Throwback Monday

I have been a blogger since 2006 although due to  lack of any idea how to blog I didn't post much that year but 2007 things seemed to pick up a bit. I was creating more Scrapbooking than cards but I was still making a few.

The first one is using punches and the little bear which was a card lift from Jo Kill not sure she is still crafting, the little bear would still work today. 

Below is a card using watercolour pencils to colour there was no fancy pens etc then but they weren't far away. You can see I was 3d my images even then. I think I may still have those stamps.

Like I said I did more Scrapbooking then rather than the other way round now. Here's a couple of my favourites.

My photo skills were just as bad then as they are now. 2007 was the year I was retired on health grounds after working for the same company for 18 years.

It was 2007 that the Make it Show was at Thorpe Park but they cancelled because of bad weather and a damaged tent. Also I went Orlando to see my daughter who was working for Disney. I also went to Chelsea Flower Show with my Sister.

Not another Photo

I have some more photos to go with this layout which I will make in the same papers although I have a horrible feeling I don't know where I put it.

It's another one made last year at the All Day Crop with the Scrap Cafe at Bracknell. The hexagons are made with Stampin Up punch and the camera and phone are made with some very old My Favourite Things die.

Looking at it now I think maybe that yellow in the phone is really annoying, I wonder how long I will be able to put up with it.

There as been a normal crop already this year but I took my colouring I really need to get my card making head back on and blog a bit more. I also need to sort out my scrapbooking it won't be long before the Scrap Cafe Retreat will be here.

Berries

Starting as I mean to go on I've made a start on Christmas cards 2019 and I used the ABC Christmas Challenge B for Berries to inspire me.

First of I decided to use the Penny Black Holly die in fact I cut two of them. This is so I could cut out a sprig of holly to give the first card a finished edge. The join hidden with some pearl berries. The only problem I have with this die the berries are large and you have to use large pearls so it won't go through  normal post.

The frame mats are MFT which I was disappointed again that they layered with a large border, sentiment is Simon says Stamp Christmas Tiny Words.

I had this sprig left over so I used it for a similar card I made last year. Knowing the berries were large I cut them off so I could use smaller pearls.

The poinsettia is Simon says Stamp Poinsettia Parade love the size of this flowers. The border on my white mat is an old Lawn Fawn Stitched border die and again the sentiment is the same as above.

Not sure why my white is a bit grey and fuzzy I think the camera's battery is running out but also it's been grey and miserable weather so lighting is another problem at the moment.

Crochet Update

I finally finished my experiment I've made a Shrug using the Squared Lost in Time pattern, this is a paid pattern on Ravelry but I think it was worth it.

The yarn is Stylecraft Batik Swirl Forest and the edging was using a matching Batik. It did take quite a few swirls in fact five and I made a fold edging which again took 3 balls of matching Batik.

It's incredibly warm but I'm a bit worried it might stretch with the weight but we will wait and see, it could be it will return to size once its been washed again, a bit like a pair of jeans.

I used the diagram on this blog to work out how much armhole space to make and size.

I gone back to making squares that I was making on Thursday Nights at my Sister's while I decide what to make next.

Heart You

Another Love card this time I've used Mo's Heart You and some old Simple Stories.

I used Sketch Saturday to inspire the sketch but the image mat isn't quite look enough for it to be an obvious match to the sketch.

I used MFT Stitched Banners and their Stitched Scallop Frame for the image and the sentiment is a Simon says Stamp one. There's a tiny bit of paper on the sentiment which I've just checked and blew it away must remember to double check. Not hurry to take the photo before the light go.

Matching Card and Envie

Hi all and welcome to another week on the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge
Thank you for joining us for the Something New Challenge and we hope you will all join us again this week too.

This week the challenge is

Make A Card And Matching Envelope

you can choose to decorate a ready made envelope, you don't necessarily have to make your own.
We are showcasing We R Memory Keepers Products this week. You don't have to use them to join in but if you have some we would love to see them used

The lovely folks over at Simon Says Stamp are generously giving away a FABULOUS $50 voucher to shop at the  Simon Says Stamp Store! All you have to do is take out your crafty supplies, make something following this week’s prompt, and add a link in the Inlinkz at the bottom of this post! You can join 5 times so you could have 5 chances to win! How AWESOME is that!! All winners are chosen randomly, so everyone has an equal chance to win! Woo Hoo!! Good Luck to everyone! The Design Team is looking forward to seeing your crafty makes and will pop around to visit you ASAP!

As a scrapbooking as well as card maker I was drawn to getting the Crafters Stapler from We R Memory Keeps its very handy for attaching Vellum which is what I've done with for my card.

I've used the fabulous stamps from the Simon says Stamp card kit you can get the stamp set separately called Snow Much.

I have a pile of Oxides background and luckily I had two blue ones which I then cut out using Simon says Stamp Stitched Rectangles.

I cut round my snowman trying to leave a tiny white border round them except the snowman's head for the envelope. The stamped the sentiment using a Versamark inkpad and used WOW Bright Opaque White.

I made a card front then added it to the card but before I did I turned the card front over and using something heavy to flatten the staples to help it to be flat and easier to stick.

Do you use Instagram ?  If so please add  #ssswchallenge to your challenge entry uploads so we can see them on there too.

Instagram Top Nine

Not sure if anyone realised I have an Instagram account and it was interesting to do my top nine and they are all Clean and Simple, one or two I thought "really".

So for 2019 no resolutions but goals one of which will try and be more clean and simple just wish they were just as quick!

Another goal is to get to my target weight, before Christmas that would have been 3 1/2 pounds it's now    but it's OK I hope to get my Christmas weight off by the end of January.

The last goal is to be more crafty no more wasting time watching the telly and playing on my ipad. I've had some lovely goodies arrive in my craft room and brought for me at Christmas they need using.

Oh there is one more Christmas Cards, last year was a nightmare seriously I can't leave it sooo late to make them, so I will looking out for Christmas Cards Challenges.