Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day to you all! We have been having a relaxing day as the kids are at their grandparents today. We have been out for brunch, walked the dog and read the papers. Oh and I have been given some beautiful red roses! Bliss!

This is the card that I sent to my hubby this year

I guess it's called digital hybrid card as I created the words in Microsoft Publisher and printed onto some textured paper.I did the same with the sentiment. Both were then layerd onto some lovely deep red textured cardstock from the Papermill Shop and mounted with 3d foam dots.

The card has been put through the printer and made grey with a Digital Paper called Wash from Pink Petticoat and then ribbons and brads were added. Best of all is the red heart in place of the 'O' in LOVE. This is a Mother of Pearl Heart Pendant from the Swarovski Crystalized Shop which I fixed on with another heart shaped brad.

Glad to say Hubby was suitably impressed, which was a relief!

I also made a couple of cards for my friends who are husband and wife and both asked me to make valentines cards for each other! It was quite fun yesterday when they both wanted to come and pick them up. I ended up dropping one round and letting the other pick one up!

My friend Manisha picked out a Kraft cardstock with the Mother of Pearl Heart mounted onto another heart which has been stamped with a heart stamp from Stampin Up. Some black and red ribbon has been run underneath and the sentiment was printed from the computer.

This is the card that I made for Manisha from her husband with some a digital paper from Pink Petticoat mounted onto black cardstock. There is a white ornate heart mounted onto some shiny red card also punched with a heart and a little heart gem added beside it. The red ribbon was mounted onto black cardstock and run underneath.

As I was looking through our keepsake draw I found the card that I made for hubby last Valentines Day before I was blogging and when I had just started making my own cards.

AAh, I can't believe it has almost been a year since I started making cards now, what ever did I do before!  I hope that you all have a lovely weekend and a great week ahead!

Tracey x

Two Posts in One Day!

I think this must be a first, but this is my second post today! I am joining in with my second challenge ever this time with Daring Cardmakers to create a card with an Amethyst Theme.  This weeks challenge is sponsored by Craft Obsessions who have a lovely Martha Stewart Butterfly punch and stamp up for grabs.

Now as my birthday is on the 16th of this month I definately know the colour now for the card. This one is for my Aunt who celebrates her birthday on the same day as me!

and a close up

The card is pearlised and has been printed on with a washed background called Lovely by Pink Petticoat. The butterfly is punched with X-Cut dimensional punch and layered onto some beautiful indian paper, this has then been layered onto some pearlised paper which has then been layered onto mulberry paper and then with another bit of indian paper at the back! The sentiment was typed on the computer with Type Upright Font and coloured purple.  I have then added some gems in diamond and amethyst to finish off.

Hope you are all having a great week.

Tracey x

Whats on my work desk & my craft room!

Hi all! My blogging buddy Paula has given me an award which I will post about later but I just wanted to say thank you to her first! Thanks so much for thinking of me Paula!

It was through Paula's Blog that I found the What's on Your Work Desk Wednesday weekly update on Julia's Blog - Stamping Ground. It's really good to see everyone elses desk, what they are working on, what stash they use and I will spend hours this afternoon just nosing!

Anyway here is my desk today

Yes it's nearly Valentines Day so there is lots of love in the air and on my desk with red hearts, buttons, ribbon, punches and card! I just need to work out what to do with it now!

I have taken a few more pictures of my craft room which used to be our dining room but as we only ate in there at christmas my hubby said I could take it over as a craft room. I think he was secretly pleased that my mess at least would be in one place!  My desk is our old oak dining table which is a lovely size as I am not particularly tidy when I craft.

This is the space behind my desk that keeps my sizzix, cardstock, stamps, punches and other stuff that I need to get hold of quickly.

This is what I look at in front of my desk. This dresser still has all our best china inside it but as you can see I have completely taken over the outside of it. Any suggestions on what I can keep on the cream wire cupcake rake I have just bought? Appart from cupcakes that is!

To the left of my desk is our bay window which is at the front of the house and I can see the world passing by and also a sofa where my hubby will sometimes sit on his laptop or with a glass of wine and have a natter.

I love baskets and pretty storage so most of my other papers are kept in these dotted around the room. And finally someone that is always in my craft room with me...

My little mate Harvey

I hope you all have a wonderful week and am now off to peek at whats on everyone else's work desk!

Tracey x

Cards for Bestest Friends!

HI all! Last week was especially busy for me as two of my very dear friends celebrated birthdays so I had a few special cards to make.

This one is for my dear friend Linzi who is also my partner in crime in photography class and scrapbooking!  She loves trees, she loves pink and she loves bling so I thought that this card would be good for her.

and a close up to show you the bling

We went out for lunch last Friday to celebrate her birthday and she loved her card and pressie so I was chuffed. The stamp is from Kanban and was used on the card on my previous post. Sentiment was done on the computer and the card was printed on with a wash colour from Pink Petticoat.

My other dear friend Manisha celebrated her birthday on Sunday and her husband also asked me to make a card for him to give to her (I think she told him too!) So I had two cards to make for her. 

From her husband I made this one with the three dimensional butterfly punch on pearlised card and with some beautiful indian paper underneath and of course some bling.

I then made this one from me as I wanted it to be completely different from her hubby's one.

The paper is Lotus by Amy Butler from K & Co. I rarely use my designer papers as I tend to spend most of my time stroking them, you know what I mean! But well she is a good friend so I decided  to break one sheet loose from the packet. The flower is from Prima.

The kids have one more week at school until half term and I can't wait as its also my birthday that week and hubby and I are going away for a couple of days. I hope that you are all having a wonderful week!

Tracey x

Cards For Grandad and & Beautiful Sunset

Hi all! Hope you have been having a good week! We went for a walk along the seafront on Sunday and I actually remembered to take my camera with me and caught some piccies of the really beautiful sunset.

The sky was absolutely amazing and everything was tinged pink, the clouds, even the water. It made me feel quite humble at the beauty of mother nature's creations.

We had another birthday last week, David one of my fathers-in-law (I am lucky to have two) celebrated his birthday. David has retired now but still does alot of gardening work so I wanted to make some cards that reflect this.

I didn't have any kraft cardstock  so I used a download of kraft paper from Pink Petticoat and printed it on white cardstock, I think it came out quite well. I stamped some flower images on the background with versamark ink and then stamped a tree with my new Spring Silhouettes stamps from Kanban I then inked a bit around the edges of the paper to soften it.

I embellished the trees with a bit of bling but not too much as it was for a man. In a couple of days I will post a card that I have made for one of my best friends and I have embellished every inch of that tree!  From the kids I stamped three other different trees from the same stamp set and mounted them on to green cardstock. 

The sentiment and faux stiching were done on the computer and again a few little pearls to finsh off.

I have two of my best friends birthday's this weekend so need to make the finishing touches to their cards and presents, then its onto the housework, funny how that always comes last! 

Have a great week

Tracey x

Birthdays and Babies!

Hi all!  I hope that the new year has got off to a good start for you! Mine has been hectic, my little boy slipped in the snow a few weeks ago and as I pulled him up I pulled some muscles in my neck which was really painful for a week or so, its mostly better although something keeps clicking when I move a certain way and that's a bit disconcerting!

It was my eldest son Tom's 12th birthday last week. Of course I asked him what kind of card he would like and to my suprise he drew me a layout, told me what kind of picture he wanted, what he wanted it to say and also what embelishments he wanted! I of course was dumb struck and as he walked away he said 'I hope that its going to be good because I want to show all my friends!

He spent a lovely day at the cinema with 6 mates and then we all went to Pizza Express for dinner and he was so pleased with his card that he made a video of it on his new phone. I am not going to post it here because it was about a game that he plays on the x-box and not very pretty, but he loved it and thats what counts!

I have no idea what was going on 9 and a bit months ago but I have had such alot of baby cards to make at the start of this year. Four in the last couple of weeks!  The upside is you get to have a little cuddle and then give them back! No, I am definately not feeling broody!

This card was for my neighbour who had a little boy.

Lots of friends at school have had babies too so I made some cards to give to them.

And another!

The stamp is from Dimension Forth and I inked round the edges of the image and added some bling and glamour dust to the paws and ears. The background on the card is from Pink Petticoat and the sentiment was typed on the computer.

The paper in this card was from a paperpack from Dovercraft called Baby. I added some gingham ribbon and a little charm from my stash.

Yesterday my friend Linzi and I went to our first crop at Sugar and Spice Crafts in Barleylands craft village. We were so excited and spent the whole day making scrapbook pages, buying crafting goodies and chatting to some lovely and very talented ladies, it was bliss and we are keen to go again soon.

However I am still a card maker at heart and will be posting soon with some more cards that I have been busy making.

Have a wonderful week, I am off to see what you have all been upto!

Tracey x

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to you all! We had a lovely time seeing in the New Year with Hubby's family and on the stroke of midnight had another dusting of snow, it was magical!

I would like to say thank you to all my blogging buddies for their support and encouragement in 2009. I really enjoy reading all of your blogs and seeing what you have made and I feel I have another lovely set of friends from all over the world now!

My sister-in-law, Laura said she looks at my blog every day, so hello to you and don't worry I won't post the christmas day photos on here! She knows what I mean!

I have been making some thank you cards to send to family and friends and decided to use my new dimensional butterfly punch.

I mounted it on to some shiny red card that I thought I would use for christmas cards and never did and coloured some papermania gems and added them to match. 

Today I am going to give the house a thorough clean as we have taken some decorations down and the amount of dust is frightening!

I hope you all have a fantastic 2010 and look forward to seeing more of your creations! Have a great weekend!

Tracey x