Good morning everyone
I would like to apologise  for not having blogged in a while but I have not been well. In fact I had to force myself out of my bed as I had to make this DT card by today. It was a struggle to start with as I have lost my mojo somewhere and can't seem to find it anywhere lol. Not a good time to lose it as I have my new Brother scan 'n' cut which arrived earlier in the week and I haven't had a play yet. I don't know if any of you ever feel it but I am having a crisis of confidence at the mo,it's probably just because I haven't been able to do much crafting but I see so many lovely cards on blogger and face book that I start to doubt my ability to produce anything as good that I just lose my creative flow. That's why it is good to be on some design teams as it forces you to get back on that horse. I always start by making a random card to get me in that mind set and then once the juices are flowing I start work on the card I need to make,and before I know it my mojo is back. 
This card is a DT card for the new challenge over at Creative craft cottage (the link is on the side bar) and the theme is Vintage, which I chose this month so I had to try and come up with something to hopefully inspire crafters to try one themselves and enter our challenge. I am so looking forward to seeing all the creations as I do love vintage cards. So here it is and I hope it does inspire you to make one and enter it into the challenge

I started by choosing a vintage style paper and then chose paper for the dress that complimented and used my favourite dress stamp from Kanban and stamped it several times so that I could decoupage it. I  used a co ordinating pink paper for the little laced bit in the centre. I then cut them out and layered them up to accentuate the ruffles in the dress. Then I cut two of these lovely sizzix thinlits dies - frame garden lattice and joined them together by splicing them. For those of you who don't know how to do this, "and I only know because my husband is a woodworker"  I overlapped them until they were the size I wanted and the laid a ruler across and carefully cut through both layers so they would match up. Then out of crafters companion pearl ivory card I used a spellbinders Majestic elements nestablities Opulent Ovals die to cut out the centre background and inked around it with a red ink as it appears pink on the pearlesant  card stock. 

By this time my decoupaged dress was dry and I started to put the card together. I started with a 8x8" white card and cut a piece of sage green card to fit and stuck it on ( I always use double sided tape as in the past when I used glue I found that after a while the glue would dry out and the bits would start falling off the card) I am not saying with more modern glues this would happen,I just got into this habit and am scared to try glue just in case. I guess I should just have a experiment to see how modern glues hold up but for now I will stick to what I am used to doing. Then I cut the pretty backing paper 1/4" smaller and stuck it to the card to leave a border all the way round.Then as the garden lattice die cuts had a centre to them I put double sided tape just on the back of these and carefully lined them up in the centre of the card and stuck them down. Then I stuck the spellbinder frame on top in the centre and added the decoupaged dress. I had these little silk ribbon flowers,I don't remember where I got them from,but they were white which I thought was too stark for this card so again I used the red ink pad to just colour them and they appeared pink again,I then using the rule of odds put three in two opposite corners and added a bow to compliment and topped it off with two buttons,one on top of the other. Then I used cosmic shimmer pearl glue to add some pearls around the frame where the lattice shapes met. I didn't put a sentiment on it as I didn't think it needed one and it leaves it open to be used for lots of different occasions. I hope this has explained the processes I went through to achieve this but if you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask in the comments and I will get back to you. I would also love to hear what you think about it if you have the time to leave a comment. 

Happy crafting everyone!!!!

Good morning all, I hope you all had a very good weekend and maybe got some crafting in?
This is my latest card which I have done as my design team card over at Christmas Fun challenge blog. The theme for this fortnight is "Cute Character"  it would be lovely to see all your creations so why not pop over and enter at http://laineycraftyspace-christmasfun.blogspot.co.uk


I wanted to try a new technique that I saw a few months ago and was inspired to try myself, after all that's why us crafter's share our creations, to give others ideas and inspire others to try things out, how else would we progress.
I hope you like it and are inspired as I was to give it a go!

materials I used

Blue paper 8x8

Pink card 7.75" x7.75"

Image from the Me to you Cd

white card

snowflake punch

cosmic shimmer pearl PVA

White ribbon

Peal off 1st Christmas in silver

Good morning everyone! The sun is shining here in Norfolk and it feels good to be alive. It was my birthday yesterday and I had such a lovely day with my family and had so many lovely messages from all my new crafting friends,it really made my day even better,so thank you to you all.

Well it's a new month and that means there is a new challenge starting over at Gruffies and Guests challenge blog. The theme this month is " love is in the air" and our sponsor for this one is " Dawn till dusk craft supplies" who are giving a £10 voucher for this months winning entry so it's well worth popping over and entering your creation for a chance to win    

http://www.dawntillduskcrafts.co.uk



I decided for this challenge I would design a card that wasn't the usual red hearts type and do something different. So for my DT card this month I went with one of my favourite (and oh how long the list of favourites are) house mouse images. I know,I know,but I can't help it,I just love them and make no apologies for this obsession.
These  two characters dressed up as Bee's just stole my heart, so I thought they would be perfect as a Valentine card. I love how dramatic the black and yellow are together.

I used my usual 8x8 card and cut a piece of yellow card to fit.

Then I added the black card and embossed it using  the A4 Embossalicious Argyle folder from crafters companion.

I then layered the image on to the same yellow and black card. 

Then I typed the words I wanted in a font I liked and printed it out. For the larger yellow layer at the back I used spellbinders Butterflies circles and for the smaller yellow layer I used one of the Stately circles dies ,again from spellbinders. The black and centre layers were Xcut scalloped circles. 

I hope you like it, I love it and will be saving it to give to Hubby on Valentines day. I hope it has inspired you to try something different from the norm,happy crafting to you all. 

I have entered this into the Just for fun challenge 

Good morning fellow crafters,I hope you are all managing to get some crafting done? I have been busy the last couple of weeks decorating my bedroom. Things take me much longer to do these days as I have to do a little,rest a lot unlike years ago when I would have had a room done in 48 hours and not slept until it was finished. Oh how we waste our youth and spend the rest of our lives wishing we had made the most of it while we had it. It's a very true saying that " Youth is wasted on the young" You see older people going about their daily lives and never imagine how many of them are suffering terrible pain in silence with a smile on their faces until it's you doing it. So to all of you that craft for therapy or to take your minds off the daily pain you suffer I Salute you all. I know it puts me in a place where I can be happy and forget my woes.
After resting for a few days I am hoping to get in my craft room for a couple of days and make some much needed cards. One of the bonuses of being on a few design teams is that it makes you get in there and make something when you may otherwise just rest,and although at times you need to rest it is not good to get into a rut of doing to much of it. So hopefully I will be back soon with some new creations to share with you. So in the meantime happy crafting to you all xx

Hello everyone, I hope you all had a good weekend. I have been busy decorating my bedroom but took time out to make a thank you card for a lovely lady I met in one of my craft groups on facebook. I wanted to make one that said thank you and didn't want to use a image so I used a spellbinder die called gold elements one which is a lovely lacey triangle/ You can use it with the outer shape to cut it out of the card or just use the internal lace to leave it in the card,I chose the later and cut it four times to make up a square. I have wanted to try it out since buying the die but never got around to it. I found it easier using a A4 magnetic sheet,not only did it mean I could piece it together better but also discovered that it helped to make the die cut better. I often have to pass the bigger,more detailed dies through 6-8 times before it cuts properly and have to keep rotating the die to put the pressure on different parts. But with the magnetic sheet I passed it through and back just once and it cut it perfectly. If you use a die cutting machine give it a go and I am sure you will be pleased with the results. For the flowers I used spellbinders blossom 5,when I had cut them out i inked the edges and then cut between each segment then turned them over and embossed from the back each petal then turned them back to the front and embossed the centre. Then I layered a smaller one on top of the larger one and scrunched it all up a bit, I was pleased with the out come. Then while the flowers dried I cut a piece of glitter card a cm larger than the lacey background and used sticky pads to stick it on to the glitter card as it is a stronger sticky than tape. I could have used silicone but was in a hurry to get it in the post and didn't have the time to let it dry. I then added the sentiment to the centre and and added the flowers and bow. I hope you like the finished card,I was very pleased with it and I know the friend I sent it to liked it very much. I think it shows you don't always need to use a image to make a card look attractive.

                                           

P.S Sorry I forgot to mention that the Die I used for the sentiment was spellbinders Venetian Motifs  

Well hello again everyone,I have some more good news to share with you. I have just joined another design team and am very excited once again. I am pleased to be part of the team at Aly's crafty challenges at https://www.facebook.com/groups/335678713185312/

Here is my 1st card for the Valentines Day challenge,the winners will be anounced on the 14th Feb so why not pop over and enter your creations we would love to see your makes

Angie's card designs

Hello everyone
I have a new card to show you today,It is my latest DT card for the creative craft cottage challenge blog. The theme this month is Fabric or Felt so I decided on this image of the house mouse babies in bed. I found some lovely patchwork material and decided to try using it as the quilt on the bed,it's hard to see from the photo that it is real material though,so I am including a close up so hopefully you can see it better. I must admit to it being a challenge for me this time as it is not something I usually use on my cards. So I hope I have managed to pull it off and you like the finished card.

So why not pop over to http://creativecraftcottage.blogspot.co.nz/ and enter this months challenge,we would love to see you're creations x

Hello Again
I have a second bit of exciting news........ I have been chosen to be on the design team for a brand new
Challenge blog which starts 4th Jan and anyone who knows me and my cards will know just how excited I am because the new blog is called Gruffies & Guests,which includes The Gruffies of course,The Happy Hoppers and of course my all time favourite House Mouse....... YAY!!!!!

So why not pop over and take a look at the DT inspiration and get crafting, we would love for you to enter the challenges and look forward to seeing all your fabulous creations. The prize for the winning card will be a £10 voucher to spend online from our sponsor Crafty Ribbons. Now are you as excited as me?

Here is my 1st DT card for the blog, I hope it inspires you to enter you're own creations. Happy crafting!!!

You can join in the fun at......... http://gruffiesandguests.blogspot.co.uk/

Hello everyone,
I can now give you my good news...... I have been chosen to join a design team for a brand new Challenge blog which goes live on the 2nd January. I am so excited!!!!
The blog is Christmas fun and it means I can make Christmas cards all year,how cool is that?

One of the best parts is that it means when it comes toward Christmas time again I and you (if you take part in the challenges) will have some Christmas cards made already.

So why not pop over and take a look at the new blog and while you are there enter a card for the 1st challenge/and get ahead for next year.   http://laineyscraftyspace-christmasfun.blogspot.co.uk

I have entered this card into the following Challenges
http://housemouse-challenge.blogspot.co.uk/

http://christmascardsallyearround.blogspot.co.uk/
http://craftyhazelnutschristmaschallenge2.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/chnc-challenge-extra-for-january-2014.html