Monday 27 June 2011

LOTV Together Forever Engagement Card

Morning folks. I hope you've all had a fab weekend and enjoyed the mini heatwave we were predicted. Unfortunately here on the coast the sudden rise in temperature caused us to have thick fog! However, a quick call to SIL confirmed that if we headed inland slightly that we would find sunshine, lucky for us, she decided to invite us for BBQ. No przes for guessing who looks ever so slightly pink today having forgotton to bring sun lotion!!!

Anyway, onto my card. DH asked me to make a card for a work colleague who has just got engaged. I didn't have any images suitable for an engagement card (he wanted something cute), so after a couple of phonecalls, I found that a friend had this image from LOTV. I hope the happy couple like this card (tbh I'm not thrilled with it, not sure what's wrong but it doesn't sit right with me, but DH wants it for today).


I coloured the image with Promarkers. The sky has been created using Promarkers and a Blender Pen. The papers were a magazine freebie and everything else was in my stash.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Claire xx

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Dream Valley Challenges - Ribbons
Sugar Creek Hollow - Tic Tac Toe (Glitter, Flowers, Pearls)
Totally Gorjuss - Ribbons & Lace
Crafty Catz - Add a charm
Charmisa Cardz - White & one other

Friday 24 June 2011

A Happy Accident??

Good morning folks. It's Friday (just in case it had slipped your mind) and that means it's time for another Delicious Doodles Challenge and for the first time in ages I'm not late!! This weeks theme kinda left me a bit cold as it is Cute and Cuddly and I'm sooo not in a cutesie mood at the moment (don't really know what mood I'm in, I seem to be struggling to find a path iykwim). I'm going to be honest here and say that I seriously thought about not joining in again this week, but after a quick scan through the shop I stumbled across the Panda Love image and thought I'd use it for a quick and easy card. So here it is....


Now you're probably wondering why I entitled the post Happy Accident? Well if you look closely you can just about see where my oh so lovely printer decided that it would mis-behave and has kindly printed a couple of lines across the image. Normally I would've just reprinted the image but unbelievably I had no more smooth white card left, so I decided that I'd try and disguise the lines by colouring the image with Promarkers. This obviously then threw my initial plan for a nice C&S card. Anyway, the card still turned out to be a nice quick make and I don't think the lines will be noticed.

Thanks for stopping by today

Claire xx

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Crafty Sentiments - Monochromatic 
I ♥ ProMarkers - Anything goes
My Mum's Craft Shop - One of the boys
Hooked On Crafts - Anything goes
Craft Your Days Away - Monochrome
Little Claire's - Cards for men

Wednesday 22 June 2011

Exploding Box And A Trip To Brugge

OK firstly an apology for the lack of a challenge card on Friday for Delicious Doodles. I do have a reasonable excuse in the shape of my hubbies 50th Birthday and a long weekend in Brugge! If you just want to see the exploding box, then skip to the end of this post (I warn you now it's not one of my best efforts, as I simply have had no time this month). If however, you want to read a little about my adventures in Brugge then please continue reading.

DH decided that he'd like to celebrate his 50th Birthday in Brugge for the simple reason that he'd never been and loves Belgian beers! Which  seemed as good a reason as any to visit. So on Thursday morning we headed for Ebbsfleet and the Eurostar. A couple of hours later we arrived in Brussels and headed for the InterCity train to Brugge.


On the journey to Brugge we spotted this bicycle park at Gent (excuse the picture, but it was taken through the window of the train) and watched a young boy wandering around trying to find his bike! Sadly we never did discover whether he found it or not as the train pulled out of the station.

The journey to Brugge took approximately one hour and unlike the grotty and over crowded trains we have here in the UK, the train had plenty of seating and was really clean. Upon arrival in Brugge my first words to DH were "phew - horse poop" as that was all I could smell! Unfortunately the aroma of the city didn't get anymore pleasant, as we ventured into the heart of the city we were greeted with over powering whiffs of sewer like smells!

We stayed at the Martin's Hotel Brugge which was in the heart of the city. Our room was circular in shape as it was in a turret and over looked one of the main tourist attractions the Bell Tower (luckily they stop the quarter hourly bells from chiming early in the evening). The hotel was really nice and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it. I took a couple of quick snap shots of the view from our room and then our room as viewed from the Bell Tower.

A room with a view!

Our room in the turret third window down
The first evening we decided to have an early dinner, grab a couple of beers and then head for bed. So at 6pm we found a little restaurant opposite our hotel and sat waiting to place our order. After a period of about thirty minutes the waiter appeared and took our order, we waited almost thirty minutes for our starter and a similar length of time for our main course and desserts. By the time we'd settled our 85 Euro bill (1 beer, 1 diet coke, 2 onion soups, 2 flemish stews & frites & 2 desserts) it was almost 10pm.

Dining in Brugge was expensive and fairly basic, meals were on average 10 - 15 euros for a starter, 20 - 30 euros for a main and 3 euros for a coffee. The main fair on offer was pasta, moulles and flemish stew. Service was also incredibly slow in all but one of the restaurants we visited.

Hubby convinced me to sample some of the local beers and I have to say I really enjoyed them, especially the fruit beers! I was pleasantly surprised at the price of the beers too, most were priced at 2 euros. I tried my hardest to sample all of the beers, but failed miserably as there were just far too many offer!!

We found a lovely tea room called Bitter Sweet which served the most gorgeous hot chocolate (a glass of hot milk and tulip shaped shell of chocolate which you drop into the milk and leave to melt) and pastries. We also sampled the coffees and lunch offerings and can honestly say we weren't disappointed once. Again it's not cheap, but I would suggest worth every penny.

If you're visiting on tight budget I can recommend a store called Hemp which served breakfast from 9am - 10am for 1 euro. The breakfast was incredible value and consisted of a croissant, jam, egg & bacon baguette and a coffee and biscuit. I think we were the only tourists in there, but the staff were really helpful and happy to serve us at 4 minutes to 10!! There were lots of other very reasonably priced dishes available.

I have to say that we didn't find there was a huge amount to do in Brugge, the city is exceptionally beautiful and has some fantastic architecture, but everywhere closes early (unlike Paris and other tourist cities where museums etc stay open until 10pm) and the museums are fairly small and viewed all too quickly. The Bell Tower is definitely worth a visit if only to admire the fantastic panoramic view across the city. I'd also recommend paying a visit to the Half Moon Brewery - again there are fantastic views of the city, but more importantly you get beer :)

Now I'd like to say that we had a fantastic time and will be returning, but this most definitely won't be the case (the Belgium Tourist Board also won't be offering me a job - LOL!!). Now don't get me wrong we did have a nice break, but it could have been heaps better had there been more to do. Maybe it would have been better to have stayed just the one night and crammed everything into two days? For those of you who have been to Brugge I wonder if your experience was the same as ours, or if our view of the city was somewhat clouded by the weather and the weak £? I'd love to know!

So hopefully I haven't bored you to death and you're ready to see my exploding box? I'll warn you again it's not one of my best efforts and in hindsight I'm not sure what I thinking trying to make something for a man that needs loads of embellishments! LOL

Anyway, here it is:


The box measures 3 inches square and has been covered with Prima My Guy Papers which have been distressed. I choose a selection of photographs that have some meaning to my hubby and added sentiments using a Dymo Label Maker. The cake in the centre is made from a led tealight candle which has been covered with papers. I've added some icing using the Viva Pearl Pen. The 50 has been cut using Sizzix Vintage Market Place Lettering which have been glued onto a wire and then coated in Glossy Accents. I punched a hole in the base of the box so that the tealight can be turned on and off.



Thanks for stopping by today and reading this epic post.

Claire xxx

Monday 20 June 2011

Just To Let You Know, Sweet Pea Stamps Has A New Artist!!!!!!

It's official Sweet Pea Stamps has a new artist and it's only our lovely Teri from Delicious Doodles. Her first plate is currently on pre-order on a limited time special rate and includes my all time favourite stamp "Mushroom Fairy". Also, from June 20th -24th for every purchase over $25 you will receive a FREE three stamp grab bag. No prizes for guessing where some of my hard earned pennies will be going this month!! Congratulations Teri.

Here's a preview of the plate:

Friday 17 June 2011

Ching-Chou Kuik's Full Moon

Good morning folks - if you're reading this it means that the scheduling widget has worked! I just want to say a quick thank you to those of you who left me comments on my painting escapades last week. My son loved his new room so it was totally worth all the hard work. The only problem is I'm now way behind with everything else, so everything has been a complete rush this week!

It's challenge week over at Sweet Pea Stampers and this time the theme is Swirls of Summer. We are sponsored this week by the lovely Amy from The Crafty Purple Frog who has generously donated 3 digis sheets of the winners choice as a prize. Please do pop over to the challenge blog and give a warm welcome to our new teamies who have created some awesome cards for your inspiration.


For my card this week I've used the gorgeous Ching-Chou Kuik's Full Moon which is currently on offer for an amazing $2.75. The image has been coloured with Promarkers, and then given some shimmer and sparkle with Sakura Clear Star Gel Pen and Star Dust Stickles. I've decoupaged the image directly onto DP's both of which are Prima Fairy Flora. The seam binding is from Crafty Ribbons and the lacy ribbon is from The Craft Barn. The leaves are cut from a scrap of paper that I'd hoarded kept and the flowers are from Knorr Prandell (looking at my piccy I think I'm going to remove some of the flowers and re-arrange the LO of them). I created the swirls using an Eline template and the Viva Pearl Paper Pen.

Thanks for stopping by, have a fab weekend.

Claire xx

Friday 10 June 2011

Wot no crafting!

Good morning folks. Have you missed me this week? Well if you have noticed that I've been super quiet all week there's a very good reason for it... My DS went off to camp on Wednesday morning and is set to return today. In his absence I decided that I re-decorate his room, so I've been trying to do a complete makeover within 48 hours. It's going well, but sadly I won't be finished, so I've had to call in the grandparents who are going to take him for a treat filled weekend so that I can get finished and surprise him. The only thing that will be possibly be missing from his new room is the new furniture (but I'm sure he'll not mind as he wasn't expecting his room to be decorated, and certainly won't be expecting new furniture as well).

As a result of my adventures in "paintland", there's been no crafting which means that this week there's no Delicious Doodles challenge card from me. I hope that you'll still join us as this weeks challenge is sponsored by Crafts 4 Eternity and the theme is a super easy one  "Father's Day".

Well that's it for me today - I have more painting to do and then I've got to get the sewing machine out to make some curtains and cushions.

Have a fab weekend.

Claire xx

Sunday 5 June 2011

Barn Owl Father's Day Card

I'm really, really late with this weeks challenge card for Delicious Doodles . No good excuse really other than I'm in plank mode (made a card and clean forgot that texture was required - DOH!!!) and then had an idea in my head for this card that just didn't pull together as I intended and so took loads more time and effort than I'd anticipated! Still I'm not too unhappy with the end result and the best part is I only have one more Father's Day card to make :) Anyway, just in case you missed the theme in my ramblings above, it's TEXTURE, which leaves you loads of scope to to enter your creations. If your stuck for inspiration stop by the rest of the girls and check out what they've created.


For my card I've chosen to use the fabulous image Barn Owl which has been coloured with Distress Inks, die cut with Large Oval Nestabilities and then stitched around the edges. The image has been mounted onto strips of hessian which was taken from an old shopping bag. I created the sentiment using a Dymo Label Maker and Core'Dinations cardstock. The buttons are from Woodware and I've used some of the hessian thread through the large button.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Claire xx

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Craft Your Days Away - Father's Day/Special Man
Designed To Delight - Masculine
ECP Challenges - For Dad
One Stop Craft - Texture
Fussy and Fancy - Card for a man or boy
Simply Create - All about you Dad
The Stamp Man - Boys and Men
Simon Says Stamp - Father's Day

Friday 3 June 2011

Monochromatic Sweet Pea Ching Chou Kuik's Fluttering Butterflies Acetate Card

Yay it's the weekend (well almost) and I can't wait! I'm off to The Craft Barn this weekend and am really looking forward to it! In case you haven't heard they have their extravaganza weekend where basically they take over the whole of Lingfield village with craft demos. The full line up can be found here.

So onto this weeks challenge over at Sweet Pea Stampers which is Monochromatic. We want to see creations using a single colour in lots of shades and tones. We are sponsored by the lovely Lynette from Sweet Pea Stamps who is offering a 3 count grab bag of stamps. If your wanting some inspiration, please stop by the rest of the DT's blogs where they have some amazing projects.

Anyway, here's my offering for the week.


I stamped Ching-Chou Kuik's Fluttering Butterflies onto smooth white cardstock. The image has been coloured with a range of Black and Grey Promarkers and then high-lighted with Stickles and Enamel Accents. I ran a sheet of acetate through an embossing folder to create the card base. The image was then mounted onto black card and attached to the acetate. I then attached matching black mounts the reverse of the image and inside and to the rear of the card. The eyelash fibre, flowers and butterfly were from my stash.


I hope you all have a great weekend, thanks as always for stopping by.

Claire xx

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
The Craft Barn - Acetate
In A Sweet Pea Dream - Wings

Thursday 2 June 2011

Finally.......

OK I've been stalking those awesomely talented girls over at Less is More since their first challenge. Week in week out I'm blown away by the creations and keep promising myself that I'll play along too. The only thing that gets in my way is that little thing called time!!! Well this week I've finally done it - I've got a card to enter into the challenge which is "pick a square".

Now I'm hoping that my entry will be accepted, if not then no worries I at least know where I've fallen down! I'll stop me yabbering now and get on and show ya what I've been upto....


The background has been created using Distress Inks and then spritzed with some Perfect Pearls in water. The Hero Arts stamp has been stamped with Memento Ink and then Gold Stickles have been applied to the flower heads. The sentiment is from Ladybug Crafts Ink

If I get time later, I might just be back with a couple more of these cards, but don't go holding your breath!

Thanks for stopping by.

Claire xx

Wednesday 1 June 2011

Alcohol Ink & Gesso Altered Photo Frame

OK this is going to be a fairly long post (I think), so if you wanna skip my waffle and just look at the pictures do feel free. I know time is limited for many of you!

We're coming upto that time of year again where we all start frantically scrabbling around for gifts for teachers. I personally hate it as I never know what to get. I steer clear of Toiletries and Chocolate as I know that many teachers are so inundated with them that they end up giving them away. This year is particularly tricky as I really haven't gotton that close to my son's teacher and so have no idea of her likes or dislikes, the only two things I do know is, one that she has two small children and secondly that she has lost a fair bit of weight which makes me suspect that she won't appreciate chocolate!!

So after much deliberating I decided to make her a photo frame for her desk, that will also double as a card. I've stamped a thank you message on the card and DS has written his message on the reverse (sadly for DS he's going to have to do it again as I've managed to stamp the sentiment at a slight angle and only noticed when I went  to photograph the frame - Doh!!). Once the "card" is finished with she can simply pop a picture of her kids in there.

The frame started out life as this:


I initially tried removing the mirrored images, but it would've taken ages and when I googled for chemicals to assist me I decided that it was possibly going to be more effort than it was worth. So armed with my alcohol inks I made photo frame mark one.


Now this frame was OK but when I placed it with bright light behind it I could still see the images which obviously wasn't acceptable. In addition it was a lot darker than I'd wanted. So I had a little think and decided I'd try covering the frame with a layer of Gesso. Once I'd covered it I could just about see the images and so contemplated a second coat. However, I decided that I'd try it as it was and if that was no good that I'd do a second coat over the top of the AI's. This is the result:


As you can see it completely obliterated the images and enabled me to use far lighter inks. The only thing is that the Gesso has given the frame a very slight texture, which I personally don't mind. I decorated the frame with Sizzix 3D Flowers and a Little Claire's Fern Die. The butterfly is from an EJ Designs set (one of the first sets of stamps I ever bought). I also had a mini brain wave when I was embellishing the frame that I should make it so that it can be used in landscape mode as shown, or so that you can display a portrait picture, thus:


I hope the teacher likes this frame, if not then it could end up in a charity shop near you!! LOL

Thanks for stopping by today
Claire xx

I'd like to enter this frame into the following challenges:
Crafty Cardmakers Spotlight Challenge - Try something new (using AI's over Gesso)
Incy Wincy Designs - Nature
Pink Elephant - Teachers Gifts
Paper Sundaes - Shabby/ Vintage
Sentimental Sundays - Anything but a card
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