What a doll!

A very big welcome to all of you who have popped over from Our Creative Corner after looking at our first challenge "Anything Goes".  Thank you to all my followers too for your support on my little blog.

For my first creation on the Our Creative Corner design team, I thought it would be fun to use the new Julie Nutting mixed media doll stamp to decorate a journal for a new crafting friend of mine who is 9, going on 19!  She wants to be a dress designer and she has such confidence, I think she could be anything she chooses to be!

I used some delicious K&Co Blue Awning papers for the background, the doll's dress and her shoes - don't you just love those beads on her shoes!  

A Prima tag was stamped with flourishes, more paper added and some lovely pieces of vintage material and lace tucked in behind my Copic coloured doll.  The flower was painted with Fresco Chalk as was the little doll bookmark but I'm not very good at faces so prefer the blank-faced doll myself.  Inside the front cover is a little pocket to hold some blank "dolls" stamped and cut out ready to be coloured and dressed as desired.

The back cover was more of the same paper, stamped with some of my favourite stamps of the moment from Oxford Impressions and then some very appropriate Tim Holtz chit chat stickers.

It took me back many years making this and I hope my little friend likes it too.  Hope you'll enjoy what the team has made for you and we look forward to seeing your Anything Goes entries.  Don't forget, there'll be more inspiration from the rest of the Our Creative Corner team on the 15th.

Thank you so much for coming to see me - I'd really love any comments you'd be kind enough to leave me.

Margie xx

An easel in the sunshine .....

No I'm not actually painting - just showing off  my easel card.  Its just a quick pic this afternoon as its really  sunny and warm here in Northumberland and I'm making the most of it in the garden!

Actually took this pic outside on the garden table so its a bit bright and I turned it slightly so you could see that its an easel card.  When you make a birthday card for a fellow crafter, you have to do something a little different, don't you?

Hope you'll pop back tomorrow to see my first make for the Our Creative Corner Design Team.  So excited about our first challenge and looking forward to seeing what you all submit.

See you tomorrow!  Margie x

Exciting (and sad) times........

Sad because I had to make a card for a very good friend who is really poorly in a nearby hospice but is receiving fantastic care.  I actually managed to get the texture paste to behave for the first time on this one after many failed attempts so I'll be using it again.

Excited because I've actually reached 50 followers now and also just noted that this is my 100th post!  What a time to tell you about my great news - being invited to join a fantastic team for the re-launch of the challenge blog, Our Creative Corner.  Its a bit scary for me, being the first time I've ever been on a Design Team but the other members are all wonderful and I know I'm going to have some fun.

If you've been on Our Creative Corner before, you'll know how friendly it was and it will definitely stay the same but with a new format, a fresh new look and some great challenges for you.  The new team will be looking forward to seeing you when we open the doors.  Please pop over and say hello!

I'm so proud to display my badge .........

Door to the past

A big thank you to all my followers - I'm almost at the 50 mark and never thought I'd reach that. Today,  I'd just like to post another pic of one of the 10 ATCs I made recently (see this post) so I could enter the challenge over at Fun with ATCs called Windows/Doors.

The paper is Websters Pages and the stamp is from Darkroom Doors Gothic Arches set which I don't use often enough.  The little balloon was part of a free stamp on the cover of a Craft Stamper and just fits nicely into the corner.  This was my favourite ATC and I hope the eventual recipient likes it.  Hope you do too and thanks for taking a look.

Sew and so card

We've all had those days I'm sure, when everything seems to go wrong!  I started making this card for a friend's birthday and suffered the dropsies - you know when everything you touch falls from your fingers and lands exactly where you didn't want it to.  What made it worse was that I only had one sheet of the background paper and really wanted to use it as I love the black edging - sigh......

The wording on the bottom right covered the worst splodge and the inky mark I put on the ruler ribbon at the bottom is under the stamped bobbin and you actually can't really see where I accidentally tore the paper at the top because the metal corner covers that.  Those butterflies are strategically placed too - and I bet you'd never notice that the lace stamped down the right has an extra bit done on paper to cover the first "mucked-up" bit.  There you go - it was definitely a "so and so" but I'm sure my non-crafty friend will think its lovely.  Thanks for listening to my moans - all in a day's crafting, right?

Going to enter this in Our Creative Corner's challenge Fashion and Style - well I think it includes everything asked for - and we won't let on about the cover-ups!

There were 10 in the bed and the little one said, Roll over......

Roll over.  Well that takes me back a few years!  Anyway, I had 10 ATCs to make for a swap and once I got started, the ideas came thick and fast and I really enjoyed the process.  Just got to get them all packed up and off to the swap organiser in Texas and then eventually I will receive 10 back - all from different people.  Here are mine:

My favourite is the Door to the Past one in the top row - do you see one you like?

Thanks for having a look at what I've been up to and for any comments you might have.  x

Our Creative Corner Top Talent Thursday

I was honoured to be selected on Our Creative Corner as a Top Talent Thursday and to be invited by Sue to take part in a short question and answer session and a showcasing of a project. 

Here's a little taster of my project but to see it in full you'll have to pop over to Our Creative Corner.  The pictures were taken outside on one of the very few sunny days we've had recently so they came our really well.  Nothing like a bit of natural light!

This project was inspired by two books by Angela Cartwright and Sarah Fishburn.  They are called In This House and In This Garden and are full of the most amazing and inspiring artwork plus loads of elements (including the house template) for you to photcopy and use in your own art.  I had loads of fun making this project, adding stamping, collage and bits from my stash. 

Once I'd cut a few pages from some sturdy card, I mainly used the fabulous Websters Pages papers to cover them and then the words from the books to highlight the decoration of the pages.  I added a little pocket on the last page to hold a gift tag for the recipients.  When I had finished playing, I punched holes in the side of the pages, popped in some book rings so that the pages could turn easily and then tied on some Laura Ashley ribbons I'd been hoarding.  Hope you like my little book and pop over to see the full version plus my answers to Sue's very interesting questions.  Thanks so much Sue - it was a very enjoyable experience!

Thinking of you

Just a simple little card tonight for a friend who's very ill.  These are difficult cards to make but I hope the little birdie will cheer her up a bit.

He's a Stampin'Up punch that I find really useful and the sentiment is one of theirs too.  The embossed strip at the top is  from a border strips set called Metal Works and the die cut on top of that is from a Shapeabilities set called Twisted Metal tags and accents.

Hope you're having a good evening and are a bit warmer where you are than it is here!  I went for a walk today and there was still snow lying on the ground in the forest, brrrr....  Its got to get warmer soon.

A lovely bunch of flowers

Went to my craft club at a nearby garden centre this morning and we had great fun.  We always have a "mingle" inbetween our meetings which means we create something and bring it to the club and then everyone who participates gets to take home someone else's artwork!  Its wonderful to see what lovely pieces of work the girls come up with - I'm always thrilled with what I bring away and we all learn from each other.  Here's a picture of today's mingles where the theme was "flowers"

I was lucky enough to come away with the lovely box at the back with the flowers on the front but any of these beautiful makes would have been welcome.  The lady who made the oriental looking box at the front gave us a demonstration and it was a lot easier than it looked.  Will have to give that one a go.

We also made a very unusual card (which again was a lot easier than it looked) and I was pleased with the way it turned out.  Not quite finished yet but you can see the structure of the card - all cut from a single sheet of A4 card.  Clever eh?  And it folds up to go into an A5 envelope.

Hope you've seen something you like and thanks for stopping by.

Moving story

Well it seems like ages since I last blogged but things have been so hectic moving into my very own craft room!  I decided to take over the smallest bedroom which was just being used as a store room and its just brilliant having my own space.  The only problem is finding anything......   I thought I wouldn't label any of my lovely new boxes until I was certain where everything was going - big mistake!  After looking through at least 6 boxes before I find what I want, I really need to spend time getting those labels written now.

I haven't had much time for crafting but here's a couple of altered envelopes I made for a swap.

Although it doesn't show so much on the picture, I made a bit of a mess of the pink one by using the wrong glue to add the dressform I had stamped on pattern tissue.  Wondered why it wouldn't stick properly then when I tried to press it down, it all came away in bits - boo hoo!  Realised my mistake and started again using Mod Podge and this time it worked perfectly although there was a bit of a shiny patch left.  Hope she thinks its all part of the design LOL

Hoping to spend a lot more time in my room - much better than the dining room table.

Thanks so much for coming over to see what I've been up to.