AND SOMETHING FROM LIL G

A bit of a giveaway if the recipient spots it, but hey ho! My baby girl made this, with a little (but not much, I have to say) help from Daddy. She chose the image (and was a bit scared that it might offend!), coloured it in, cut it out and added the foam pads. Inside, it says "... from your biggest fan". Well done, baby girl xx

'HANOVARIAN' BIRTHDAY CARD!

This is for someone special but I can't tell you who yet cos it isn't their birthday and they may try to sneak a peek!
I used those amazing V&A Hanovarian papers with a freebie digi image - and I found another use for the brayer and gold ink that I got for the Letterpress!

I inked up a flourish stamp I found and it just adds another dimension. The sentiment is of course Melissa Frances and I think it stops it being too old-fashioned. Hope they like it!! x

A CARD AND AN UPDATE...

Hi all... a quick card for another newborn, so I used the same image but slightly changed the layout.
And some news on the Letterpress... Well, it seems my problem is actually the die itself; it isn't that well made. I used some of the others and it works fine, so I filed down the edge and I seem to be making progress. However, I'm still not 100% happy with it cos it's flippin' messy!! But I solved the issue of the sticky paper, I now just use a strip of DST and it works much better! TFL x

RISE AND SHINE!!

Morning all! Had a panic this morning, when I got up and realised it was my friend and neighbour's birthday!!! So I made this. A freebie digi stamp and lots of matting and layering. I recoloured the image in Photofiltre and added the flowers (from WildOrchidCrafts) and some pearls from my stash. Hope she likes it!! x

LETTERPRESS? NOT IMPRESSED...

Hi all. Well, after many months of threatening to get the Letterpress starter kit, I eventually found one. I've put it off because I couldn't really justify £50 on a new crafty toy! However, MadAboutCards had one in their sale at half price, so I thought, why not?
I had read mixed reviews on it, but I really liked the look of the results. I have to say that the only good thing about it so far is that MAC delivered it in super-quick time!
You get a small collection of 'dies', actually very pretty and ones that I would use a lot. You have to stick them to double-sided adhesive paper and cut them out. This paper sticks them to the lid. You then line up your paper, ink up your die with the brayer (and you really REALLY don't need much ink, it goes for MILES!) and whack the whole thing through the machine. Now, I have a Cuttlebug and I can tell you that it works fine with it.
BUT the resulting image was not as wow as I'd hoped. It had printed fine and the ink was even, but it had done that thing where it shows the edges (there is a name for that, but I can't remember what) so there were black lines around the image. I cleaned it all up - a feat in itself - and tried again. No matter how carefully I ink up the die, it does the same thing.
And the adhesive backing comes off the die after one go, so I had to stick it on again, cut it out and stick it to the lid again. That will get extremely boring when I have my invitations to make!
So, all in all, not a great start. It is obviously something I'm doing wrong, but as far as I can see I've followed the instructions to the letter and I'm not at all impressed.
Any of you got one? What am I doing wrong?
xx

IT'S BEEN TOO LONG!

Hello all and a very happy 2011 to you and yours! I can't believe how long it's been since I posted, but things have been a bit hectic lately.
What news? Well, I've been promoted, which is a real bonus, especially in the current climate! Andy and I have been married for 10 years this year, most of which have been traumatic for one reason or another. But we decided to make or break at New Year and luckily, we went for make. So we're renewing our vows around our anniversary in October - a great excuse for making stuff, eh?!!
And our friends had their second baby girl on Friday!! So I made this for them:

(apologies for the rubbish photo, but the light is rapidly fading here!)
I wish you all well for this year and I hope your dreams come true. x

WEDDING PHOTO ALBUM

Hi all! Hope you had a good Christmas? If you look below, you'll find the Guest Book and Box I did for a friend's wedding. Well, I was also asked to do the Photo Album:

It's a 12x12 scrapbook album, really. The bride bought it and give it to me to finish. It's a very odd tone of cream, sort of a mix of cream and stone, and it's covered in this flocked stuff. Which is a nightmare to work with! But it's done and I hope she likes it.

I did it to match the other items. TFL x

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Love from all of us x

THAT BAUBLE STAMP.. LAST ONE!

Love the effect that the Glamour Dust has on black and white...

No more with that stamp for now, I promise!! Happy Christmas everyone and many thanks to those who follow me xxxx

THAT BAUBLE STAMP... TAKE 5!

Couldn't resist another go at this stamp! This time in Copper ink and dusted with Glamour Dust (I love this stuff!). This works really well, I hope! TFLx

I think I've about done with my Christmas cards now... hopefully! How about you? x

COPPER BAUBLE

This fabulous bauble is from a Waltzing Mouse set of stamps and I love it. I inked it in copper, then went over it with Sakura jelly roll and added some Glamour Dust. I like it and I think it looks great by itself. What do you think? TFL xx

IN RED THIS TIME, BUT CASE'D

I love this and I have to say I unashamedly CASE'd it from Tattys on DoCrafts. You can see the set she made here. TFL x

THAT BAUBLE STAMP ... TAKE 4

And in green! This time I used sparkle dots for the accents. TFL x

THAT BAUBLE STAMP ... TAKE 3

This time in blue and purple! TFL x

THAT BAUBLE STAMP ... TAKE 2

Using gold inks, this time. I like this one, too! x

THAT BAUBLE STAMP... TAKE 1

I know it's a very common stamp, but I do love it. I've used pink, purple and lilac inks and decoupaged a few of the baubles. TFL x

SOMETHING A BIT DIFFERENT

Hi all. I don't usually do bright colours like this, but I really like the effect.

I stamped the image, then used my shape cutters to make most of the circle. I cut around the rest and used my ScorPal to make the borders. The sentiment is done on the PC and is shaped to allow for the poinsettia. Not sure who it's for but I quite like it! TFL x

CHRISTMAS CARDS...

When filling out your Christmas cards, take 1 card and send it to this address: Headley Court Military Hospital, Headley Court, Headley, Epsom,Surrey, KT18 6JN.

If we pass this on and everyone sends 1 card, think of how many cards these special people who have sacrificed so much for us would get. Just address it to 'A Hero'.

VELLUM AND POOR LIGHT!!

I've realised something else today... trying to get a good photograph of vellum and Glamour Dust in artificial light is a black art.. and I'm no good at it! But hopefully you get the idea?!

I Cbug'd the snowflakes out of vellum and added the crystals, all stuck onto lines of Glamour Dust, created by drawing lines using my Sakura clear pen and leaving them to set for a few minutes before shaking off the excess. I quite like it. TFL x

MIRRI-CARD....I HATE IT

Thought I might try something a bit different. I don't usually use mirri-card...now I know why. Maybe it's the brand I've got but it keeps 'shaving' off. I used my Cbug to do the snowflakes and shards of it keep peeling off. Managed to get it glued on okay, but it was very fiddly.

And the photo isn't great, either, cos the light's not too good at this time of day! I used my Nesties to cut out the circles, embossed the silver circle and it's all put together using foam pads. The sentiment is Waltzing Mouse. I quite like the overall effect, but it seemed to take a REALLY long time to make. TFL x