Non Challenge Cards - September 2012

This month has been a bit crazy, so I have not really had the chance to sit and do any crafting.  But I have been able to snatch a few spare moments occasionally.  Rather than concentrating on cards for Challenges this month, I have been creating cards with anything that is to hand. So here they are...

I had these flowers on my desk from a previous card & decided to use them up, rather than adding them to my stash.  I even used a piece of Boarder created using the Woodware Edging System which was lying around.

This card was created using a left over piece of patterned paper & a topper I found in my stash

Using a Stampin' Up Owl & one of Delta's feathers I created this simple card.

Cards using the Cheetah Photo

For my Less is More challenge this week I created a card using a photo taken by DH during our African Adventure a few weeks ago.  I printed the image out 3 times at different sizes as I did not know which would be best, this left me with 2 copies to play with...

I used dies to cut each of the photos into shape and then started to think about what type of cards I wanted to create. I decided to use the Less is More idea and create cards that the focal point was the photo. So here they are...

I was pleased with the way in which both cards turned out and I think I will be printing more photos out to use in a similar way.

Happy Anniversary Cards

A work colleague asked me to create a Wedding Anniversary card, she though it was for a Golden Anniversary (but was not sure).  She is now on holiday and will need the card for next week when she returns to work.

I created 2 cards that featured Gold, just in case it was a golden anniversary, but if it was not it would not matter too much.  Both cards were created using bits from my stash & odd bits of paper/card stock.

The question now, is which will she choose? I think my favourite is the bottom one (with the green ribbon) :)

Hunkydory topper & peel-off sentiment

Image from one of my CDs (I can't remember which), sentiment from Stampin' Up (Teeny Tiny Wishes)

Less is More - Take 3 Challenges

I have not really made any cards since getting back from our African Adventure 3 weeks ago, but I decided that I just had to have a go at this weeks Less is More Challenge...

Week 86 Recipe

For our recipe this week,we'd like to revisit a challenge which has been very popular each time we have used it and it's simply to

Take 3 Challenges

If you look back at the list of our past challenges on the page at the top of our blog, you can choose any three to combine in your project... if you fancy the theme of a One Layer Week... you don't necessarily have to make a one layer card for this particular challenge.

 

 

So once I had printed our the list of previous challenges I set to work... 

I wanted to make a Get Well card for DH as he was admitted back into Hospital on Friday evening.  This time with infection in both kidneys and the stent in the right kidney had blocked.  After a general anaesthetic he was back on the ward with a new stent fitted.  We don't know at the moment how long he will have to stay in this time, but hopefully it will be a short stay.

Not surprisingly DH needed a bit of cheering up - hence the Get Well card :)

The picture used for this card was one taken by DH while in South Africa, this was the first Cheetah we had ever seen and she looked amazing!!!!

The 3 challenges I have used for this weeks 'Take 3 Challenges' are:

• Week 80 - Fur or feathers
• Week 81 - Tearing
• Week 85 - Oval

 I have also made another 3 cards using the same image, they will be added to my Blog in the next couple of days (hospital visits permitting).

Happy Crafting.

Michael McIntyre - Showtime

Back in January this year I brought tickets to see Michael McIntyre at the NIA, Birmingham... finally after waiting 9 months we went to see him on Saturday evening :)

He was AMAZING!!!  There were two 50 minute sessions with totally new material, during which we hardly stopped laughing.  To be honest I was glad for the 30 minute break as after the first set my face hurt from laughing so much, it was nice just to relax.

Looking back over the evening DH & I tried to list all of the topics he covered but we could not remember all, however here is a few topics he covered (but don't worry I won't be spoiling it for anyone else yet to see him):

• Olympics (inc Beach Vollyball)
• The Royal Family (inc Jubilee celebrations)
• Tennis
• Red Carpet Event
• Playing games with his sons
• Tights & high heels
• Dentist & hospital
• Hotels

The list goes on... but I can't remember any more at the moment. 

We arrived early and were seated in Block 4.  We did not think we had a bad vew of the stage.

This picture was taken just before Michael came on stage (there were many anouncements to say recording or photos were not allowed)

When Michael came on the for encour many people started taking pictures... so I did too.

The only slight problem we had was leaving the NIA, we had parked in the South Car Park on level 13 (Ok maybe we should have expected problems!)  after getting to the car it took a further hour before the traffic started moving.  When it finally did it took only 8 minutes to get out of the car park.

After a stop on the way home for coffee (just to make sure DH kept awake) we arrived back home at 2.30am!!!  However it did give us a great excuse for a layin Sunday morning :)

During Sunday I visited the Amazon online shop and placed my pre-order for the Michael McIntyre 'Showtime' DVD (due out in November).  Although they did have cameras at the NIA we don't know if the DVD will feature just one venue or bits from a selection of them.

Zentangle Cards

Following my workshop at LLinda's Card & Craft shop yesterday afternoon I can now say that I have attempted Zentangle drawing...  as to if I am any good, well I will leave you to decided what you think.

We started with a flower shape and practiced different designs on each section.

Next we moved onto using a Peel-Off as the basis of the design.  The flower & leaves were coloured and then the background filled with Zentangle designs.

Our next attempt was using a Stencil for the outline (I then divided mine into 4 smaller sections), the designs on this card were created using a white gel pen on black card.

Things then started to get complicated... using a Woodware Stamp for the image, I used both Red & Green pens to create the Zentangle designs.

The creation of these 3 cards and flower sample did take time and a lot of concentration.  I did find that if I did not take regular breaks to look away from the paper I did get 'cross eyed' LOL. 

At the time I was not too keen on any of the cards, however looking back at them today I do like the Flower Sample and the Vase.

I guess that at all times we are our own worst critique.  I do think I will give Zentangle designs another go, but I don't think that they will be big projects.

WOYWW - 12 September 2012

Today is Wednesday so it is time to have a look at my Workdesk as part of "Whats On Your Workdesk Wednesday"...

I have had a bit of a tidy up since last week, and last night I even started to create a card, featuring one of Delta's feathers :)

I could not decide which colour to stamp the sentiment in (Black or Brown) or if to use the patterned paper or white - In the end I decided to use the Black ink on white paper.

I am so looking forward to this afternoon, I have a workshop booked at LLinda's Card & Craft shop this afternoon for 'Zentangle/Doodle Art'.  I have never attempted any Zentangle type work before, but really love how it looks.

I will let you all know how I get on this afternoon and add photos of my creations.

Happy Crafting :)

Too Many Photos...

Is it possible to have too many photos???

I have started to look at the photos DH too while on our African Adventures (approx 2,000 photos in 14 days!) and decide which ones I want to print and use on my scrapbook pages.

After the last 2 Africa holidays in 2007 & 2009, I decided that I was not going to create a whole album for this trip.  I have however decided that I could not go without creating some pages, but I will be adding them to the back of the 2009 album.

What I have found is that after 2 trips to Africa to watch the wildlife, I have so many pages featuring many of the animals we also saw this trip.  So, this time I wanted to feature things that were different or unique to this trip.

I started this process the other day by looking through the pictures and writing a list of the animals or events I want to create pages about (along with the photo number).

I have now created a PowerPoint file and on each page I create a title and import the photos I want to use, this also gives me the chance to write any journaling.

Screen shot of one of the PowerPoint 'Slides' to be printed onto Photo paper (The font used is Lucida Calligraphy)

I can then take my A4 sheets and start to look for papers & embellishments to match each.

I would love to know how you go about scrapping your holidays or big events - do you plan ahead or just print out all the photos and have a pile left unused at the end????

Just before I sign off here are a couple of photos...

OK... I could not just choose a couple - I even had problems deciding on just 5!!!!! 

Happy Crafting :)

WOYWW - 05 September 2012

This will be a very quick post for Whats On My Workdesk Wednesday as I am still playing catch up after being away for 2 weeks...

My desk is officially a mess this week, things have just been dumped on it and over flowed onto the chair!

You can't say I did not warn you... what a mess!!!! 

On the table are a few newspaper cuttings about the Olympic games (I really want to create a Scrapbook page at some point), 2 finished cards, some feathers of Deltas that I was thinking using on cards and a couple of empty cereal packets.

On the chair are the bits and pieces that I picked up while on holiday, again they will be saved and used on a selection of Scrapbook Pages - However I must not get too carried away as I need to complete the album from our Florida holiday in 2010!!!!

So many potential pages and not enough time :)

I'm Back :)

You may have noticed that I have not blogged for 2 weeks, well there has been an excellent reason that I can now share with you all...  DH & I have been away on our African Adventures for 2012 :)

Over the last 2 weeks we have stayed in both Kenya & South Africa and spent many hours on safari watching the wildlife in both countries.

We had an amazing time and have so many memories - as well as about 2,000 pictures & hours of video!! 

Now it is time to rejoin the real world again and I will be back at work tomorrow.  In the mean time we have had a lie in this morning (most days we have been getting up at 5:30am local time - either 3.30am or 4.30am UK Time).

As soon as I am able to sort our some of the best photos that DH took, I will share them will you all.