join us at this weeks Glitter Geeks challenge, I would love to see you there,

have fun, happy crafting and have a lovely week end,

lots of love NJ XX



My 52 Christmas Card Marathon........

A happy hello from me my crafting lovelies. Well, as promised here is how I made 52 Christmas Cards in one batch last night. I started at 7pm and finished just before midnight.

When I have a lot of cards to make I find the easiest way of batch making them is to choose two simple colour schemes. The two chosen for these cards are red and white and blue and green. Hope you enjoy reading how I did it.

First of all I had 52 sheets of A4 white card

Score them in half using a score board to make your A5 card blanks

Decide on your chosen decorative paper and trim to fit the card, but so it will leave a border.

Apply double sided tape to the back of the paper

Attach each sheet of paper to your card fronts

Choose a selection of plain cards in co-ordinating colours. I've chosen pearlescent card and linen textured card

Trim to fit over the paper making sure you leave a border of the paper showing. Attach with 3d foam pads

Use a digital image or a stamp of your choice. I chose to use a digital image as this saves time on colouring if you have a lot to make and not much time. The images I chose are from the Serif Craft Artist Platinum discs

I chose to do a Snowman on a spotty red background and a Christmas Tree on a Blue snowy background. I scaled the images to fit an A4 sheet and printed out the amount I would need.

I used my craft knife and metal edged ruler to then cut them into separate images

I then attached each image to the upper centre of the cards using foam pads

Next I chose  two greetings to use from the DoCrafts Digital Designer Forever Friends Retro Collection

I chose the greetings to co-ordinate with the image and colour scheme chosen

Use scissors to trim around each greeting, then fix to your cards using foam pads

I wanted to keep the embellishments simple, so I chose to use Candi. A gold Candi on the tree top and either side of the greeting. Red and matt gold Candi for the snowman buttons. Attach using foam pads.

I always stamp the back of my cards with my name using memento ink

Type your chosen verse using your Word program and print out

Score and fold, then trim the edges slightly to fit the card

Use double-sided tape on each side and then attach inside your card

Here are your finished cards in the two designs chosen

Finally, 52 Christmas Cards

Why 52 Christmas Cards in one go you may wonder? My husband is President of his local Rotary Club and asked if I would make a card for each member, of which there are 52!

If you decide to have a go at batch making your cards, I find this is the quickest and easiest way of doing so many in one session. Do each stage at a time, this way it is speedier than finishing one card and moving onto the next. Also stick to a simple colour scheme with just minimal embellishments.

I will be having another session like this one as I have a lot of cards to send to my clients at the salon.

I hope you've enjoyed my card marathon lol, if you decide to give it a go I hope you have fun doing it,

happy crafting,

lots of love NJ XXX