On My First Christmas......

Hi everyone! So....are you all ready for Christmas?! I think I am nearly finished with all of the preparations now. All presents bought, family visited, food order placed, tree bought and decorated. All that's left is to wrap the presents and write my cards. Phew! For some reason, this years prep seemed 1000% more hectic that usual - I barely feel I've spent anytime at home the last couple of weeks! Anyone else feel like that or is it just me being a drama queen?!

I have managed to make a few things though. I made some gorgeous little gift bags and also some nice pieces of jewellery to give to friends and family for Christmas. Unfortunately, I forgot to take any pictures..... Silly Stacey!

However, I did manage to snap a few pics of these cards which I was asked to make by the daughter of one of my colleages. She wanted cards for her little baby boy to give to his grandparents for Christmas. For both of the cards, I adapted one of the Pink Petticoat 'Sweet Cheeks' images simply by adding 'on my' in Paint Shop Pro.

I layered up some plain New Leaf Pink Petticoat paper onto a square card blank and matted onto this some Olive 'O Christmas Tree' paper. I coloured some white ribbon with Promarkers so that it coordinated and wrapped this around the card. The main image was altered slight in Paint Shop Pro and then coloured with Prismacolor pencils and Sansodor. I highlighted with Stickles, mounted onto a Nestie rectangle and added the panel to the card with 3D pads. I finished the card with adhesive gems in each of the corners.

This second card is {secretly!} my favourite! I matted Duck Egg Blue solid paper onto a card blank and then followed this with smaller coordinating layers of 'O Christmas Tree' papers in Merry Christmas and Snowflake designs. I tied white satin ribbon around the central panel and added my Sweet Cheeks image to the card using 3D foam pads. Once again, the finished card was embellished with adhesive gems.

I'm planning to do a little bit of blog hopping today as it is dead at work {naughty I know!}, so don't be surprised if you all get inundated with lots of comments from me as I try my bestest to catch up on all of the beautiful projects you have made over the last couple of weeks!

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What a bad blogger I am.......

I just want to apologise for being such an awful blogger of late. I've barely made it around your blogs and I haven't been posting all that much either. I think it is mostly down to work and Christmas prep distractions but I really just haven't had the will to blog lately. I don't think it helps that the computer is in the spare room and it is blinking freezing in there at the moment! Anyway, I'm sorry for being naughty and for neglecting you all! I will try harder in the new year I promise!

Well, I'm still on the christmas card mission..... and getting nowhere fast really! I've been playing with the CC Design downloads again. Can't leave them alone, they are so cute! I've fancied having a go at a round card for ages so now seemed like as good a time as any!

I cut the blank from pearlescent cardstock, using the largest of my circular Nesties and my trusty cuttlebug. I then cut two further circles of of MME Be Merry papers, trimming one down so that it formed a band across the centre of the card. I coloured my CC angel with Promarkers and added Stickles to her wings for a little bit of sparkle. Once dry, I added her to the centre of the card with 3D pads. Finally, I tidied up the top of the card with a piece of ribbon which was originally a hanging hook inside one of my jumpers!

I hope all of your christmas preparations are going well and that you aren't finding your gift buying too stressful! Take care, wrap up warm and I promise I will be visiting you all soon!

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Am I a Scrap Addict? Sketch #7

Hi all! We're back from Bath. Had a great time, ate, drank and shopped too much - heaven! I also upgraded my phone... After haggling lots (!), I ended up with a shiney new phone AND a Nintendo Wii for the grand total of £30! What a bargain?! I was (and still am!) feeling mightily pleased with myself, I can tell you. Although, after diving round the lounge for a couple of hours last night, my left arm is feeling decidedly sore today!


Anyway, onto crafty matters..... Here is my DT card for sketch 7 of 'Am I a Scrap Addict?'. Unfortunately, I really struggled with this week's sketch and I am not at all happy with the card I've made.... Here it is anyway though :o(

I made this one with a combination of Shabby Princess digi papers and a PC crafter download from the 'Santas Helpers' collection. I coloured the image with my Promarkers and added sparkle to the wings with some Stickles.

Although I'm not massively fond of this card, I am fond of how I altered certain elements of it. The flowers were originally pink and brown but I coloured them with my Promarkers so that they would coordinate with the images and papers. I used the same technique with the ribbon, colouring with a green Promarker. As for the brad holding the flower together, this was originally bright orange but I silver embossed it several times and voila! It became a silver brad!

It's always good to be able to see a silver lining to every big black cloud isn't it?!

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Cutie Rudie!

Although I have plenty more of the CC angel cards to share with you, I decided to give you a little bit of a break for the time being. Instead, here is an image from the PC Crafter set "Santa's Helpers".

Firstly, I distressed some My Minds Eye paper with a metal ruler, faux stitched around the edges and mounted on to a brown side-fold rectangular card blank. As I mentionned before, the image is from the PC Crafter "Santa's Helpers" set. I've coloured Rudolph with my Promarkers and layered him onto a scalloped Nestie rectangle. I punched 2 holes either side of the image and threaded through some ribbon, highlighting with adhesive gems. I then mounted the whole panel onto the card blank using 3D foam pads. I'm really pleased with the whole thing.

Hope everyone is well and enjoying the weekend! I'm feeling slightly smug as mine is a slightly longer one as Ali and I are off for an overnight jolly to Bath tomorrow!

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See, I told you that I love these images.....!

Yep, as promised, here is yet another Christmas card that I have made with my fab CC Designs angels. But aren't they adorable?!

This one was pretty simple....as are most of my cards! I took some gorgeous My Minds Eye Christmas papers, inked the edges and layered them onto coordinating Bazzill Smoothie cardstock. I studded the corners with silver brads and added a strip of stripy MME paper across the centre of the card. The central CC Designs image is mounted onto a Nestie circle and coloured with Promarkers. I finished my little cutie off with a touch of Stickles on her wings and halo.

Do you know what? There are yet more of these angels to come.....I just love them so much!

I've got 2 awards in the last couple of days from Sandra, Beth & Sally-Ann - thanks ladies!
Sandra and Beth passed on this little beauty....
"This blog invests and believes the PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships!These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind blogger's aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight blogger's who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

I think my 8 lucky ladies are going to be...

Beth & Sandra (I know they gave it to me but I still feel this sentiment applies to them!), Sally-Ann, Dawn, Vicky, Nikki, Amy and Terrie. The reason that I have chosen these ladies is because, no matter how ropey a card I post, this lovely lot are always the first to "ooh and aah" and leave gorgeous little comments. Thank you so much, I appreciate you more than you know!

The second award came from Sally-Ann......

"Pick 5 bloggers that you consider as your best blogging buddies and deserve this award for their contribution towards the blogging community, no matter what language.State the name of the author of each blog as well as a link to each one's blogs.Each blogger (upon acceptance) of this award should do a post and show the award on their blog and put the name and link to the blog that has given her/him the award."

Umm, who shall I go for this time..... Well, I actually think all of the people I named for the Proximity award also deserve this award so consider yourselves awarded twice you lot!

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I'm Getting Addicted to CC Angels.....

Blimey it's cold....brrr! It has {finally} got me in the mood to make Christmas cards though! I've made quite a few over the last couple of days which I will gradually upload throughout the week. Don't want to bombard you do I?!

I made this card using my gorgeous My Minds Eye papers. I have virtually the whole set of these and I love this one in particular as my Mum used to read me this poem every single Christmas Eve when I was little. The image is from the CC Designs 'Angel' download which I am utterly in love with. All I can say is, you will be seeing these designs ALOT over the coming days ;o) Anyway, I coloured my little angel with ProMarkers and Stickles and mounted her onto a couple of Nestie circles. As always, I finished my card with ribbon and adhesive gems.

Thanks for all your kind wishes re: the Flutterby design team - what lovely peeps you are?!
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Fluttery Crafts Challenge #1 - I'm on the DT!

That's right - I'm on the DT for this fab shop - Flutterby Crafts! Yay me! There will be monthly challenges set and the lucky winner each month will win a £10 voucher to spend in the shop. The first challenge is called "Everything is Coming Up Roses" and I hope you can all take some time out from your Christmas cards to join in! Here is my offering......

I started by layering on some yellow Core'dinations cardstock onto a square blank. Onto this, I mounted some gorgeous Making Memories paper that I have had yonks but have never had the nerve to cut! The image is a Magnolia which I (luckily) received in a RAK earlier in the year. I have coloured Edwin with my beloved Promarkers and highlighted the corners with a paper piercer. The card was finished with a flower, some ribbon and a metal 'friend' tag, attached with some chain from my new jewellery making stash.

I struggled a bit with this one as it was all a bit too 'busy' and nothing quite seemed to look right! I hope you all think it turned out alright in the end though!

Please play along if you can!

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Am I a Scrap Addict? Sketch #6

Hi Folks! It's time for me to fulfil my 'Am I a Scrap Addict?' DT duties again! Can't believe we are on sketch 6 already! This weeks sketch completely threw me to start with but weirdly, I knocked up this card really quickly. It's a bit of a different style for me though....... hope I've pulled it off!?
Once again, I've dragged out my fave Basic Grey papers, 'Sultry' and covered my card blank with the plain green sheet from the set. Onto this, I've added some of the houndstooth (is that the right name?!) design and a panel of the gorgeous flowery paper from the Sultry range. The sentiment is one which I downloaded yonks ago but have no idea where from - sorry! I finished the card with some organza ribbon, adhesive gems and a pin I made up from my new beading stash.

Hope you like it!

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Funky Christmas Panduro!

I have loved the cutie pie Panduro images from afar for ages but never got round to getting some. Lucky for me, one of my wonderful blogging chums (you're a lovely lot aren't you?!) came to my rescue and sent me a blinking great pile of them! Woo-hoo for me!

I coloured my Christmasy image with Promarkers and mounted simply on to green Core'dinations card stock. This panel was then mounted on to DCWV paper and more green CS with 3D pads. Embellishment comes in the format of lovely dotty satin ribbon and some silver Doodlebug brads.

Hope you are all looking forward to the weekend as much as me ;o)

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I've Gone all Girlie!

Well, I suppose thats not true as you can't say my previous cards are in any way manly, but even so, I think this creation is gloriously girlie! This was a commission for the daughter of a colleague at work and I really hope she likes it!

I covered my card blank with my fave Basic Grey 'Sultry' paper (can't get enough of this stuff!) and added a stamped Rubber Romance image, coloured in Promarkers. I created the sentiment on the PC and coloured it fuchsia (is it me, or does that work just look wrong?!) to match the paper. I layered the image and sentiment onto more BG paper and finished it all off with flowers and adhesive gems.

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A Late Mojo Monday #58

I'm a little late sharing this card with you I'm afraid as I completely forgot about it! And, it was made following a challenge sketch from last week, so I think I have rather missed the boat!
I made this card for Vicky with whom I did an image swap with last week. I mounted panels of Making Memories papers onto my card blank and added this fab Elzybells image. The girls are coloured with Promarkers and I tried my best to match this to the spotty DP. I made a circular sentiment using my nesties and a bargainous Studio G stamp set and finished the card with some Poppicraft ribbon.

Time for some good news. It is nearly Friday, which means that is nearly the weekend! Woo-hoo!

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Am I a Scrap Addict? - Sketch #5

Hey there peeps! Hope everyone is well and not too chilly! I don't know about you, but I'm sick of cold weather and long dark nights already. How many months 'til summer is it again?!

Well, it is time for another Am I a Scrap Addict? sketch and I have to admit, I struggled with this week's sketch. When I first looked at it, I had a vision immediately in my head of what I was going to do. Unfortunately, it did not translate well on to the page.....! AND, I swear that this is going to be the first and last time that I ever use reflective silver card - what a nightmare to photograph?! NEVER AGAIN!

I mounted a layer of Basic Grey 'Sultry' paper onto black card and matted this panel onto my card base which was covered with (evil) silver card. I cut a Nestie circle from more (evil) silver card and layered a black card star shape on to this. The whole ensemble was finished with a pink ribbon bow and Doodlebug rub-ons.

I'm not sure about this card. It feels a bit Marmitey... I can't tell if I love it or if I hate it! Apologies again for the picture!

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I'm back!

Hi Folks! Well, as you have probably realised, I have returned from my trip away. We had a great time in Sheffield and Ali did really well at the National Masters Swimming Championships - 2 golds, a silver and a bronze. Clever boy!

I've been very busy since I got back as I was asked to make a few cards by my colleague at work. However, 2 out of 3 I loathed (she loved them luckily!) so I didn't bother taking pics of them. But, the 3rd and final card is alright so I thought I'd share it with you!

The brief was to make a card for a 7 year old boy who has just taken up rugby. So, I decided to use one of Kerry's gorgeous doodles which she kindly offers free on her blog. The only problem was that the doodle was holding a football rather than a rugby ball so I had to erase the football and draw in a rugby ball (which looks more like an Easter egg if you ask me!). I layered the image up using 3D pads onto some Kirsty Wiseman digi paper and paperpieced the shorts from the same paper. The rest is coloured using my beloved Promarkers.

The one really good thing to come out of this card is that I now have Paint Shop Pro X2 and even better..... IT WAS FREE!!! Basically, I threw my toys out of the pram royally trying to remove the football in MS Paint. It was hopeless! So, sick of my tantrums, Ali managed to get me PSP from work! Woo-hoo! Now I just need to work out how to use the blinking thing...... Any help and advice GREATLY appreciated!

I'll be back tomorrow with my next 'Am I a Scrap Addict?' DT card. Have a great weekend everyone!

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Ismaki Challenge - Happy Birthday Bethany!

You may well be thinking, "I'm sure she said she was going away...." and I can confirm that you are right! I'm posting this on Thursday afternoon and if blogger is behaving, this should be appearing on Sunday morning!

I made this card following this weeks Ismaki sketch. The only problem is, I can't really enter it as I forgot to add the sentiment which is supposed to run down the right hand side of the card! Whoops!

I have been after this image of Martha for ages, ever since Kerry unveiled them on her blog. Lucky for me, Sam included a great stack of them in the images she sent me this week!

I coloured her with ProMarkers and mounted onto a (doctored!) Nestie rectangle. This panel was then mounted on 3D pads onto DCWV paper and Core'dinations CS, which in turn was mounted onto a top fold card blank. To finish the card off, I added Poppicrafts ribbon and flower and a wooden #3 which I coated in sparkly hot pink glitter. As the title of the post suggests, I made this card for my friends little girl, Bethany, who turns 3 this Sunday. Kerry's cutie pie image was perfect for the occasion!

I should be back Monday evening and I look forward to catching up with all your blogs then!

Lots of love,

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Another Image Swap Card

Hi All! As promised, here is the other wallet card that I made for my blogging chum Sam.

As you can see, it is a pretty simple design using DCWV Spring Stack papers and a cute Alota stamp image which I coloured with my ProMarkers. I finished the card with ribbon and lots of adhesive gems!

I received Sam's images just after I dropped this in the post and I am now feeling incredibly guilty as Sam sent me approximately 1 million gorgeous stamped images and I only sent her about...... 20! Hmm, me thinks a 'top-up' parcel may be going into the post shortly!


P.S. Sorry if I am slow to post or respond to comments over the next couple of days, I'll be up in Sheffield cheering Ali on at the National Masters Short Course Swimming Champs - GO TEAM! ~x~ Pin It

Basic Grey Loveliness

I have a load of cards that I have to make at the moment, a mixture of commissions, birthday cards and friendship swaps. At first I thought that I'd over-committed myself but amazingly my mojo was on fire last night and I ended up making 2 cards in just a couple of hours - almost unheard of for me!

The first card is a wallet which I made for a friend on the Docrafts forum who is sending me some beading stuff in exchange for some Rubber Romance stamped images.

As both the image and the paper are so bold, I kept this card really simple. I just layered some Basic Grey 'Scarletts Letter' paper onto black cardstock and added glass bead accents in the corners. 'Samantha' is coloured with ProMarkers and mounted onto more black card. The whole thing is finished with some thin black ribbon which ties the open edges of the wallet together.

I'll be back soon with the other card I made last night! Thanks for visiting!

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Blog Candy

Blimey, there are a lot of generous people out there offering some lovely blog candy. Not only that, they are all incredibly talented peeps so make sure you pay them a visit!

Terrie has a stack of stuff on offer to celebrate her Blogoversary. Make sure you visit by 12pm on Saturday 25 October to be in with a chance of winning!

Nikki wants to give away some goodies to one of her followers. All you have to do is sign up to be a follower of her blog and you will be entered into the draw. Closing date Tuesday 4 November at 1pm.

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Am I a Scrap Addict? Sketch 4

I recently realised that I have a pile of untouched papers that came free with various magazines. Some of these are horrid but some are really nice so I thought it was high time that I started to use them. And what better time to start than on my DT card for the new Am I a Scrap Addict? card sketch?!

The image is imaginatively named 'Maggie with Stick' and is one of the few Christmasy stamps I (currently) own. I have coloured her with ProMarkers and highlighted the star with Stickles. The sentiment is computer generated and, as I previously mentioned, the paper came free with a magazine.

I think that takes the tally to three Christmas cards done so far. Roll on payday when I can buy some more festive images. I don't think 2 Christmasy-ish stamps are going to get me through do you?!

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A Spoon Full of Sugar - Pink & Green

Sorry for not posting a card since last week - I've been too busy colouring up images with my new Pro Markers! Oh, how I love them! Such great colours and so easy to work with.

After several days of play, I finally decided that I had done far too much colouring and that I really did need to start turning the images into cards! So, without further ado, I present to you my entry into this weeks A Spoon Full of Sugar challenge - Pink & Green........

I started off by layering some pink Core'dinations cardstock onto my card blank. Onto this, I layered more Core'dinations pink card and three strips of DCWV Spring papers. I tied a bow around this panel and added a 'Thanks' metal tag from the Eyelet Outlet. I coloured my Alota image with Pro Markers (mmm, yummy!) and outlined the image to make it 'pop'. The image was then layered onto a Nestie rectangle (which I hacked a bit out of to make it shorter!) and mounted onto the card with 3D pads. The whole thing was finished off with some Primas and a silver brad.

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Yippee! I WON!

Just a quick one this morning to tell you some exciting news....... I won Marlene's blog candy!!! I am going to be the proud owner of 2 Hangler and Stangler angels..... amongst other gorgeous things!

Thank you SO much Marlene, you've made my day..... and possibly my month!

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The Secret Crafter - Saturday Challenge #1

Hey everyone, hope you are all having a good weekend despite the 'orrible weather. This morning, I decided that, as Christmas really isn't all that far away, I really need to get cracking with some Christmas cards. The only problem is, as I only started crafting in February, I don't actually have any specific Christmas stamps yet!

After faffing around online for a while, I discovered Dinky Dots Crafts. Not only do they have the most adorable designs, they also offer their images in downloadable PDF versions as well as in stamp form. I was won over instantly by their cuteness and so downloaded 'Eskimo Kisses'.

For this card, I followed this week's sketch on The Secret Crafter challenge blog. I coloured my Eskimo Kisses download with my new Promarkers (I LOVE THEM!) and layered onto Nestie circles with 3D pads. The papers are freebies from a magazine and the sentiment is from a Stampin' Up! set called Circle of Friendship.

Going back to my earlier comment, I'm hoping some of you can offer me some advice. As funds are a bit tight, I can't really afford to go out on a massive splurge for loads of different Christmas themed stamps. So I need to find a handful which are lovely, easy to work with and yet really good value for money. So.......What do you reckon? What are your fave Xmas stamps? I could really do with your help on this one girlies!

Have a good week!

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Am I a Scrap Addict? - Sketch 3

Well, after my hols, I've had no choice but to get right back into it. Why?! Well, I had my 3rd Am I a Scrap Addict DT card to make didn't I?!

I found this weeks sketch a little tricky so I rotated it 90 degrees and, all of a sudden, it became a lot easier to manage!

I matted Bazzill Bon Bon card onto a square card blank and added a strip of Doodlebug 'All a Flutter' paper, layered on Bazzill Bubblegum cardstock. On top of this, I added an embossed panel of Bazzill Swimming Pool card. The image is Elzybells 'Shopaholic' and is coloured with Prismacolor pencils and Sansodor. The whole card is finished with a Rubber Romance stamped sentiment, ribbon and some adhesive gems.

I so loved this Elzybells image that I used her again to make a little image wallet for a RAK I sent to my friend Sheila. The image and sentiment are completely appropriate for Sheila as she really is a complete (self-confessed!) shopaholic!

Thanks for popping by!

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I'm Back.... and Struggling!

Hi Guys! Well I got back last Saturday morning, completely exhausted after being up for about 30 hours. We had a great holiday, despite the horrendous thunderstorms in the first few days! Unfortunately, I went straight back to work on Monday and things are so busy, I don't feel as if I've been away!

Since returning, I've also decided that I really do think that holidays should be banned as they steal Mojo's! I knew I would struggle to get back into things a little bit but I never realised that it would be this bad! The will is there, but the ideas have vanished. Not only that, after cruising around all of your blogs, you've all made such gorgeous things that I am now having a major confidence dip as you are all so talented and I feel totally inadequate! It's so infuriating and I'm annoyed at myself for feeling like that. So, this weekend, I am throwing myself back in to it. Rahr! Mojo, you will be back soon!

I have however made one card since my return to Blighty. Do you remember that I mentioned that my friend was having a baby which was due whilst I was in Corfu? I made a boy card as I was convinced it was going to be a boy. Typically, Christie gave birth on her due date to a gorgeous baby......GIRL! So, after several botched attempts and much wasted card, I resorted back to a tried and tested 'favourite' layout!


I made a top fold A5 card and added a Cuttlebugged Swiss Dots scalloped border to the bottom edge using pink Coredinations cardstock. I then made holes around the edge of the card using a paper piercer and a plastic cross stitch canvas to keep them in line. A couple more Swiss Dotted panels were added to the centre of the card and I mounted a scalloped circle onto these using 3D foam pads. The image is called 'Ellie' and is from Stampendous and I've coloured her with Prisma's and Sandsodor and then highlighted with a clear Sakura Stardust pen and a waterbrush. The whole thing was finished with a little bit of coordinating pink ribbon.

Hopefully I shall be back soon with some more creations. Wish me luck!

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Just Checkin' In...!

Hello, me again! I'm still in Corfu but wanted to share this colourful creation with you, just so you don't go forgetting all about me.... sob sob sniff sniff!

I began by layering up Papermania striped paper and chocolate Bazzill onto a square blank, snipping the corners with those funny scissors which are a complete nightmare if, like me, you are left-handed! I coloured one of my new Elzybells with Prismas and Sansodor and matted her onto Bazzill and DCWV cardstock. This panel was then layered onto the cardbase using 3D foam pads. I finished with gems and a Hero Arts sentiment.

I have mixed feelings towards this card - I love the colour scheme and the image but not the corners!

Well, I'm back tomorrow so no doubt the blog addiction will once again take hold and I shall be flying round all of your blogs, leaving millions of comments before you know it!


P.S. This card is my entry into Cammie's incredible candy which is worth over $1000 and is for a very good cause. All you need to do is to make a card for the carer of someone with Alzheimers. I have seen first hand the devastating effects of this illness so was really happy to support this cause. Pin It