Favourites of 2011

January didn't bring any resolutions but my word was enjoy. I think this year is what I've done. I've enjoyed the simple things like walking the dog, being with family and friends and making people smile in what ever way I can.
In 2012 I intend to stay positive with whatever comes my way and continue to enjoy the small things in life.

In February I made this tag for a friend at work who was having a rough time, it's still on the wall behind her desk.




March is my birthday and I've gotten very good at dodging the camera.
I made my bestest friend a mirror as a Xmas present. Her friends 5 year old fell in love with it so I made her a fairy one for her birthday.



In April we had visitors. The school behind our house has been demolished and rebuilt. There was a pond in the quadrangle and the ducks nested there during the night. I wonder if they'll visit in 2012.




In May we met up with Amy in Manchester and went to see Calender Girls.




I made this cupcake card for my friends daughter.




In June I attended a workshop where I made cushion, loved the workshop and learned so much.



I made a tiny quilt for a friends Granddaughter. She'd bought her the Princess and the Peas book and bed but it didn't have a quilt.






July a couple of days away in Scotland and a 100 wedding invitations for a friend at work.




We had a fab family day out at Beamish. It brought back wonderful childhood memories and the weather was lovely.






In August we had holiday in Keswick and this is my favourite photo from our week .


My DS collect his A level results,



I love the serenity of this photo, I sat by the lake an hour and a half.




In September my DH started a photography course. He thinks all photos need to be printed at A3 size.He's spent hours playing happily changing the colours etc.




October started with good intention. My samples were done and sent off to Chocolate Baroque. The fragments stamps are so useful and the steampunk xmas stamps I'll use again and again.






November was patchwork with paper and fabric. I had been asked to make a quilt for a baby girls cot.








One of the very few Christmas cards I made. (Will try better next year)





December all ways is so busy with card making, buying presents, costume making and my daughters birthday. Amy and her brother having fun. This year she turned 21 and we celebrated with cupcakes.







This is a Daisy Trail page of Amy and Archie. The photo was taken during the summer when we had a few sunny days.



I wish you Health, happiness and a little wealth.

Debbie

White Christmas Challenge

This is a quick post as I'm so tired think I'll be propping my eyelids open by the time I've finished. I found a little time to play with new stamps on Sunday. My hubby was very impressed on the delivery time from Chocolate Baroque. These have been part of my wish list since they came out. I love the trees.
I also bought the new set of music tags from the website. They come in three colours and are delish.

My second card was a request from a friend at work. She and her hubby visit a little village coffee shop on a Saturday morning and she wanted to take them a special card. The brief was there business card. Pink and black and the shop is
called number 5. I printed the word number on the computer and cut out the digits on the Cricut. I kept the tree simple, just adding a few pink flat back gems.


Good luck to all who have entered the challenge.
Debbie

New challenge with rewards

How would you like the chance to win a £10 voucher to spend on Chocolate Baroque rubber stamps? Or would you prefer a £20 voucher or how about £50?
Glenda will add £1.00 to the value of the gift voucher for each person who submits an entry to the challenge. So if they only get five entries, the prize will be £5.00, but if they get 35 entries, the prize will be £35.00. The maximum prize fund of £50.00.
The winner will be drawn at random, so you have nothing to lose by having a go and a lot to gain by encouraging all your challenge-holic buddies to join in.

The theme is WHITE CHRISTMAS and how you interpret the theme and what kind of artwork you produce is entirely up to you – cards are obviously welcome but feel free to do anything from ATCs to jewellery, canvas to crochet. As a bonus, any pieces which showcase Chocolate Baroque stamps particularly well will be featured in full on the Chocolate Baroque Design Team blog over Christmas with a link back to your blog.

Click on the White Christmas link to the site above.

The closing date is DECEMBER 15TH 2011 and the winner will be chosen at random from the list of entries.


The photo above shows some of the samples I made last year using various stamps from Chocolate Baroque. I'm starting on my cards for christmas this week and will definately be reproducing some of the cards, crackers and gift boxes in red for this year.

Italian Villa by Moon Light

This is my second card from the new Echoes of Italy stamps that have been released by Chocolate Baroque this week. The first card is over on the Design Team Blog. I love the blues as it reminds me of the beautiful sunsets we have had over the summer months.
I enjoyed playing with the stamps to create the backgrounds, I have a stash of them for the future. I have been drawing lines on the back of most of stamps recently to help line them up. The main image was quick to colour. I started with the trees in various green Copic pens and subtle shading of the buildings with creams and greys. The sky and the grass are Distress Inks and I applied them with a soft shaving brush. I find using a brush can give you a softer colouring.

The girls from the Design Team have some fabulous cards to show so take time to have a look around their blogs.

Have a good day
Debbie

All change

Today is one of those days I'll remember for many years as my little (6 foot tall) boy is starting at University. We seem to have been packing, buying and sorting for weeks and weeks. He tries very hard to be organised and I think we've covered everything. I made this card for him and will send it in the post next week. He loves to play his guitar when he has a little down time.



I made this card using stamps from the recently released Music Fanfare stamps from Chocolate Baroque. The card base was made from a template CB and I reversed the folds making the sides stand further forward. I heated Pearl UTEE
and poured it over the sheet music stamp. The flowers die is from Crealies and I glittered the edges of the petals.

I made this little elephant while we were away on hloiday and he now lives in Edinburgh with Jacks girlfriend. I didn't have enough grey wool so I knitted his body put pom poms on his feet to look a little like pj's.



Signing out to start a busy day.

Debbie

Music - back to the classroom

I made this card following the on line class I did with Glenda.
Rubber Stamping - Back to Basics. The class focused on stamping and inks. I learned such a lot and found it very inspirational. I must say the videos and print outs are are so informative and I can to recommend new and more experienced crafters.
The background on my card is made from Versamagic Chalk Inks. I stamped the clefs onto navy card and the chalk ink stands out beautifully. The blue and green is direct to paper and the ink blends so well. I stamped the ripped sheet music with Memento London Fog and tore the edge and coloured. The instument has beeen stamped over the music using Versamagic Night sky. I love these stamps as they can be used for male or female cards.
The Design Team are posting some beautiful cards using the newly released stamps from Chocolate Baroque.

Hop around the DT for lots of ideas

Debbie

6 weeks gone in a flash

In brief here's a whistle stop running of my hols.
Housework and decorating the needy areas of the house, late spring clean ie curtains down, sofa hoovered and rubbed, under the beds and much more.
I made 100 plus wedding invites for a friend at work. She didn't want anything with fuss. The brief was no ribbon, gems or bling. So here's what I came up with and she loves them.





I was so relieved when I delivered them and she was so pleased. I love this stamp from Chocolate Baroque, Butterfly Flourish Swirls, it's deeply etched so none of the excess black ink transfered.

Hubby and I had a couple of days away together in Scotland. For his birthday he wanted an SLR camera and it arrived in time to take it away with us. He went into David Bailey mode and thoroughly enjoyed himself taking some beautiful photos. Mine aren't of the same quality.




Amy waited patiently from her Uni to see how she'd done in her second year. She was very happy with her results and we are very pleased with what has been a very difficult year for her.



Jack had arranged his driving test for the hols and in true Jack style he passed with flying colours. He didn't have a single fault.
I went with him to collect his
A level results, I thought I was going to be ill while he opened them. Since Jack started school he always set himslf a target of being at the top. He opened the envelope and started to smile, I knew he needed an A and 2 B's to get in to Durham. The smile got bigger and I said 'Well then'. 3 A s. I found it so difficult not to embarrass him by jumping for joy.

We had a wonderful week away in Keswick and the weather was very kind to us. Hubby took alot of photos, over 1500. I sat for a couple of hours one night while her took photos of the sunset. I'll try and post a couple.


In my spare time I've been working on samples for the Design Team at Chocolate Baroque. I'll post a few of them over the weekend.

The newest stamps released by CB are Music Fanfare and The Art of Chess. They are on a multibuy offer at the moment. These are beautiful stamps and will be used in so many ways. Love them.
Pop over to the DT blog as the girls have started posting their samples. Definately worth a look at.

Take care
Debbie

Home Sweet Home from Chocolate Baroque and a Blog Candy Give Away

The first of my samples today has been stamped with Stormy Sky Distress Ink. I used the same ink to add shades to the image with a water brush. I do like this technique as it's simple and so effective. Diamond stickles was added to the mounds of the hills to make them look snowy. The stickles was also used to edge the white as a border.
I mounted the main onto Stormy sky coloured card, a border punched powder blue and white. The main card is white and has Echoes of Italy marbled paper on it. The sentiment is stamped onto white and then attatched to an acrylic tag with glossy accents.









I have always love the work of Clarice Cliff and when these stamps landed, I new I was going to fall in love with them. My Mum only had a few pieces of pottery and one of them was a present from my Dad. It was a large jug painted very simply in orange, red, yellow and brown. I still have it but it's in the loft as DH hates it.
The Home is stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black and coloured with Copic pens. Cut out the image with a scalloped circle and mounted onto another sea green. The grasses from the stamp set has been stamped in the corner for a little extra detail.

There's an offer on these stamps at the moment Chocolate Baroque and take a look.

Glenda has also added two videos on her blog they are so informative.
The girls from the Design Team have made some fabulous samples. The cards will be posted over the next few days.

Leave comments on the DT members blogs and have a chance of winning these beautiful stamps.

Have a good weekend
Debbie

Flowers standing in a row

This card was made using stamps from Chocolate Baroque. There are six florals and two sentiments on the unmounted stamp plate. It's called Fantastic Florals . I used Marvy Brush Markers to colour the stamps. I enjoy using the Marvy pens as you can pick out specific areas to colour. I've made this card in a few different colours and they all look nice. I stamped the greeting and then made two score lines. I mounted onto colours from the stamping to co-ordinate.

I hope you like it
Debbie

Cupcakes

I was asked to make a special birthday card for a friends 8th. Her daughter isn't in to anything in particular so I thought all girls love cupcakes, what ever age.
I stamped and coloured the cakes on Wednesday. I used silicone on Friday afternoon to stick them on. I only needed to put on the name and age. When I looked at the card on Saturday morning I couldn't believe the silicone was showing through like greasy marks. So after a busy Saturday I set off and made the card up again. My friend collected the card this afternoon and she was delighted with the finished card. That made all the hard work worth it.
These stamps are from Chocolate Baroque and are so useful. I stamped the base of the cake onto patterned paper with black ink for definition. I coloured the tops of the cakes with pens and added glitter for a little bling.




I hope it has been a good weekend for all

Debbie

Chocolate Baroque - Blog Candy Giveaway

There are new stamps being launch by Choclate Baroque this weekend and Glenda is offering the opportunity for one lucky winner to recieve them. Pop over to the Chocolate Baroque Design Team Blog.
Leave a comment there and keep everything crossed as they are a NEED!!!
Debbie

Only words and a gift

I suggested a little challenge to the Design Team members of Chocolate Baroque. The challenge was to use only words. I created an octogon in four sizes and used as a template to cut out white, two shades of purple card. I used dusty concord distress ink around the top layer to highlight the score line. The flower is a die from Crealie. I have used this stamp many times as I love the wording. It's from Chocolate Baroque and the stamp plate is called loving sentiments. I hope you'll have a go with only words.





I started quilting last year and thoroughly enjoy every stitch I sew. I did needlework at school and one of my exam pieces was an applique cushion. I spotted the quilt I have replicated in a magazine. It is a similar design to the original cushion. I've made this quilt for a friend at work who's retiring and she loves to garden. I thought it would be nice on the back of a chair or over her lap on an evening.


Many thanks for popping by
Debbie

Nurturing tag

I was having a bit of a loss of the precious mojo earlier in the week. It doesn't happen often but is so frustrating. I watched a video posted by Glenda Waterworth this morning and it inspired me to dig out my watercolouring pencils. A friend at work had a really difficult day at work yesterday. She is our secretary and is the front line. I really do feel for her, she hasn't an easy job. I have made her a few other tags for her so this one I'm sure will be added to her pin board behind her desk. She understands me so this is a small RAK I know she'll appreciate.
Pop over to Glendas blog and have a look at the video.
Take care all
Debbie