Tuesday 31 March 2009

Blog candy entry card




I made this card for Karens competition to win 72 copics!! My copics are all running out and I am limited to using colours I don't normally use because all my favourites have run dry so this would be the perfect thing to win!!
I used one of their downloads from the animals set. Donald the donkey is my favourite but since I used him on a card the other day, I didn't want to use him again so soon, so I went with this cute little birdie instead :)





The dp are from Daisy D's and everything else is from my stash. I wanted to colour this little cutie pink just for fun but pink is one of my colours I use most so it's dead as iare all my browns and skin tones. I just managed to colour the branch with the last bit of brown ink that was left lol.
I think all my images will now be green or grey until I can afford to buy new copics, which by the look of my finances just now will be ...........never :(
So get ready for some really dull images for thre next few months lol.

If you want to be in with a chance to win this fab set of copics, you must make a card with a stamped image/download and post it on you blog with a link back to Karen then leave a comment on her blog saying you have done so. If you use one of the Charmed Cards and Crafts downloads you will get a second entry :)

Hugs Lora x

Daisy May design team call

I have decided to try for the Daisy May design spot.
I really enjoyed joining in as guest designer this week for them and as you will all know by now, I love the Cute Daisy May downloads :)

For this card I haven't used one of their downloads although I probably should of as I have loads of them but you don't need to use one of their downloads and I had this little Easter Bunny from Dustin Pike coloured on my desk and it was just screaming out to me "use me use me" so I gave in lol

I have tried to keep this card simple so the cute image is the main focus because it's just too cute to be hidden in loads of flowers or embelishments.


The papers are from Provo Craft and Paper Adventures, they are both from their baby ranges but I thought they were perfect colours for Easter too. I have had the ribbon since i first started making cards and have never used it because I could never find anything to match with it, so I made it my mission to use some of it on this card lol.

The new design team member will be picked on the 13th of April which is my birthday, that would just be the icing on the cake lol.

Wish me luck :)


Hugs Lora xx


Monday 30 March 2009

Sketch and Stash Challenge #7

A quick post just to show the card I made for the Sketch and Stash challenge. This week was a simple sketch but you can choose where to put your sentiment and embelishments yourself.
I used this cute image from Charmed cards and crafts animal downloads which I bought today so this is my new stash for the challenge. He is actually called Donald but I thought it would be fun to change him into a her and give her pink glittery eyeshadow lol. You can't see the glitter very well here but it really sparkles in real life and looks really cute.
The papers are from Magenta and Doodlebug. I had the sentiment in my craft box but no idea where it came from, I must of made it at some point. For my embelishments, I used a mix of Cardology and Prima flowers with spacers and pearls and on the larger flower I used some bead spray off of some old bunches of flowers.
I really like this Donkey, I think it has got to be one of my favourites from the downloads but I am in the middle of making another card with one of the other animals so that may change.
Thanks for looking.
Hugs Lora x

Guest Design Spot for Cute Daisy May

This week as I said in a previous post, I was asked to be guest designer for Cute Daisy May challenge blog.
As I have never been on any design team I was really nervous but I had a wonderful sketch to work with and I really enjoyed myself.

I was just going to make a normal card but then when I saw the sketch I thought it would be perfect for a concertina card which I was asked to make for an order, as the sketch was not too fussy so it was easy to follow it through on all the pages.This is the front of the card when it is closed. I used Cute Daisy May downloads for all the pages although for the challenges you don't have to use one of their downloads, you can use any image you like but I just love Linnie's doodles as you probably all know by now lol


This is the card opened up. I used blue card for 2 of the sections and pink card for the other 2 which I put through the cuttlebug with the swiss dots folder and used this as the first layer. The dps are from Magenta and Fancy pants, flowers are all from Cardology, the swirls I got from Linnie (thank you) and the roses i made with vellum. Everything else is from my stash.

To tie the sections together I punched a whole at the top and bottom of each section and used eyelets so the card would be a bit stronger for the ribbon to be tied on to hold it all together. Easy peasy


This is the 2nd page, I have no idea why blogger keeps putting the photo on it's side because in my pictures it is the right way up!! But can't get it to go back the right way so I'm afraid this will have to do for now lol (anyone else having this problem with blogger?)

Sorry the last 3 pics are a bit blurry as well as being on their side. It was pouring of rain outside when I took these ones and I just couldn't get a decent pic no matter how hard I tried!!

Here's the 3rd page which blogger has also decided looks better the wrong way round!






And finally the last page which blogger doesn't seem to like very much either lol.




I hope you have time to join in the fun over at Cute Daisy May this week. Remember you can use any stamps or images and there is a prize of one of Linnie's fab downloads for the winner of the challenge every week.


Thanks for stopping by today. Please do let me know what you think of my first ever card as part of a design team :D (can you see how happy I am that I got the chance to be on the DT this week? lol


Hugs Lora xx

Sunday 29 March 2009

Daisy May meets Truly Scrumptious

This weeks challenge #3 at Truly Scrumptious is another fab sketch but you also have to use something shiny on your card, mirror card, charms or anything that would catch a magpie's eye.
I have used another Cute Daisy May image as I already had her coloured.

I think I have definitely got enough shiny pieces on my card and I followed the sketch pretty much as it was except used a big flower instead of a circle, so job done.
I got the blue paper in a handmade paper pack from The Works months ago but have never used it. The silver design is raised off the paper like embossing and really sparkles so I think a magpie would really want to steal this card lol. For more shiny bits I used a spacer with pearl brad, some clear gems and some silver embossed mirror card that I bought at the Papeterie to mat my image and sentiment onto.
Stripey dp is from Junkitz and huge bloom is from a Cardology pack.
This is the last of the 7 cards I had to make for the school and I am quite glad because I'm getting tired of using the same sentiment, it's depressing me lol.
Thanks for stopping by to look.
Hugs Lora x

Easter at Spoon Full of Sugar

I have been a terrible blogger this week and haven't posted much but i have been working on cards and other projects, I just can't show them on my blog yet. One card is for the Cute Daisy May challenge blog as Jen asked me if I would be a guest designer next week!! How excited was I ? My first ever designer spot yay!! :D :D (can you see I'm happy lol) You will be able to see my card tomorrow over at the Cute Daisy May blog and I will post it on here afterwards too.

Other stuff I have been doing is RAK cards for friends but they read my blog so I can't show any of them until they have received them.

Todays card is for the Spoon Full Of Sugar challenge which this week is Easter. I found this image along with a few others on Dustin Pike's blog. this guy does amazing work.


The papers I have used are from a papermania stack which my Daughter Rhianna and I won on Georgia's blog. The embossed piece was done with a cuttlebug folder on some shimmery card I got on Ebay yonks ago.
The sentiment was done on the computer then I just handcut a egg shape and stuck some ribbon on and the little bear with the easter eggs is done on shrink plastic. I just doodled him then coloured with copics. I never really draw anything for my cards but thought I would give it a go and I think he looks quite cute considering I drew him myself except his colouring is a bit dark now that he has been shrunk lol. Finaly the egg brad is one I've had since last Easter which was pink so I just coloured it blue to match.
Hope you are all having a great weekend. Remember to check the Cute Diasy May blog tomorrow and join in with the fun and look out for my card :)
Hugs Lora xx

Wednesday 25 March 2009

Papertake weekly retirement card for a man!



I had to make a card for My Daughters school janitor who will retire in April after 10 years at the school. I was asked by the school's PTA to make a few cards for teachers and staff who are leaving and this is one of them.


As you probably know, I am rubbish at mens cards but I was looking through my Cute Daisy May downloads for an image for another card I need to do and I found the perfect images to use. Then I had a good look through my papers and found some with hammers, saws and other tools on it and thought, perfect.

.I thought this boy image was just right for this card since he's a janitor and I could just imagine him in this sort of clothes. He doesn't really wear clothes like this though lol. I followed this weeks fab sketch by the amazing Dawny at Papertake weekly. I'm not sure where the brown tool print paper is from because I cut off the strip and have no idea what I done with it...duh, but the others are s.e.i and Junkitz.
The sentiment is just printed from my computer.

I just had to decorate the inside of this card because I couldn't choose what image to use. Both these images were perfect for a janitors card. Told you I really do love those Cute Daisy May downloads!! I have left it quite plain because I didn't want anything fussy as it's a man's card and have left loads of room for everyone to write on.
I did also cover the back of the card with the rest of the tool paper just so you can see the whole design somewhere, but I thought it would be a bit boring to show you that.
Please let me know what you think of this one as I'm never sure when it comes to mens cards. If its for a female you can just stick loads of flowers and frills on and hope for the best but I don't think much men would appreciate that lol.
Hugs Lora x

Cute Daisy May challenge card

Managed to get onto the computer for a few mins so I could post my challenge card for Cute Daisy May. I made this card on Monday but haven't been able to get a photo of it because the weather is horrible and I have to go outside to take a photo!
So today I braved the cold to get a pic which still didn't turn out very well because it started to rain and the wind kept knocking my card over. The things we do for crafts lol
Anyway enough of my blabbering and on to the card.



You will have to excuse my finger, I had to hold the card so the wind wouldn't blow it over!!


For the challenge this week you have to hide something on your card, an image or a message or anything else you can think of. Now I did have a great idea for this challenge but it kinda didn't work, okay I admit it, it was a total disaster lol so I made this instead.


I have used 2 of the Daisy May doodles this time and coloured them with copics then used some tiny gems on the girls bow and the cats bows too. (don't know if you can see them here?)
The paper is from s.e.i (love this glittered paper), the brad and ribbon are from my stash and the rose I made with vellum following a tutorial from someone's blog but I'm ashamed to admit that I can't remember who's blog it was. I do know it's a blog that I follow so when I find out I will credit that person (or if it was your blog, please let me know). On the tutorial she had used red construction paper but I thought that the vellum would hold it's shape nicely and I'm really pleased with how it turned out :) I can see this being a new trend for my cards lol.
Edited to say it was Maria's blog I saw the rose on :)


This is my hidden message. I just used a brad on my main image so it would be able to move to reveal the message. The sorry your leaving is done on the computer and the stamps I used behind it are from Inkadinkadoo.

Right I better go and pick Rhianna up from school or she will be standing waiting in the rain for me!!
Hope you are all having a great day. Thanks for stopping by today.

Hugs Lora x






Sunday 22 March 2009

Daring cardmakers and ooh-la-la creations

I was at a crop yesterday for the first time ever, was a bit daunting because I didn't know anyone but I soon got over that and got cardmaking.

I made 3 cards and coloured a few image for other cards so I thought I would show you the cards I made. They are all done with Sugar Nellie stamps as I only brought a couple of stamps with me and didn't have time to stamp some before I went there and I used my scraps that I had left over from cards I have made lately as I couldn't take any 12x12's because I don't have a fancy bag to carry them in and they would of had to be folded up and would of ended up ruined.

I must first apologise for the poor quality of the photos, I took them quite late and they didn't turn out very well.

The first I am entering in the Daring Cardmakers challenge which is "Cos I'm a woman". The card can be any theme as long as it's made for a woman. I could of entered any of the 3 I made because they are all for women but I have just picked the first one I uploaded because I couldn't choose which one to use.
I can't remember who makes this paper but I have used it on another card which I put on my blog a while ago. The image is Sugar Nellie's picking apples but you already knew that. I made the scallop circle with the cricut which was at the crop, well actualy someone else did it for me because I have never used a cricut before and had no idea how to lol. The flowers are cardology and one I punched with a punch at the crop so no idea of the make. Ric rac is from John Lewis and everything else from my stash.


The next card I am entering in the Ooh-la-la creations challenge which is to use buttons/and or brads.

I haven't used any buttons but I have used a brad on my flower. I'm not sure where the papers are from as I got them from Donna, I'm not doing very well here am I? lol I know the image is Sugar Nellie's chick a dee though :)
The flowers are a mix of cardology and ones I made myself out of scraps and filed the edges.
Ribbon, spacer,gem and charm are all from my stash.


My final card is not for any challenge but I thought I would show it anyway.
I know I have done a card with this image and these papers before not long ago but they are not the same and I just wanted to use up all my scraps.
I wont go telling you about the papers because I have already told you all about them in a previous post and you know the image. The ribbon is from a local haberdashery she has th emost amazing selection of ribbons and lace and I spend ages choosing what I want. The owner even knows me by my first name now because I am in there so often lol. The lovely pearls were a present from a friend. I love them because they just peel off and stick, no messing about with glue :)

Thanks for taking the time to stop by and read today. I appreciate each and every one of you. My counter is nearing the 1000 mark so I am going to have to get some candy put together soon. Don't know what it will be yet but I will make sure it's something nice. I know there is a stamp plate to be thrown in with whatever else I decide to give away. So keep coming to visit me and help me hit that 1000 mark quicker :)

Hugs Lora x





Saturday 21 March 2009

Friday Sketchers meets Daisy May

Sorry I haven't been blogging much over the last few days. It was Barry's birthday on Tuesday and I haven't done much since then.


I came home from a crop today to a lovely surprise email from Linnie and she had gave me one of her Cute Daisy May downloads :) (thanks hun). If you ever read my blog you will probably know by now that I have developed a soft spot for Linnie's doodles and I just had to make a card with the new sheet she gave me straight away.

I couldn't decide which girl to use but I finally settled on this one which is quite different for me as she is not so cutsey as most of the images as use, but I really liked her because she is different and who could resist her flower power clothes lol.
I have followed this weeks sketch at Friday sketchers but I haven't added a sentiment yet as I'm not sure what I will use this card for.
The papers are all fancy pants from the Sweet Pea range, the large flower is from cardology, everything else is from my stash.

Now the card is out of the way, I have a question to ask all you lovely peeps. I need to make 5 cards for the teachers who are leaving the school at the start of April but I don't have any stamps suitable for them. I need something quite cute for the nursery teacher but I'm not sure what to do on the other 4 cards as I don't really know them so well. The cards will be from everyone at the school as it's the PTA who have ordered them from me.
Can anyone suggest a stamp/or stamps I could use? I don't have much spare cash to buy stamps at the moment and as you probably know you don't make a fortune out of selling cards so I wouldn't be looking for a big set.
A lovely friend of mine did offer to stamp me some images but she can't do it untill she gets back from her holidays on the 30th of March and I need them made by the 3rd of April so I probably wouldn't get them on time :(
So I need to get something sorted asap.
I really would be grateful for any suggestions as I am starting to panic now lol.

Thanks for stopping by today.
Remember to leave me a comment then I will know you have been and can come visit your blog.
Hugs Lora x

Monday 16 March 2009

Another 2 challenge cards

I was on a roll yesterday and made a card for the Magnolia vs Stampavie challenge but didn't have time to post it on here so here it is now.


The papers I used were K&Co and Fancy Pants and I got this gorgeous Tilda image from Donna when I won some of her blog candy. The flowers are made with the same paper and some embossed scraps, then inked round the edge and I filed them a bit. Everything else from my stash.

My second card today is for the Cute Daisy May challenge which this week is to use buttons and I also followed the sketch from 2 sketches 4 you

I was planning to make some cards with my kids for the 2 sketches 4 u challenge today but they all deserted me so I just have my own card. If I get any of them to make one sometime soon I will stick it on here too.


I'm not sure who makes these papers because I also got these from Donna at Donnas Doodles. I used another of the Cute Daisy May downloads and tried to colour her the same kind of colours as the papers with my copics. Don't know if I acheived that very well but I tried. The flowers are from cardiology and buttons, gems, pearl and spacer are all from my stash which really needs topped up as I had to look real hard to find a few buttons to match!
I love these images that Linnie has done, they are all so cute and she has just added more including some little boys which I just had to have. They are only £1.99 and you get 4 or 5 images on a sheet plus free papers and sentiments when you order! I now have 6 of the sheets but there is 11 available so I think I will be back to buy more soon :)

It's Barry's birthday tomorrow so I'm off to write out his cards or else I will forget and have to rush to do it in the morning before he wakes up.

Hugs Lora x

Sunday 15 March 2009

Happy Birthday Cute Card Thursday!

2 posts and 2 challenge cards in one day! I'm on a roll today lol.

It's Cute Card Thursdays birthday this week and the challenge is to make a card for a celebration following their sketch.
I haven't made a card with a tag on it for ages so this was a nice change.

I couldn't take a good enough photo of this card because it's getting dark so I've had to scan it and it doesn't really show the papers or flowers very well. I will take a pic in the morning if I remember.
I've used my Twinkle Toes House Mouse stamp again and coloured it with copics, but some of my copics are running out although I have only had them for a few weeks and one of them that is dry is my blender pen so I couldn't really do any blending on this image but I tried my best without it a and with only one colour of brown because the rest don't work now either.
I have the ciao markers and thought they would last a bit longer. If anyone else has these markers maybe you could let me know if you have the same problem?
Anyway back to the card. All the papers I used are from Paper Adventures and everything else is from my stash.
I really really need a border punch because I don't have any and it is a nightmare to cut scallops or pretty borders because I have to do it by hand :( If you really feel sorry for me, you can send me one, my address is ............... just kidding but I REALLY want one lol.
I cut the scallops then punched holes all the way along and threaded ribbon through the holes. I wasn't intending doing this but the idea just came to me half way through making the card so I just went with it. I am so in the cardmaking zone today and I think my mojo has finally came out of hibernation, yay, because I just have so many idea buzzing around in my head.
I might even get some more done tonight when the kids go to bed!
Thanks for looking today.
Hugs Lora x

cupcake craft and sketch saturday

I have finally figured out how to use my camera!! I wouldn't say the pics I take are great but it's a start.

Todays card is for the Cupcake Craft Challenge which is Spring and also for Sketch Saturday.
I was going to use bright Spring colours but changed my mind at the last minute and decided to go with pink and just a hint of yellow and green, but I did use lots of flowers because that's what came to mind when I thought of Spring and also there are some birds on the embossed piece because I thought about new chicks being born, although chicks have nothing to do with these completely different birds but it made sense in my head lol. I don't think you can even see any of the birds because I have covered them all up with paper, so really there was no point mentioning the birds at all lol.







I got this cute image from Donna at Donna's Doodles (thanks hun) it's coloured with copics as usual. The papers are Magenta and Cosmo Cricket and the embossed paper was some I got from a friend that she had put through her cuttlebug before I bought my one. I used pink chalk to rub over the embossing with my finger (no fancy tools here lol) so the embossing shows a bit more although I don't know if you can see the pink very well here as it is very subtle.Most of the flowers are from a bunch I bought in the £ shop which I just took all the petals off. Everything else if from my stash.


Here's a close up of the image and flowers. I also used some bead sprays off some old bunches of flowers and put them in behind the biggest flower just to add some interest. Don't suppose they are of any interest to anyone else lol but I like them.






Well that's it for today. Hope you are all having a fab Sunday.

Please leave a comment to let me know you have been then I can come visit you too :)

Huggies Lora

Friday 13 March 2009

A card for Daddy

I don't have a card for any challenges today, shock horror lol. I can't remember the last time I made a card that wasn't for a challenge. Although I have made them for birthdays etc, I have also tied them in with a challenge. But today my card is just for Daddy birthday, well not my Daddy's birthday but my kids Daddy.


I have been thinking for weeks what I could do for his card. I really struggle with men's cards at the best of times but Barry doesn't like anything in particular and is very critical of my cards sometimes (although that's great in a way because it actually helps my cardmaking), so I have had a real hard time thinking what I could do, then today it just came to me. What does he love more than anything? ......his kiddies, so thats exactly what I put on his card. Well not actually my children because that would be a bit hard lol, but photo's of them.


My base card is "denim" shimmer cardstock and you can't really see properly in this photo but I have stamped stars all over it with the same stamp I used for the blue and red embossed stars. This was a freebie stamp in craft stamper magazine this week and I thought it would be perfect as Barry always calls the kids his little stars.
The frames are mulberry ones but I have no idea where they came from and the paper behind the photos is from Chatterbox.
I cut out an extra red star and put it on the middle star with foam pads for some dimention.
I think I will put the letters DAD on the stars but need to find some first, and wanted to get it on here just now so I can go hide it. I know he will never see it on here because he never goes on my blog.
I'm off to do some blog hopping now ..........
Hugs Lora

Thursday 12 March 2009

2 challenge cards for 3 challenges

I was intending to put on one of these cards yesterday but by the time I had waited for the glitter glue to dry on it so I could scan it (because I still can't get my new camera to take a decent photo!!) I was too tired to do it.




My first card is for The Cuttlebug Challenge which is to use glitter on a stamped image and also for 2 sketches 4 you which was a fab sketch again this week from Laura. It must be the name that makes her so talented lol.

Sorry it looks a bit wonky but I can't reach my scanner properly just now to get the cards in straight (long story).

I thought there was too much space up at the top when I had finished this card so I stuck a flower on it but I'm not sure about it. I tried to do something different with this one instead of cute and cuddly but I don't have much stamps that are not cute so I went with the fairy.

The large bloom paper is from imagination project and the other is from K&Co hopscotch mat stack and I used my new cuttlebug mesh folder on it. The flowers are from a local haberdashery and look prettier irl , little butterflies are made with a punch I've had for yonks and lace is John Lewis.



My second card today is for the Sugar Bowl challenge which is to make a card for a Mother. Doesn't have to be a Mother's Day card but just anything a Mum would like.


I have been wanting to use this stamp since I got it last week so this was the perfect oppurtunity. I have went WAY out of my comfort zone with this one. I never use papers like this but that's what challenges are all about right?
All the papers I used are from K&Co. Both the main papers I used are from the Margo range and are glittered. The image is coloured with copics as usual. I cut her out and left out the other bits of the image (apples and flowers) mainly because they would of been hard to cut out, but also because they didn't fit on the bit of paper I put her on and I had already stuck it onto my card ...duh, but I think she still looks nice without the extra bits.
The little strip on the side is from the hopscotch girl mat pad. I don't have a border puch yet so I cut it with fancy scissors and used a small punch to make the hearts. Flowers are all cut by hand and distressed with an emery board and edged with ink. The spacer is one I got today from a bead shop in town.
I have decorated the inside of both card swith the same papers but don't have pics to show just now.

I would really like to know what you think of this one as it is a very different style for me.
Hope you are all having a great day.
Hugs Lora

Tuesday 10 March 2009

Sketch and stash and Daisy May

Quick card tonight that I made for this weeks sketch and stash challenge and also for the 2nd Cute Daisy May challenge.



The theme this week at Daisy May is pink so obviously I used pink paper lol but thought I would use this paper from s.e.i with the chocolate in it as I seem to be doing loads of pink cards lately.
I pretty much followed the sketch at sketch and stash except changed a bow for a flower and cut out my image instead of having it a square.
The image is another of the cute daisy may doodles and is coloured with copics as usual, flowers are all from cardology range, sentiment is a Anna Griffin stamp.
The pretty spacer I got in my local craft shop who now sells a few different ones for about 5 -10p each.
I was talking to Gale who owns my local craft shop and she is going to see if she can source some new punches and more stamps, so I will be a very happy girlie :)

Before I sign off for tonight, I would just like to thank the people who left me really nice comments yesterday and today and for the emails I have had too.
I have been feeling a bit down the last week and I was thinking about giving up my blog and also card making. I don't know if it's me just being daft or if anyone else feels like that sometimes but I really have felt like just packing everything in for the last few days.
I am feeling a bit better tonight though, so you never know, things might look brighter in the morning :)

Thanks for stopping by today, I really do appreciate you visiting and leaving me comments.
Huggies Lora x

Sunday 8 March 2009

Cute Card Thursday meets Truly Scrumptious

I have a few cards to make for my kids teachers because their schools are closing in May and they will all be going to a new school together which will be built by May. Just now the girls go to school and nursery at the same school and my son goes to another school so it great that they will all be together for a while. Well until the Summer Holidays because Liam will be going to Secondary school then.

Anyway some of their teachers have not got to keep their jobs so are leaving in April including Chiara's nursery teacher who is the best teacher any of my kids have had and also the girls headteacher, so they asked if I would make them a card for when they leave.
So I've started with this card for their Headteacher who will retire then



The challenge on Truly Scrumptious was a sketch and you also have to use handmade buttons on your card. They can be made from anything as long as you make them yourself, and the challenge this week on Cute Card Thursday is wine and dine, You can use any kind of food or drink on your project.

I used this cute Forever friends image that I got from Donna from Donna's Doodles as it's the only thing I could find with food or drink and as it was for a retirement card, I thought the champagne would be good. The paper is Basic Grey 2 scoops, all the flowers and other bits are from my stash and the buttons I made from gold embossed card, which I painted with glaze to make them stronger and give them a nice sheen which doesn't really show in the pic.
The sentiment is computer generated.



I also decorated the inside and back of this card although I didn't take a pic of the back. I just decorated the back with some Forever Friends stickers.



This is the inside which I tried to make similar to the front by usingf the same paper and the oval. the sketch was actualy a circle but I used an oval instead because I couldn't cut a big enough circle round the bear image on the front as it was already stamped. The flowers are die cuts I got a bag of in my lucky dip box from Artymiss a few weeks ago and I just put them through the cuttlebug. I used another of my handmade "buttons" on one of the flowers just to continue the theme from the front and the stamp is an old one from E K Scccess that I have had for over a year before I even started stamping but this is the first time I've used it.

Sorry for the long post today but I wanted to show the inside too. I think it looks a lot better than just leaving it plain and I am going to try (time permitting) to decorated the inside of all my cards from now on.

Thanks for reading my novel today lol.
Hugs Lora

Saturday 7 March 2009

House Mouse chipboard challenge

This weeks challenge over at House Mouse & Friends is to use some chipboard. I thought I had loads of chipboard in my stash but it took me forever to find anything made from chipboard and even then it wasn't what I wanted. Oh well never mind at least I found something so I could join in the challenge.


I'm sorry this pic looks a bit washed out, I really need to figure out how to work my camera!!
This is one of the stamps I bought the other day, I know it's not one of the new HM stamps but I thought it was really cute and Rhianna is ballet daft so I had to get it. The ballerina paper was also Rhianna's doing, she choose it when I took her to the craft shop with me a few weeks ago and wouldn't let me leave without buying it, it a Karen Foster design. The other papers are Junkitz and American crafts.
I cut out the oval mat freehand with some fancy scissors and the chipboard bits on the corners were actually green and orange chipboard stickers but I ripped off the top layer and coloured them with a marker. The pearl brads are from Papermania, everything else from my stash.
Oh the ric rac was a bargain from John Lewis sold by the metre, it was reduced to 12p per metre, so I got loads of it!
Right I'm off now to clean up the mess I've made with all my papers n stuff. Thanks for stopping by. I am trying to get a blog candy together for when I reach 1000 hits so keep your eyes peeled, although it might take a while as I don't get that much visitors but hopefully it won't be too long.
Hugs Lora x

Birthday card and High Hopes challenge

It's Barry's birthday on the 17th so I thought I would get a head start on his cards, for those of you who don't know, Barry is my partner and my girls Dad. I always struggle making Men's cards but I quite enjoyed making this one.

I was going through my images and found a little elephant which I got from someone in a Yahoo group (again) and thought he would be a good starting point. I was later blog hopping and ended up on the High Hopes challenge blog and noticed the same elephant on a card. I don't have any High Hopes stamps and had no idea that the elephant was from High Hopes so when I found out I just had to do their current challenge, which is That Fuzzy Feeling. I don't have any flock powder or anything else like that so I used some fuzzy fibres.The paper is by K&co and the dark blue card I used the swiss dots folder in my cuttlebug. I seem to be using my cuttlebug a lot less lately, must get some new folders and start using it more. The frame paper the image is on was from a friend a while ago. I think it was part of a set for something but I thought it would go nicely with the dp.The sentiment is a rub on.
I had no idea where to put the fibres as I had already made the card before I decided to do the challenge so I just wrapped it round the bottom. Not sure if it looks ok but never mind it's done now.
I would love to know what you think of this one because I really do struggle making male cards.
Hope you are all having a fantastic weekend.
Hugs Lora x

Friday 6 March 2009

Cupcake Craft challenge card

I ordered 3 Sugar Nellie and 2 house Mouse stamps the other day after looking for ages at hundreds of stamps I decided I needed more House Mouse stamps because I do the HM&F challenges and only have a couple of the stamps and I just couldn't resist the Suagar Nellies, they are so adorable. Now I can join in with their challenges too.


The next on my list is some WOJ stamps :)


My Sugar Nellies arrived today just in time for a card I was making for the Cupcake Craft Challenge. The challenge this week (#29) was an inspirational picture from Jilly.
I'm not one for using yellow on cards but Jilly's pic was all yellow so it was an obvious choice and I think it goes well with this little chick-a-dee image. I coloured her with copics as usual, all the papers are freebie downloads I think. The flowers and little spacers are from ebay, large spacer from John Lewis and everything else from my stash. I noticed after I scanned the card that I had moved the ribbon and squashed the little yellow middles of the small flowers but had already uploaded it so will fix it later.
I have finally got a new camera so now just to figure out how to work it!!

TFL hope you all have a wonderful weekend.
Hugs Lora x

Wednesday 4 March 2009

Mojo Monday

This card was a bit of a rush job so I'm not very happy with it, but I've put it on anyway.


I followed the Mojo Monday sketch which was so easy to work with. I might make another card with this sketch later if I have time.
I'm not sure who makes the stamp because I got the stamped image from someone in one of my Yahoo groups. Also the little gem embelishment I got from Karen who is in another Yahoo group. The papers I used are K&Company and Cosmo Cricket.
These were some of the papers I spilt hot chocolate all over but I manages to salvage a bit of them :) The little sentiment was in a pack I got ages ago and was actually blue but I just coloured it with a copic marker to match. It looks darker here than it is IRL.
Sorry the card looks a bit wonky but it's not, it's just my terrible scanning skills and I didn't have time to scan it again.

Thanks for looking today. Now I'm off to look for some new stamps to buy. I have no idea which ones I want yet, well I do but there is way too much I want so I have to choose a few today. Any suggestions? I love WOJ and Sugar Nellie but I also love House Mouse and I've saw loads of cards on blogs using stamps from the greetings farm, High Hopes and a few other places that I really like too. I just have no idea which ones to go for lol, wish I could just buy them all!
I really need more House Mouse though because I like taking part in their challenges but I also want to take part in the WOJ challenges and I have none of their stamps. You see what I mean, I just can't decide!
Oh well off to go look anyway.

Hugs Lora x

Tuesday 3 March 2009

Rhiannas card

Rhianna was on the crafty monkeys blog the other day and asked me if she could make a card for their sketch challenge. So off she went with her little stash and made a card. I am so proud of her. My little girl is only 5 and made this card all on her own (except rounding the corners because she can't push my corner punch down hard enough lol) and she even told me that she wasn't going to use circles like the sketch because she liked flowers better. She knows what she likes!


So today there is no card from me, instead I have put on my little princesses card so she can join in with the challenge :)
She has used her Smirk papers and stamp and a few scraps of papers from my stash to make her flowers.
She is really getting into stamping and can stamp images herself now so I better start hiding all my stuff!
She is sleeping now so she will be excited when she sees I have put her card on here. I better watch out though or she will be taking over my blog soon with her challenge entries!!
She loves the crafty monkeys blog and Zoe and Hannah are her stamping idols lol, how cute is that?

Right I'm off to make a challenge card myself now.
Thanks for looking. Please do leave a comment to let Rhianna know what you think of her card, it will make her day!

Lora x

Monday 2 March 2009

Daisy May First Challenge

I came across a new challenge blog today called Daisy May Designs and thought I would give their first challenge a go. You don't have to use any of their products but I bought one of their doodle sheet downloads to use on my card.
This is the first time I have bought a downloaded image and wasn't sure if I would like it but after I coloured her in, I thought she was quite cute. This set has a teddy, a bride and groom and 2 other little girls with umberellas.
I'm not too sure who makes the paper with the bird and butterfly because I cut off the strip and forgot to take a note of it, but the other one is from K&Co. The spacer is from John Lewis and the rest is from my stash.
Another very pink card today but most of the papers I have left after my hot chocolate incident are pink so I have no choice lol. I am waiting for some new papers to come though so hopefully they will come quick.

Thanks for looking.
Hugs Lora x