What A Week!

Hey!

Phew! It's been a while since I've managed to visit blogland so firstly, apologies if I haven't popped by your own blog and commented this week!

It's been a pretty hectic week for me, not only the excitement of Wimbledon (Don't ya think Murray is doing well btw! Wobbly first game, but he's certainly on form now!) but I've also managed to crash my car! Nothing serious, don't panic!!! Lets just say that the symptoms of hay-fever (i.e sneezing), combined with driving, can end in quite a pickle!

So off starts the awful task of getting my insurance sorted and waiting for phone calls and having NO CAR! Living 25miles from my work has meant staying over at my folks' place. As much as they love me (I'm pretty sure they do!) I think I'm becoming a little bit of a burden and with no internet access I've been itching to visit all your wonderful blogs for sooooooo long! Anways my wonderful bf has trusted me *GULP* and put me on his car insurance so I'm now mobile again with internet access - hurrah!

So as you can probably imagine, my creative mojo has gone out of the window along with my car :o( but I do have one thing to share with you today!

I made a bookmark for my Dad for fathers' day - he loved it. (Along with the huge box of jelly babies!) He ended up getting 3 boxes of jelly babies in total (2 of my 3 brothers must have been thinking along the same lines as me LOL!) so I'm glad I made the bookmark too!
It was kinda hard to photograph as it was transparent!It was kinda easy to make. Started with a piece of acetate and with spray adhesive, adhered some skeleton leaves. On the other side I adhered the letters (My Dad's nickname is Bomber. I think it's a reference to his cricketing days - even his grandkids call him Granddad Bomber!). Trimmed the skeleton leaves around the outside of the acetate and placed in a laminator. Finished it off by setting an eyelet and threading some ribbon.

Sorry I don't have anything else to show you yet, I hope I'll be able to get creative this week now I'm back at home! Though it'll have to be pencilled in around Wimbledon of course!

Right then, I'm off to catch up on all that I've missed this week here in blogland!

Catch ya later!

Aimes
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Happy Fathers' Day (and bday to me hee hee!)

Hey!

Well I awoke this morning in a white gown watching the sun rise for summer solstice. No, I'm not a pagan nor was I at Stonehenge (though I would like to go there one day....) The gown was my dressing gown and the reason I was awake was because it's my birthday today and I'm a big kid at heart! LOL!

I've had a lovely morning with breakfast in bed and some truly beautiful presents and cards with some more to come this afternoon and in a few weeks time (My PTI order - I can't wait!)

As it's also Fathers' Day today, I can share the card I made for my bf's dad now! So here it is:Not bad for saying I was feeling groggy! The background is made with the two sized stars from PTI's Around & About Sentiments Set. I stole the idea after seeing it done here on Nicole's blog with the Polka Dots. I think it's pretty effective!
The embellishment was something I found in desparation to get inspiration at the bottom of my bits n bobs box! I'd been playing with some sheets of thin metal and my cuttlebug embossing folders ages ago - this is what started the whole inspiration for the card! I tried to stick to masculine colours, I'm liking grey more and more. In fact if I ever do tie the knot with my bf (we've been together for so many years!) I'd become Amy Gray! If that's not a good enough reason to tie the knot then I don't know what is LOL!

Card Recipe
Stamps: Around and About Sentiments
Card: Ocean Tides, Vintage Cream, Cloud 9 Design - Blueberry Ginger
Ink: Vintage Cream
Accessories: White Gel Pen, Brads, Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug Stars Embossing Folders, Metal Sheet, Alphabet Transfers (Creative Cafe)

Right then, off to make a last minute bookmark for my dad and then I'm off to share 'our' special day together!

Catch you later!

Aimes
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A Busy Weekend!

Hey!

Well this weekend is exciting and stressful all at once for me! Exciting because it's my birthday on Sunday and I get to share it with my dad this year as it's fathers' day too! (obviously this only happens every so many years!) Stressful because I sometimes think "Gee I'll be 27 and I haven't done much yet..." and majorly stressful as it means I'm required to make those dreaded masculine cards LOL!

So for my dad he's going to be the recipient of a card I made a while back - you probably remember me posting it earlier on here!
No, I'm not a cheap-skate or a chicken but the more I look at this card, the more I feel it's so him. He's a country farmer at heart and just loves roaming around the countryside. I love to join him on his walks (though he could beat me any day on the distance - even at aged 70 LOL!) and he re-tells stories and interesting facts about all sorts of things. I learn something new every walk I go on with him!

So that's one card out of the way...now onto my bf's dad. I was so tempted to cave in and tell him to buy a card! I've caught the 'man flu' myself and had such a groggy end to the week (luckily feeling better today) that I really didn't want to craft after work and just collapse instead. Now if that's not a sure sign I'm ill, I don't know what is?! Anyways I did make it to my crafting corner and make a card which I'm going to share with you tomorrow. Who knows, his Dad maybe peeking at this blog and I don't want to spoil a surprise!

So a new card that I can show you is this one:Apologies for the poor pic, I was ready to post this and realised I hadn't snapped a pic. Therefore I had to grab my camera and take it to work and once everyone had left I could then snap a shot of it. Sorry you can see my awful handwriting inside too! I might be able to stamp nicely but the handwriting needs practise!This was for my bloggin' buddy Alison. It was her birthday the other week and I'd been meaning to post a little something for ages and just never seemed to find the spare time. By the time I got around to finding time, she'd already posted me a little parcel with a birthday treat LOL! So instead of a belated birthday card, I made a thank you card instead! I'm so unorganised sometimes - the thought is always there but the timing isn't! LOL! The poppy is stamped twice and the smaller of the two is placed on some 3-d foam - you can't really tell in the pic!

Card Recipe
PTI Unless Stated
Stamps: Remember
Card: Bitty Dot Basics (Lemon Tart), Aqua Mist
Accessories: Ripe Avocado Ribbon, Martha Stewart Border Punch, Promarkers, White Gel Pen

I have to confess that man-flu means my creative mojo is giving up on me, I hope it's only temporary! I reckon Wimbledon will be the perfect cure though - I just love it and it's a sure sign that Summer is truly here (with or without rain!)

Right then, off to make the most of being 26...

Aimes
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A Cupcake Challenge...

Hey!

Tonight I thought I'd post a card that I made over the weekend but only got around to photographing tonight! I always find this part a chore as I have to rely on sunlight (which we've got today - hurray!) and my camera's ability not to screw up or eat the batteries!

So I played along with the Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge #72.Kinda busy huh? But a challenge nonetheless so armed with scissors, stamps and pens I was ready to go!

Here's what I made:I know, I know it's the bloomin' Doctor's Orders set again! LOL! But I just love to colour the images.I'd also bought the cute clip from Paperchase the day before with this exact use in mind! Don't ya just love the little clipboard?! Simply made with Kraft card (edged with distress ink) and the clip. The paper is made lined with a simple gel pen (blue and red) and ruler after stamping the image.
I'm hoping that this card could be for a male. In fact, I've got the bf with 'man flu' no, not swine flu! So I have the perfect reason to give this card to him! Though I have a highly sneaky suspicion that he's better now. Soon as he got home from work today he was straight to his guitar - the real test will be if he offers to cook or wash up! LOL!

Card Recipe
Stamps: Taylored Expression - Doctor's Orders
Ink: Memento - Black, Distress Ink - Vintage Photo
Card: Cloud 9 Design - Blueberry Ginger, GCD Studios - Ledger Stripe, Kraft (from stash), White (from stash)
Accessories: Clip (Paperchase), White Gel Pen, Circle Stencil, Brads (from stash), Promarkers, Corner Punch

Right that's all from me for now! Though before I go, I'd like to give a HUGE shout out to my PTI Peeps Kate and Steph - they decided that EVERYONE was a winner over on their blog for the last challenge. Thanks so much ladies, you both totally ROCK! If you haven't already popped across do so now for the new challenge - I have a feeling it's one nearly everyone could do...

Catch ya later!

Aimes
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More Distressed Flowers...

Hey!

Well it's been a glorious weekend here - the sun just hasn't stopped shining!

Today I decided to roll outta bed quite early (well, early for me on a Sunday!) as the sun was out, shining into my bedroom and it had no intention of letting me kip some more! So I figured that as I was up, I might as well be productive! All houseworky chores were done by the afternoon (including ironing!) which gave me some time to play in my crafting corner.

I noticed that a new Raspberry Suite Color Challenge had been posted on Dawn McVey's blog. I love to play along as the colours are usually ones that I don't normally place together. Well, this week's colours didn't fail me as they are: Shock, Horror! No Raspberry Fizz in Sight! *gasp*

I found these colours very bold, very bright and very challenging! LOL! I decided to stick to PTI's Vintage Cream, New Leaf and True Black. I had so much fun making the homemade flower embellishment yesterday that I wanted to make another one today (check out the tutorial here) They're so easy to make and look so pretty! I had an idea in my head of what I wanted to create so no sketch needed (for once!) my Mojo feels on form when I've had some quality 'ME' time!

Anyways here's the finished result:Overall, I was trying to interpret the picture given as inspiration. I think the flower could pass as a plate shelved in front of a green wall right?

I hope you like it! I'm starting to appreciate the more simple things in life, including simple layouts! I really wanted to place my focal point off centre or at a jaunty angle but the perfectionist in me screamed for me not to! And yes, it really did pain me to use this many buttons on one creation but I figured I can always save the card for someone really special who'll appreciate it!
I love the way my flower turned out. I couldn't decide whether to have a button or brads as the centre of it so had both. Hey, who says you can't have your cake and eat it!?!?The leaves have the flourish stamped on them in vintage cream ink from my Remember stamp set. I'm loving the versatility of that set!

Card Recipe
All PTI Unless Stated
Stamps: Remember
Ink: Vintage Cream
Card: Vintage Cream, New Leaf, True Black
Accessories: Vintage Cream Buttons (lots of 'em!), Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Brads (Tim Holtz), Black Ribbon (from stash)

Right then, that's me signing off this weekend! Though no doubt, I'll post again at somepoint in the week. You didn't think I spent a whole weekend to myself making just one card right?!? LOL!

Aimes
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Inspirations and Themes Challenge

Hey!

What a GORGEOUS Saturday! I hope you've all managed to get a good dose of vitamin D (safely of course!)

Today I decided to play along with the Inspirations and Themes Challenge No.21 over on the ILWS forum. It's always set by my amazingly talented stamping buddy, Kate. For this challenge, we had to get inspiration from this pic:I actually wouldn't mind this for my own bed! It's so bright and fresh! Might have to take a trip to John Lewis sooner rather than later...LOL!

I kinda struggled to find exact matches within my cardstock selection so picked what I thought came the closest! I also really wanted to try my hand at making my own embellishment and Dawn McVey has recently posted a fab tutorial on how to make your own flowers. Although the thought of tearing my sacred PTI cardstock unerved me somewhat, I was up for the challenge!

This is what I came up with:I know - NO STAMPING! As I was making it I kept thinking what to stamp where but in the end decided against any stamping - I think it's nice and simple as it stands at the minute. Actually, the more I look at it, the more I think I need to add something! Maybe a little tag under that flower...Oh I dunno but I think it may need something! Actually I think I need to get rid of that Plum Pudding - it kinda dominates the card! Oh well, too late now - it's all firmly stuck down!

Card Recipe
(All PTI Supplies!)
Stamps: NONE!
Ink: NONE!
Card: Spring Rain, Spring Moss, Plum Pudding, Sweet Blush (Bitty Dots Basic)
Accessories: White Gel Pen, Cuttlebug, Embossing Folder Swiss Dot, Dark Chocolate Topnotch Twill, White Vintage Button, DMC Jewel Embroidery Thread

Right I'm off to make some tea - I'm starving!

Catch ya later!

Aimes
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Just a Little Something!

Hey!

TGI Friday! Let the weekend commence - yay! I have this weekend ALL to myself! Now I know I should be busy doing those 'essential chores' but I think I may find some time to indulge myself in my crafting corner, along with my music, my TV, my books , my, my ,my... Gosh I'm going to be very selfish! LOL!

So just a little something to show you today. My bloggin' buddy Alison (aka The Copicaholic! Seriously, you gotta check out this lady's talent with a Copic! She's now even doing Copic demos on her bid for world domination, LOL!) and I decided to swap some stamped images. She's a sucker for my Hero Arts Japanese Dolls and I really wanted to try out some Tilda's to colour. So as well as stamping a few things I just knew that Alison would really chuckle at some of my comedy tea-bags (see previous post) too. I really wanted to make another little card/holder but as usual time was really against me so I made a little bag instead.
I'm so sorry for the poor pic, it was taken at night (ready to be posted the following morning) and as it was dark you can imagine how late at night this was! LOL!

I used my Crop-a-dile to punch some holes along with setting a couple of Jumbo Eyelets that matched nearly perfectly with PTI's Pure Poppy Ribbon. You can't see the eyelets on the pics so you'll have to trust me on this one! The dp I used was from a HUGE pack from COSTCO and is double-sided which works really well for these little bags as the inside is automatically decorated for you - BONUS!

Bag Recipe
Stamps: Hero Arts - So Sweet
Ink: Memento Black
Card: COSTCO, PTI Pure Poppy
Accessories: Promarkers, Crop-a-dile Big Bite, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Jumbo Eyelets, PTI Ribbon (Pure Poppy)

I hope you all have a fab weekend - let's hope the sun visits!

Catch ya later!

Aimes
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Another Dash to the Crafting Corner!

Hey!

Happy Monday! (Do such things exist?!)

I got back from a manic Monday at work today to be casually asked by my bf to make a card for his Gran's birthday.

"Sure!" I say, "When d'ya need it for?"
"Well...ummmm...y'see....the thing is....it's her birthday tomorrow..."
"TOMORROW!!!"

I'm seriously beginning to love the challenge of a last minute dash to my crafting corner to try and put something together asap! It's like Ready, Steady Cook but only with cardmaking instead! LOL!

So I got my thinking cap on and decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to create something to enter over on 'A Passion for Papertrey'. I'd been meaning to all weekend but never got around to it! The current challenge is to make a circular card and as you gotta use at least one PTI product I chose it as the perfect excuse to indulge myself in my PTI stash (which is running kinda low now!)

So here's what I made:
I hope you like it! I thought I was going to have problems trying to make the card stand but it stands quite happily on its own. It doesn't open so fully though (as I wanted to play perfectionist and have perfect scallops around the edge!) but it certainly does the job of a card!
I first stamped the poppy, coloured with promarkers and embossed with clear ep so I could sponge ink for the background. This means I could wipe excess ink from the poppy (I stamped the line of text over too and it rubbed away fine!) I left the nestie on as a stencil which leaves a nice neat border around my focal point - I kinda forget the different uses of nestabilities, I tend to just cut the shapes with them!

All this was done in time for tea too (which bf cooked as an attempt to apologise for the late notice for his Gran's card!) In fact, I'm thinking that as punishment he should tidy my crafting corner - it's a complete bombshell after desperately grabbing everything to make this card!

Card Recipe
All PTI Unless Stated
Stamps: Remember, Around & About Sentiments
Ink: Memento Black, Ripe Avocado, New Leaf, Ocean Tides
Card: Vintage Cream, Pure Poppy
Accessories: Pure Poppy Ribbon, Cream Button, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Sponges (for inking), Promarkers, Versamark Pen, Clear Embossing Powder

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Catch ya later!

Aimes
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Neapolitan Ice Cream, Yum.....

Hey!

Well what a soppy, soggy weekend it's been here! I hope the sun visited some of you out there! Oh well, the rain gives me a good excuse to immerse myself in my crafting corner and that's exactly what I've been doing today.

Today I decided to play with Dawn McVey's Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #8. As I love Papertrey Ink's Raspberry Fizz, playing along with these challenges opens up the idea of new colour combos that I'd never have thought of myself!

So this week's colours are:
I decided once again to play with my new 'Remember' Papertrey Ink set (not new to PTI of course, but still new to me ;o) These colours had me drooling as they constantly reminded me of neapolitan ice-cream! I haven't had any of that stuff for years (more of a Ben and Jerry's and Hagen Daaz gal myself!).

Rain really did dampen my mojo today so I combined the colour challenge with Jen del Muro's Saturday sketch.

Here's what I came up with:(Apologies for the poor photography; my photography skill combined with poor weather equals a less-than-super pic!)

I hope you like it! I created the Raspberry Fizz background with the aid of the flourish stamp from the set. It almost tessellated, making it easy to create my own kinda PTI designer paper! without the pattern, the raspberry fizz kinda took over the card and was way too bold for my liking!

I also took the time to decorate inside my card too:

Card Recipe
(All Papertrey Ink Unless Stated!)
Stamps: Remember Stamp Set
Ink: Vintage Cream, Dark Chocolate, Raspberry Fizz
Card: Vintage Cream, Raspberry Fizz, Dark Chocolate, Kraft (from The Paper Cellar)
Accessories: Cream Vintage Button, Dark Chocolate Topnotch Twill Ribbon, Kraft Coloured Twine (IKEA), Cuttlebug, Nestabilities,

I'm really loving PTI's Vintage Cream card and ink - so elegant and pretty! Sounds kinda weird as to most people it's just cream card but to me it gorgeous! LOL! I nearly had a heart attack earlier today when I caught my bf rooting through my stuff to find some 'white scrap paper' to write a list on and he came out with a sheet of this little piece of heaven! "It's just card, Aimes!" he exclaimed, "Just, Just, JUST!?!?! It's not just card - it's PTI's Paper Basics 110lb Vintage Cream Cardstock!! That stuff is almost sacred" LOL! No doubt now he's found confirmation that I am a completely crazed papercrafting nutcase!

Right then, off to find some neapolitan ice-cream....

Catch ya later!

Aimes
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Tea for Two...

Hey!

Well the countdown to the weekend has officially begun in my book - only tomorrow day to go! The Sun decided to visit today too so I'm feeling a little optimistic about the weather this weekend (let's hope I'm right!)

So y'know yesterday I promised to post something a little special? Well over half term I decided to try out a project that had been nagging me for ages but didn't have the time to sit and work it all out. Until last week that is! I'm posting this up later because the intended recipients (Kate & Steph) have now received them. I'd hate to spoil a surprise by posting it up here (though believe me I was itching to once I'd made these cuties!)

I have seen a few tea-bag holders here in blogland and even on Splitcoaststampers there was a tutorial to make one. I had the most cool teabags here at home and always felt so guilty using them all to myself. I just knew that Kate and Steph (who is now probably sunning herself in Florida - sooo jealous!) would share my humour with these teabags so I decided to get to work on the logistics of making a holder to specifically hold these sized bags. So after some measuring, cutting, re-measuring and re-cutting, this is what I came up with:

I hope you like them! The tea-bags have really funny quotes on - sure to make anybody smile (so long as they're not easily offended LOL!). As I knew who I wanted to make these for, I could personalise them a little by using their fave colours. I knew Kate was a sucker for PTI's Aqua Mist and that Steph is crazy about PTI's Raspberry Fizz (who isn't eh?!)

So here's Kate's:

And here's Steph's:

Tea Holder Recipe
Stamps: Hero Arts - So Sweet, PTI - Around & About Sentiments
Ink: Memento - London Fog, PTI Raspberry Fizz
Card: Various PTI card, PTI Bitty Dot Basics
Accessories: Promarkers, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Ribbon PTI Raspberry Fizz, Jewel (Hero Arts), Teabags (A gift from my SIL!), Cellobags

So on top of the holder, I wanted to write a little note. I didn't find the time to make a card but instead, created my own kinda letter paper/card. Again, I used Kate and Steph's fave colours. I could fit loads more writing on these (even if not neat!) than I ever could on the tea holders!

Aqua Mist for Kate:

and Raspberry Fizz for Steph:Recipe
Stamps: Penny Black - Birds on a Wire
Ink: Versamagic Chalk Ink: Aquatic Splash, PTI Raspberry Fizz
Card/Paper: PTI Aqua Mist, PTI Raspberry Fizz, Bitty Dot Basics (both Aqua Mist and Raspberry Fizz)
Accessories: Corner Punch

I really hope you like them! I'm pretty sure both Kate and Steph did and I certainly had fun making it all. The hardest part was working out the template but once that was sorted I was on my way! You can't imagine the bombshell of a mess I created in the space of one afternoon making these! *blush*

That's all I got for now, but I definitely hope to find some time to craft this weekend!

Catch ya later!

Aimes
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A last minute rush...

Hey!

We're half-way through the working week - woo hoo! It's going kinda fast for me as work is full on and busy, busy, busy! No rest for the wicked eh!?! LOL! Though the sun has decided to hide today, I was hoping it would last all week!

Just a little card to share with you today! I was asked at the very last minute for a 'get well' card. It's for my work colleague who is off work for a little while; the card was for us as a department to give to her.

Well what a perfect opportunity to play some more with my Taylored Expressions - Doctor's Orders stamp set! Not that I'd wish anyone to be ill of course, but I'll admit I got a little excited when I had a real reason to play with it! LOL!

With the short time given I felt under pressure to give my card that I made for the SASI blog but that card seems to be my pride and joy at the minute. I couldn't bear to part with it (I know it's sad isn't it!?!) Therefore it was time to get the stamps out and get cracking!

Here's what I came up with:

I know it's not very fancy, but I hope it has the desired effect of cheering up the recipient a little! Fortunately, everyone at work seemed to like it so I don't feel too bad about only having literally 15mins to get this one done!

Card Recipe

Stamps: Taylored Expressions Doctor's Orders

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Card: DCWV Bright Mat pack, Bazzill dotted swiss - pirouette, white (from stash!)

Accessories: Promarkers, White Gel Pen, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Stickles (Crystal), Corner Punch, Ribbon Ripe Avocado (PTI)

That's all for now! I hope to post something a little more special tomorrow...

Catch ya later!

Aimes

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