New Seat Cover

I finally got some time to focus on my computer chair in my Craft room. It got a hole in the seat courtesy of the cats. I covered it up temporarily with duct tape but I really wanted to give it a new lease of life and make it match my room. I bought the seat material ages ago and have been waiting for the right project to use it on. As for the seat back, the kids and I went out to Hancock Fabrics with a sample of the seat material the other day and managed to match the green to it exactly. I am so happy. I think I may cover my craft chair the same so they are both matching.

Speaking of happy, I just have to show you what my friend Lucy made for Megan for her birthday. I have forgotten to show you this so many times but I could not let it slip my mind completely. I just had to show you what an awesome woman she is.

Sneak peak: I wonder what I could be making with this? ;-)

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Cased Christmas Card

I got asked by a friend of mine if I would make her Christmas cards for her. I can never say no to a friend so I asked her if she had something in mind. One of my previous Christmas cards from back in April was one that she picked but she wanted 50 so we opted for 25 each of 2 designs. For the other card I told her to see if she could see something she liked on Splitcoast Stampers. They are a wealth of inspiration in my opinion.

She came back to me with this http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/1494974

First thing that came to mind was WOW! What a beautiful card. Second thing that came to mind was oh, my gosh how am I gonna do that. Well after putting it off a couple of days I sat down at my craft desk and slowly but surely I created my card. It is practically a complete case (can't mess with perfection, right?) apart from the couple of things I changed due to not having the same supplies. Everything on the card is Stampin' Up. The stamp set I used for the flower was Fabulous Flowers. I really like how it turned out. Now all I need is to make another 24. LOL. I have everything stamped, punched and cut so far. I will show you a pic of them all when they are finished.

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I am trying to get into Halloween mode but to tell you the truth I am waiting for my friend Tracy's next Christmas Challenge. I love Halloween but for some reason I have real trouble thinking up idea's. The kids are hoping for treats for their class. Here's hoping the spooky creative juices start flowing soon.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

High Hopes Challenge #47

World Card Making Day completely passed me by. I woke up Saturday full of a cold and just didn't feel up to crafting or spreading my germs to others for that matter so I stayed out of my craft room much to my sadness. I am feeling much better today so I got on with a project I have been trying to do for the last 3 High Hopes Challenges.

The first challenge (#45) was to use your favorite High Hopes stamp. Well at that point I was super excited to have just had just had a whole bunch of rubber arrive from High Hopes so I picked out Jolie's Little Friend. It drew me to it straight away. Such a cute little image, I love it. Well the deadline came and went and the new challenge was Happy Birthday as the High Hopes Challenge Blog celebrated it's first birthday (#46) it wanted you to make a birthday card for the challenge. That's exactly what I needed this card for so, Yay! However that deadline came and went. So this week once I started feeling better I finally got some time in my craft room and finished my card.

This weeks challenge is 'lots of layers'. I'm pretty sure my card fits this challenge too. So here it is along with a picture of all my yummy rubber. It took a while to get here but when High Hopes announced they were going wholesale they were inundated with orders from people making last minute orders and mine got caught in the rush. I new they were busy so I was not angry that my images took so long but man was I doing a major happy dance here when they finally arrived. It took me a whole day to foam mount these babies but now they are all safely stored in my new Stampendous storage files and good to go.

Cardstock: Taken with Teal & Black

DP: The Paper Company - Bugs & Butterflies

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Emboss Resist Christmas

More Christmas cards. I am playing catch up with these. Would you believe I missed the deadline for Tracy's challenge by just one day. I was very excited by this one I must say. I got to do one of my favorite techniques.

The challenge was to choose one technique from the following 5 techniques and complete 5 cards.

1. Spirelli - String Art

2. Shaving Cream

3. Faux Linen

4. Emboss Resist

5. Cracked Glass

Well, I chose Emboss Resist. I just love the effect once it is finished. Stamp sets are Snow Swirled and Best Yet from Stampin Up. I used Purely Pomegranate ink, cardstock and ribbon for this card. I am very happy with the result, I think this is my favorite so far.

The Extra-Giga punch made my circle and SU large oval and scalloped oval was used for the sentiment. I dry embossed the white and sprayed it with Pearl Glimmer Mist to give it a little sparkle. I posted double pics as one shows up the embossing pretty well and the other you can see the shimmer from the mist.

* I entered these cards in two challenges this week. A Spoon Full Of Sugar has a Christmas theme and ABC Challenge has an Embossing theme. My cards fitted both these challenges. It has been a while since I was able to join challenges. Isn't coincidence awesome. Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Brand New Company On The Horizon

Nikki Fairbairn and Lacey Stephens have joined forces from across the Atlantic Ocean to create their own Stamp Company called Wags ‘n Whiskers Rubber Stamps!! The images are based on their wonderful children and furry pets! The images are brought to life by the super talented Crissy Armstrong!! YAY!!!

Nikki, Crissy, and Lacey all met while on the Design Team for High Hopes Rubber Stamps. Which is one of my favorite stamp companies. I just got a whole load of new rubber from them so stay tuned as you will be seeing a lot of High Hopes stuff for a while to come as I have a lot of stamps to christen. When Crissy stepped down as their illustrator this summer, Nikki and Lacey couldn't let her slip away!! And so Wags ‘n Whiskers Rubber Stamps was born. The stamps are going to be for sale in their own online stores.

http://www.stampandcreate.com/

http://www.bunnyzoescrafts.com/

Sneak Peaks will start popping up on their design members blogs as well as the Wags'n Whiskers blog as of October 7th. The big release is scheduled for October 9th. They have a lot planned to celebrate this awesome occasion including a blog hop.

In addition to this they are looking for guest diva's. All details are on the new blog so head on over there and check it out. QUICK!!!

http://wagsnwhiskersrubberstamps.blogspot.com/

Jessica Lynn Original

I would like to introduce you to Brentwood. He's a cute little owl that loves to dress up. I'm sure a few of you may have seen him before on other blogs. I found him via one of my followers. He was just sooo cute I had to go check out the online store https://jessicalynnoriginal.com/shopwithus/ . I recently bought my first stamps and a digi download from this wonderful company and am very excited to have finally inked up my first stamp and made a card.

The blog http://www.jessicalynnoriginal.blogspot.com/ that accompanies the store has started doing a sketch challenge and I decided to play along for this card. This card is for Challenge #3. You have until Wednesday Sept 30th to play. You can use any stamp you like it doesn't have to be a JLO stamp. But you get extra credit if you do ;-)

Cardstock is not quite navy and real red. The DP is S.E.I and is called En Route. As well as Brentwood I used my unmounted SU tire print wheel. The sentiment is from TAC and is embossed. Thanks for looking.

Hugs

Nic

Oh, Christmas Tree

I'm playing catch-up on the Christmas Challenges over on Tracy's blog again. This is for last month. With our big trip to the UK I missed the deadline for this one but I still want to get my Christmas cards made in advance this year so I did the challenge anyways.

The challenge was to make Designer Paper our main image and to make 5 the same. I saw my friend Maria make the coolest tree shaped card a short while ago and was inspired by it. I chose not to make the card in the shape of the tree but to place it on a card instead.

Cardstock is night of navy which I stamped with snowflakes and a red from archivers for the pot which I put through my crinkler. The shiny green 2-sided DP was by reminisce. Red star buttons and some metalic decor from hero arts pulled the card together. Thanks for dropping by.

Hugs

Nic

Megan's Thankyou Cards

These were super quick to make. Megan wanted to help so she got to pick which princess would be our theme. I then stamped her out a bunch of them so she could color them in. I made them more of a postcard than a card to save on cardstock. Martha Stewart punched the edges of the yellow and stuck it all together. I also printed off labels for the back so all she had to write was who, what and her name. She was very excited when they were finished. I have never seen her write thank you cards so fast.

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Oh and I almost forgot to show you what else we did the other day. Megan had to make a this is me poster for school. They were supposed to make it into a shape and she chose a shoe. This is how it turned out. Lots of jewels and sparkles to show off Megan's character and help her teacher learn all about her.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Flight Of Fancy

Been busy in the garage lately. Trying to sort out all the boxes of stuff we have accumilated. Making good progress. Have been to Goodwill twice in the last 2 days so getting there slowly. obviously no crafting as I have been too tired by the end of the day. Fear not though as I did manage to make something over the weekend, for a swap over on Joani's group.

I found the most beautiful stamp set I have ever seen. I love it. It's called Mindscapes and it's a clear stamp set by Inkadinkadoo. There are hidden images inside each of the images. The one I chose for this card is the butterfly. If you look closely you can see Fairies, flowers and toadstools. Isn't that cool.

I used Chocolate Chip and Baja Breeze for my colors. I used a new Martha Stewart punch along the edges. I distressed the edges of the blue and the vanilla. With a brown flower and a blue button. My DP is actually another image from the set. I stamped it all over a piece of Baja Breeze in Chocolate Chip. Can you see the butterflies in the flower. Did I mention I love this set? I took a picture to show you the other images.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Sewing Project #2 (Purse)

It was my friend Lucy's Birthday this week. Tuesday in fact so I have no cards to show you as I have been busy with a surprise for her. She makes the most beautiful things over on her blog and I wanted to show her that I do more with my sewing machine than just have it around gathering dust.

This idea came to me when my son wore through the knees of his jeans. I cut off the legs to make them into shorts. I am one of those people that cannot throw away anything and I had an idea pop into my head as to what I could co with the left over legs, hole in the knee and all.

First thing I did was sew the bottom closed. I folded over the top so that the inside part where the hole was is on the outside. I had picked up a fabric quart from Jo-Ann's in Lucy's favorite color (purple). I measured and cut how much I would need for lining the purse and cut the rest into strips leaving just enough for a pocket on the front. I sewed the strips together into a long length and then folded it so the inside was on the outside and sewed it along the length. Once I had turned it right side out I had my strap which I then attached to my bag.

The pocket on the front was next, then the lining. The lining was not co-operating with me when I tryed to attach it with my sewing machine so I sat down and watched some TV while hand sewing it into the pouch. I bought a magnetic snap to hold the bag closed. That and the stitches for the handles are all hidden under the fold over at the top. I got Megan to pose with it for me and she liked it so much I now have to make her one only in pink.

I finally found some mojo and made a card today so will post that soon. Hopefully my mojo will hang around for a while as I have a lot to catch up on. BTW I was grinning from ear to ear when Lucy told me how much she liked it. I'm so glad it turned out so well. Thanks for looking.

Hugs

Nic

Sarah's Cards Part 2

Here are the rest of the cards from my friend Sarah's card class. I have been working on some sewing so no other cards to show you yet and my sewing project has to stay a secret till my friend Lucy gets it in the mail. That reminds me I have to go to the post office to mail it. In the meantime here for you viewing pleasure are the cards I made with Sarah's second kit.

Card One

Card Two

Card Three

Card Four

I hope these give you lots of inspiration. As before Splitcoast was probably a source and therefore worth a look too... http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/ the gallery is awesome for ideas when you have a lull in mojo.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

New Home Congratulations

Gosh I'm a bad blogger lately. Sorry about that. Just can't seem to get back in the swing of things since being back. I did set myself a task at the weekend and got it finished too so here is what I have been working on. It is a New Home card for our friends Chase and Amy. They just bought their first home so it's very exciting.

The image is made up of numerous stamps from a Stampendous set I bought before we went away. These fish are so cute I could not resist them. I then water colored the images. My water coloring is not that good. Sometimes that works in my favor other times not so much. LOL. I cut a slit at the top and bottom of the bowl and then cut a piece of acetate the same shape as the bowl and threaded it through top and bottom to give the glass bowl effect. By threading it through I was able to tape it in place and not have it show through the acetate.

Cardstock is Pacific Point, Baja Breeze and Tangerine Tango. The tangerine I put through my cuttlebug. The sentiment is from TAC. I stepped out of my comfort zone just a little to make a square card which I don't normally do but the image needed a larger card.

My kids are back in school already infact this is week 2. Here are some pictures of them in front of the school also my daughter celebrated her 7th birthday and hubby and I celebrated 12 years of wedded bliss, so as you can see I have been busy... just not in my craft room. Thanks for coming by.

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Sarah's Cards Part 1

Hello there, I'm in the middle of working on a project here but it's not quite finished so I thought I would tide you over with a few of the cards my friend Sarah gave me to put together as one of her class kits. I managed to squeeze making these in before we went to the UK. She gets a lot of her idea's from Splitcoast Stampers so if they look familiar they may have been cased.

card one

card two

card three

card four

card five

We're Back Home

Hello friends, I'm sorry for my absence. I had hoped to do a little more blogging while we were away but time and circumstance were just not on my side. Hubby had to work from the hotel room while we were in Wales and therefore our internet connection was prioritised for him and I had to grab it here and there when I could. In the end it was just easier to leave it till we got back.

So here I am back in the comfort of my craft room. My kids went back to school today but I haven't gotten to craft just yet. I feel a little weird it has been so long. Hopefully my mojo won't hide for long. In the meantime I thought I would show you a card I managed to get made before we left. It was for a swap on my friend Joani's group Cards Made By Hand. The theme was Farmyard so I inked up my new Rachelle Anne Miller sheep stamp.

Cardstock is espresso and old olive, The DP is Heidi Grace and I used my cuttlebug. Pretty simple card but stands out thanks to dimensionals.

For the kids I'm sure the trip was the best holiday ever as they got to spend lots of time with their grandparents and I got to catch up with old friends which was really cool. The ultimate treat was a day at Legoland Windsor which was loads of fun. They weren't kidding when they said almost everything is made of Lego. It was a great day.

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There will be plenty more pictures from Legoland on the family blog when I get around to getting that up to date too. I wrote most everything down in a notebook to remind me what happened so I could write it up later.

ATC Swap + London Visit

Sorry about the long gap between posts. With Paul using our Internet connection for work getting online to work on my blogs has been a little difficult. Any way here are a couple of pictures of some ATC's I made for a couple of swaps on Joani's Cards Made By Hand group. The link is in my side bar.

The topics were ocean and flying. I used my ever faithful SU set fishy friends for my ocean ones and I bought a new punch that cuts out sandcastles and buckets which I thought would make a cute seaside look.

The flying ones were made using a beautiful TAC set that I got from Joani (she's a demo, If you like TAC sets pop on over to her blog - also on my side bar). I embossed these ones. I also used some favorite old in-color cardstock.

Here is a pic or 2 from our trip to London. We went down for our visa appointment but managed to catch an awesome show the night before while we were there.

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We were lucky enough to catch the leading man Oliver Tompsett coming out the stage door as we were leaving. That was too good an opportunity to miss.

Birthday Cat Card

Here's a card I made to bring with me on the trip. Our little old Poppet is 13 years old this month. We lost here brother Bodie earlier this year and I am so glad that we are able to actually be here in the UK with her on her special day.

Cardstock is baja breeze, pacific point and tangerine tango all from the last in-color selection. I'm trying to use them up. The stamp set is from SU called The Cat's Meow. Ribbon is also Pacific point. I gave in and bought a couple of Martha Stewart punches and used it down the edge of the cuttlebugged cardstock. I then put 4 shiny stickers down the edge.

Not forgetting my promise of pictures from our trip here's a picture of us crossing the border from England into Wales. I'll have more as I upload them off my camera.

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Thanks for dropping by

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Hugs

Nic