A belated Merry Christmas and an early Happy New Year!

Hello crafty peeps and welcome to my crafty nook! I hope you've all had a brilliant Christmas so far and are enjoying the snow if you have been 'blessed' by it! I love it when it snows as long as I get to stay cosy and warm inside lol. We haven't had any this time but it's still rather cold and I am very grateful for the new central heating system even if it did cause a lot of mayhem having it fitted a few months back. It's been a quiet but exciting Christmas for us here in my crafty nook. It started with some sad news - Quick Card Made Easy announced on Facebook that their January issue of the magazine would be the very last. I think I've got the very first issue or at least  some of the very first of the publication in a cupboard, I probably haven't got every issue as I missed some when I damaged my back about ten years ago and I wasn't able to get to the newsagents to buy QCME but I have been subscribing ever since (some may have got lost or damaged during various moves too) so it's an end of an era really. It's made even more poignant by the fact I've finally got to take part in the sketch challenge (I've been applying for nearly a year!) and my card is featured on page 69. The magazine went on sale yesterday and it would be great if as many people as possible purchase the magazine not just because my card is in it (though feel free to do so - I'd be incredibly flattered!) but to show our support of a wonderful publication that has given years of inspiration and helped me (certainly) and many others become better crafters - who knows if enough new people buy the magazine then they may change their mind and start it up again.

As usual, I was making cards until Christmas Eve but I think most people actually got Christmas cards made by me (though they may not have got them yet - I was late posting them!) and those who didn't will hopefully be getting New Year's cards instead. Christmas was a quiet affair at home with just my husband, my mum and I enjoying a roast chicken with the trimmings. Things took a bit longer to make then expected and in the rush to get down to the taxi in time, my mum didn't put her glasses away properly and has now lost them - I think she kind of blames me for not being more organised with the meal because she was decidedly frosty with me when I rang her this evening. I've not felt very well since Christmas Day - no I didn't give myself food poisoning though I may have over indulged when it came to the stuffing! - so I've not done much apart from feeling sorry for myself. I've not even been online that much and as a result I didn't find out my youngest niece on my side of the family finally had her baby girl on the 27th December (she was due on the 16th!) Isabella-Rose (isn't that a lovely name) is beautiful and is my second great-niece born this year!

One of my best presents (and I got some great presents this year) was from my lovely mum and dad-in-law who bought me a gorgeous Polaroid iG128 digital camera (purple one of my favourite colours!) so I've no longer any excuse if my cards look rubbish on this blog - yep the card's naff, it's not down to my old camera anymore - saying that the photos I'll be sharing soon were taken using my old camera because (a) most were made before Christmas and (b) I've not been able to use it before now because it won't take photos without a memory card (now purchased and installed). I may still use my old camera from time to time but that's just because I can charge it via a USB whereas my new camera requires AAA batteries and I've a feeling it maybe a bit of a battery hog - I may have to buy a charger and re-chargeable batteries if it goes through them quickly. I'm hoping to make YouTube video tutorials but not sure at this point as I couldn't get the sound on the video playback on the camera, it might not have sound on the camera but does once it's uploaded, I'll just have to wait and see. I'll also have to rig something up in my crudy (challenging as there isn't much space!)

Here are a selection of my recent cards including Christmas cards, Baby's first Christmas card, birthday cards and A New Baby card. As this is already a huge post I won't be adding any details - if you are curious about products or methods used then please leave a comment in the usual place.

 
These are only about half the cards I made because I didn't take photos of the rest of them. I think my favourite of this lot is the 10th birthday card I made for my nephew who turned 10 today (29th December), it's always a bit hit or miss making sure he gets his card on time because of the Christmas post so I was extra pleased that he got in time for his birthday. I'm not sure if he does like to dress up as a robot but I bought this Personal Expressions stamp with him in mind about six months ago. I did try to colour it in using metallic pencils on kraft card but preferred it on white card and using ProMarkers. I used the kraft piece to make a pocket inside to hide some money - I know you're not supposed to send money through the post but a bank transfer to his mum's account seems a bit impersonal (yes I know money is too but at least it's there for him on the actual day - better than waiting until he sees me in person!) Anyway it got to him ok and I think he likes the card. Charlie hasn't got the card from us for Isabella-Rose so it's a bit naughty of me to share it on here but tbh I don't think Charlie reads this blog so she won't see it before it arrives at her home.

I hope you've enjoyed my latest makes, sorry it's been so long since I've added a blog post, the run up to Christmas always goes so quickly and I've not really had time to blog until now. Hopefully now the Christmas frenzy is over for another year (but this isn't the last of my Christmas makes - I'm going to make at least two Christmas cards a month!) I should have time to blog more often and with my snazzy new camera, I don't have any excuses! If you have any questions or comments then please leave them in the usual places and until next time - keep crafting!

Love and crafty hugs,

Sarah xxx

A couple of cards to share

Hello crafty peeps and welcome to my crafty nook! I hope you are all well and are enjoying the weekend. Since I last wrote a few wonderful things have happened - my husband and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary and I became a great-auntie for the fourth time! My eldest niece had her third daughter about a week ago and she's called Grace which I think is a beautiful name.

Here is the card I made for Beth and her partner Tom.

I was a little late making this card because my little die cutting machine (Sizzix Side Kick) has been playing up and my full sized machine (Sizzix Big Shot) is pretty much kaput as well so I've been waiting for a replacement machine to arrive from The Works (a review on the machine to follow). This card is a top folding US A2 sized card so 4 1/4" x 5 1/2". For the life of me, I can't remember what paper pack I used for the background paper and envelope - I must be having a senior moment! The pram die, double heart and baby bottle (on the envelope) were die cut out of pink Centura Pearl card stock and I went over the metallic areas with a silver metallic Pro-Marker and the inlaid pieces were coloured with a Lavender Spectrum Noir Shimmer brush marker. I added hot pink flat backed pearls to the wheels of the pram and around the heart (on the latter to hide some glue that had oozed out). The baby girl sentiment was stamped onto white card stock, coloured with Baby Pink and Pale Pink Pro-Markers and then fussy cut out. The stamp set used was a Crafter's Companion Sara's Signature Collection stamp set called Little Angel. They were added to the card front using sticky pads. I added some sheer pink ribbon to the top and layered some crochet trim over it as shown. The matching envelope was made using my WRMK envelope punch board.

My next card is the one I made my husband for our wedding anniversary.

Sorry this photo is on it's side, I wanted to show the star borders that were added later

       I used Forever Friends Opulent A5 Paper Pack for the background paper, I love the combination of the dark blue and warm copper foil. The world stamp came from an unbranded stamp set purchased from eBay and is a brilliant set for masculine or travel themed cards. It comes with the globe stand and a number of different globes showing various areas of the world - I chose the most well known one that features Europe and Africa etc but there are stamps that show the Americas, Asia and Australia and one that I'm afraid I couldn't identify as geography isn't my strong suit. There's also quite a few sentiments and small add on images such as map pins, a paper airplane and hearts perfect for building up the card. I chose the sentiment And i think to myself, what a wonderful world (little i is how it's written on the stamp) as it's one of my husband's favourite songs. I used another unbranded stamp for the There is no greater love than ours sentiment and the Happy Anniversary stamp is one from a Crafter's Companion Love sentiments stamp set. I felt that the inside was lacking somewhat after I took the original photos so added some sparkly gold foam star strips to the edges of the inside to finish it off. Chris absolutely loved his card and I'm very pleased with how it turned out. It doesn't scream wedding anniversary on the outside but has a nice metallic feel to it which is the look I was going for.

I hope you like my latest creations, I hope to have a product review on the Make and Create die cutting machine up in a few days, I'm just waiting to hear back from The Works Customer Care team as I need to know where replacement cutting plates can be purchased as the machine will be pretty useless in a year or two without them and The Works doesn't sell them on their website as far as I can see. As always if you have any questions or comments then please leave them in the usual places and until next time - keep crafting!

Love and crafty hugs,

Sarah xxx

A Few Labours of Love part two

Hello crafty peeps and welcome to my crafty nook! As I mentioned yesterday there were two very important events in May, the first was my sister's wedding and the second was the arrival of my beautiful new God-Daughter on the 17th of May. I don't want to share any personal details without her parents consent but I'm sure they won't mind me sharing the card I made to celebrate her birth. Like my sister, they've had to wait a few weeks to receive the card but thanks to a lovely email from them I know they've got it and love it which pleases me no end. *huge grin*

This card was a huge undertaking but very fun to make. I'd seen a slightly similar card on Pinterest and loved the idea of having the second Z of a double Z-Fold card at the top instead of at the bottom and I loved the idea of having a pop up cot element but didn't own  a cot die. However when I looked at the cot I realised I could make something similar using tag dies and a fence die. The heart die cut at the very top of the card was made using a Crafter's Companion die but all the rest of the diecut images and elements were made using dies purchased from eBay. The lacy border of the top Z was made using a Tonic Studio punch, the footprints and sentiment stamps were a WRMK mini stamp set and the chest of drawers were stamped then coloured and fussy cut out - I can't recall what brand the stamp set was but if I remember I'll add it to the post at a later date. The metal knobs on the chest of drawers are actually nail art pieces from eBay - I've discovered that a lot of craft supplies can be sourced cheaper if they are classed as 'beauty products' such as pear shaped sponges, mini glue brushes (made for adding false eyelashes but brilliant for adding tiny dabs of glue to thin die cuts) and dotting tools which can be used for adding paint details to projects or even better to use as embossing ball tools!The wall paper is taken from the 'Sweet Paris' 8" x 8" paperstack by Dovecraft. The pink strips and hearts were made out of Centura Pearl card stock but everything else was made using plain white card coloured with Flexmarkers. I went over the footprints on the front piece with Dovecraft glitter glue. The card does actually fold down to fit into a 5 1/2" x 7" envelope but I forgot to take a photo of it folded flat.

I'd like to enter this card into the Kinetic Card challenge over at Passion for Promarkers blog (Double Z-Fold card with pop up cot and baby mobile elements - coloured with Flexmarkers)  http://promarkerchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/week-397make-kinetic-card.html

I hope you like my latest make, as always if you have any questions or comments then please leave them in the usual places and until next time - keep crafting!

Crafty hugs,

Sarah xxx

p.s. here's a link to the card that inspired me on Pinterest via Google Images  https://goo.gl/images/8lmQ05