Tim Holtz Distress inks colourchart

Hiya Everyone!

Two posts in one day and made my blog christmassy - I am doing well Lol!!!

I coloured in a blank Tim Holtz colourchart a while ago when I bought all 36 reinkers and laminated it so I had a good record of all the shades which I've found really useful.
If any of you would like to take a copy of this A4 sheet feel free. A print off obviously won't be as good as the real thing but might be useful if you're trying to work out what shades to buy if you are buying them a few at a time. It will certainly be better than some of the charts that you can find on-line. I bought them all as I sold some unwanted stuff on ebay and was going to buy all 24 then they bought out a new 12 set so I ended up buying all 36. I'm very impatient Lol!

If you would rather make your own colourchart a blank copy of the colourchart can be found here.

Thanks for looking!!!

If you would prefer a full sized A4 version drop me an e-mail and I'll send you a copy!

Paula. x

Joanna Sheen Design Team cards!!!

Hiya Everyone,

I have just updated my blog so it's looking all christmassy - how fab!!!

Anyway, the reason for my post is to share the 4 Joanna Sheen samples that I made a few weeks ago. They were aired on the create and craft TV channel yesterday so I am now free to upload them onto my blog. I had to make 2 cards with the new decoupage sheets and had to make 2 cards from a new winter stamp set called candle. These can now be found here on the Joanna Sheen on-line shop.

Only one of them was shown on TV but there were loads of fab samples and it was only a hour long show so there was lots to go through.

The top card is from the new food and drink decoupage sheet. It was a nightmare to cut round the spoons I tell you! I used pink stickles glitter glue on the icecream and glossy accents on the eyes and noses. I kept it quite plain as it was such a cute image I didn't want to overpower it. The papers are from a forever friends paper stack as I thought it went well with the ice cream colours. The other bits and bobs are just from my stash.

The 2nd card is from the stamp sheet of a cute fat asleep little mouse by a candle. I coloured him in with my promarkers and I used glossy accents on the candle and again on the eyes and nose. The papers are from Summer Driggs wonderful winter gifts freebie kit which can be found here. All other bits and bobs from my stash.

The 3rd card is from the new flower decoupage set which was a lot easier to cut out Lol! The papers were from a funky fairy download which is sadly no more as I loved her stuff. All other bits and bobs from stash.

The 4th card is again from the rubber stamp set. I coloured him in with my promarkers and added oodles of stardust glitter glue to all the snowy bits. I do have icicle glitter glue but I thought that might be a bit much as it was quite a neutral coloured card. The papers are from another of Summer Driggs fabulous freebie kits called Believe which can be found here. The vintage sheet music I found on google and just printed it onto some parchment paper and I distress all the edges with my TH tool and inks. The brown crochet lace I got from quixotic paperie and possibly the snowflake charm which can be found here. The fabby ticket sentiment is a freebie from the Miss CutiePie blog which has several ticket sheets in different designs so have a look here. The big gold bow I stole off my sanctuary gift box that I got for Xmas last year as I thought it would go well with the papers so I yanked it off Lol! All other bits and bobs are from my stash.

Thanks for looking!!!

Paula. x

House Mouse Christmas Card

Hiya everyone!!!

This is my first blog challenge card since about April as I took a break from crafting when I was ill at the beginning of my pregnancy and then spent about 10 weeks making cards for the National Cardmaker of the Year 2010 Competition which I somehow ended up winning which was amazing considering I'd not been up to very much. Since winning the competition I have joined the design team at Joanna Sheens and done commission work for Cardmaking and Papercraft magazine so I haven't been able to display the stuff I have been working on in the last 6 weeks or so. I hope to keep up the blog challenges as I was really getting the hang of the whole blog thing when I stopped.

Anyway, back to the card. It is made with a gorgeous new House Mouse stamp set called candle from Joanna Sheen which can be found here. I have stamped the image several times and layered it up for depth - it is coloured with my promarkers. I have added oodles of stardust glitterglue to all the snowy bits which looks lush. I always add a touch of glossy accents to my house mouse eyes and noses as I think they look so much better! The papers are from the fab, fab, FAB new old fashioned christmas freebie kit from Summer Driggs Summertime designs which can be found here. The script paper is something I found on google that I have printed onto parchment paper. I distressed all the edges with my fabby Tim Holtz distressing tool and then used walnut stain distress ink around the edges just a little. The ticket is a freebie from a blog called Miss CutiePie which can be found here. They have a few different ticket sheets including valentines one so give them a looky! The corner flourish I was sent from a Docrafts buddy which I coloured with my cocoa promarker and the branch is one of the things I cut yesterday with my brand new cricut expression - it filled the little space really well Lol! Ignore the bow which isn't great but the more I fiddled with it the more annoyed I got with it so I decided to leave it alone Lol! All other bits and bobs from my stash.

I'm entering this into loads and loads of challenges so it may take a while to link them all up but I will so don't worry if you find it hasn't been done yet!

Pile it on challenge - What winter means
Ooh La La creations - Christmas
Simon says stamp - Distress inks
Crazy4challenges - script paper or script embossing folder
Just us girls - 3D holiday embellishment
Speedy the cats friends challenge - put a bow on it
Easy craft project - snow
Daring cardmakers challenge - spotty stripy christmas
Character cafe - neutral and glitter
Creative stamp friends - vintage
Lollipop crafts - christmas
Whoopsi daisy challenge - holiday
Papertake weekly - cut it out (decoupaged image)
Spoonful of sugar - anything goes
Create4fun - Sketch
Tiptop tuesday - layer upon layer
Crafty creation challenges - christmas
Fresh brewed design - christmas
Penny papercraft challenge - inspirational picture
4 crafty chicks - inspirational photo
Cute card thursday - blast from the past
ABC christmas challenge - X is for Xmas
Die cut dreams christmas - use a die cut
Cupcake inspiration - Tis the season
One stitch at a time - bling it up!
One stop crafts - christmas cuties


Thanks for looking and if you like the look of my designs etc then please become a follower of my newly updated blog.

Paula. x

Joanna Sheen 2nd prize!!!

For coming 2nd in the Joanna Sheen Category I was given a gift voucher for £150 which I could spend on what I wanted! I only placed the order on tuesday night (it was burning a hole in my pocket Lol) and all my goodies arrived today!

I got:-

10 lots of House Mouse stamps
SWALK with sympathy stamp (so cute for a sad occaision)
Tim Holtz felt ink applicator and and refills
Small round doilies (Thought I'd give them a whirl)
1 x Pack of coloured and 1 x pack of clear diamante brads (I love these)
1 x Pack tool and 1 x pack cutlery shaped brads (these looked kinda cool)
3 x CB embossing folders
Tube of prima wildflowers (I have loads of flowers but hey-ho!)
Pack metal ornate corners (I wanted more of these but they only had 1 packet in stock)
A new ivory and blush promarker (just in case mine run out as I use them a lot!)

And, to top in all off, as I was writing this - my hubby has justed walked in through the door with my brand new Cricut expression as it was delivered to his mums as she ordered it for me as she got a 20% create and craft club discount! I feel giddy with excitement - maybe I should lie down.....maybe after I've opened the box first - it's just staring at me Lol!

Thanks for looking!!!

Paula. x

Cardmaker of the year 2010 entries - Stampin' up

I think this is my final card - it has taken hours to upload all of my entries onto my blog - luckily I'm on maternity leave and really don't have anything better to do!

I made this card with a small kit of paper, card and ribbon that I bought off ebay as I only had a few small stampin' up stamps in my stash. I think the kit was called holiday treasures. I cut the joy letters out by hand and printing off a template and then backed them in plain card and had to cut them out again. The poinsettias I also made by hand using the same card and some Tim Holtz distress inks. It was a bit different to the norm but I liked it!

I hoped you enjoyed looking at my entries as much as I enjoyed making them.

Any comments gratefully received.

Thanks for looking!!!

Paula. x

Cardmaker of the year 2010 entries - Sizzix

I only made one entry for sizzix again, because I ran out of time which is a shame as I have loads of dies. I used a fab Mo's digital pencil image which is Kai playing in leaves which I thought would look fab with all the leaf die cutters I had. Mo's fabulous images can be found here
The papers I used were again from one of Summer Driggs fabulous kits (thanks for giving) which can be found here
I literally made a round frame out of brown card and stuck my various leaves onto it after that had been distressed with Tim Holtz inks.

Thanks for looking!!!

Paula. x

Cardmaker of the year 2010 entries - Sugar Nellie

I made this card in a DL style just to be a bit different. I love my square cards but sometimes like to shake it up a bit Lol! The gorjuss girl stamp can be found here. The papers I used are from a love and wedding scrapbook kit from DCWV that I really love although most of my favourite papers are now used up as I've had it ages. It looks a bit gothic being black and red but I played on that with the font used etc as I quite like the weird and wonderful!

Thanks for looking!!!

Paula. x

Cardmaker of the year 2010 entries - X-cut and crafters companion

I entered these categories but wasn't too impressed with my efforts as I was running out of time Lol.

For the X-cut one I used my 2 flower punches and my new scallop border punch. The papers I used were a 6x6 paperstack I've had for ages by making memories. I don't like it very much to be honest but sent it off anyway.

For the crafters companion category I used a popcorn bear stamp that I bought in the sale and used some papers from one of my forever friends paperstacks. It's a cute card but again, nothing special.

Thanks for looking!!!

Paula. x

Cardmaker of the year 2010 entries - Papercellar

I made one entry for this category using their wedding paperstack which is a lovely selection of muted pink and green papers although I personally don't think it looks very weddingy at all!

Anyway, I used a gorgeous wooden House Mouse stamp which my mum and dad found brand new in a charity shop - what a find!!! I came accross the lovely sentiment which tied in great with the sewing theme and I searched high and low for some decent looking fake thimble and needle charms. I ended up finding these plastic silver flatback buttons on ebay which look fab. I cut up my papers to make it look a bit like a patchwork quilt and used a lot of my Tim Holtz distress inks. I love the tape measure twill ribbon that I managed to find on some crafty website but I can't remember where Lol! I think it was the first House Mouse stamp I had ever coloured in so I was still getting the hang of the colours and shading etc! It probably cost me about £20+ to make this card by the time I'd bought all the bits and pieces for it but I was pleased with the way it turned out!

Thanks for looking!!!

Paula. x

Cardmaker of the year 2010 entries - Woodware

This is my entry for the woodware category. I bought some screw headed brads so though I would either make a tool box or a spaceship themed card but decided to settle on the tool box.
I had no template so I just kinda threw a few bits together and kinda hoped for the best. I found some wood effect printable paper which I printed onto both side of study white card and I used my score board and bone folder to emboss the lines in the wood. I glued it together as I thought it might fall to bits if I used DST. The screw brads were just for show. The tools were ones I found on a free kids printable colouring in webite which I just printed onto sturdy white card and coloured in. The tape measure I made from some twill and just stuck a bit of silver card on the end. I did make a small blue mini notebook that went with it that had a fake coffee cup stain on it so the greeting could be wrote inside that but I only made that just before I posted it off so there's no picture of that I'm afraid! It was a faff to make although the worst bit was making the box to put it in which is just soooo boring to make Lol!

Thanks for looking!!!

Paula.x

Cardmaker of the year 2010 entries - Flowersoft

I entered the flowersoft with this card although I'd never used it before and I don't think I will again as I just didn't like working with it at all. No matter what I did it didn't seem to look like flowers Lol! Still, I was reasonably happy with the way the card turned out.
The papers are again from funky fairy downloadables which are no more but the fab image is from Mo's digital pencil with can be found here - this image is called Mummu's nissu but I thought it would look fab in my fake windows that I got for free from here
I made a 3d window frame and played around with the printable stuff to make opening shutters, added lace for curtains and acetate. and made a window box out of extra shutter bits that I printed out. It was a bit of a faff but I thought it looked ok once I'd finished! It doesn't photograph well as I kept getting reflections off the acetate but again, you get the idea!

Thanks for looking!!!

Paula. x

Cardmaker of the year 2010 entries - LOTV

I entered 3 in the LOTV category - I so would have loved to have won some free stamps as I love their images but never mind - better luck next year!!! The get well card that won that had a little pack of tissues with it was just adorable!!! All the LOTV stamps can be found here

The first I made was made with Thomas with flowers - a cute fat cat holding a large bunch of flowers. I think the papers were a freebie 6x6 MME paperstack that I got free with a magazine.

The 2nd is made with sailing boat stamp which is a very cute stamp with a boy holding a very large boat. I used another one os Summer Driggs fabulous free downloadable kits (Freedom isn't free) which can be found here I did quite a lot f distressing with my Tim Holtz stuff on this one!

The 3rd is made with Ted - Big star which is one of their fab Xmas ones. The papers I used were a mixture of different funky fairy downloadables which again, is sadly no more - including the fab circle sentiment. I really went to town with icicle stickles glitter glue on it for lots of fab sparkle! I'm afraid it doesn't photograpg very well due to the silver shiny card but you get the idea!

Cardmaker of the year 2010 entries - Papermania

I entered 2 cards into the papermania category.

The first is one I made with the Summer Bloom paperstack and using a fab Mo Manning digital image which can be found here at Mo's digital pencil.

The 2nd is one I made with a Monochrome kit that I bought quite cheaply from TK Maxx I think for about £12.99 which was good as the contents were worth about £30+. I put the black and white papers/brads etc with the purple and went for a more gothic twist on this so it's not a cute card although I really like it as it's different. The image is one of Kenny K's digital downloads which can be found here The front of the card is made like an LP cover and I made a record that you can pull out - maybe for a hidden message! Again, it's a bit different!

Thanks for looking!!!

Paula. x

Cardmaker of the year 2010 entries - Joanna Sheen

These are my 2 entries for the Joanna Sheen category. The House Mouse one I came 2nd with and the other one is a Xmas one made with the Baggy Jumper Messy rabbit stamp. These can both be found here

The house mouse easel card I made similar to the valentines card I made for my hubby this year as I loved the colours. The papers are from one of Summer Driggs fabulous free downloadable scrapbooking kits which I absolutely love and use a lot. I think the kit I used was the Freedom kit but you should really check out them all as they are so great - they can be found here

The Messy rabbit card I think is made with an 8x8 paperstack that I have had ages from DCWV. I only used it as it was the only Xmas papers that I hadn't packed away although I do like them. I used a few other bits from a different messy rabbit stamps set too and was pleased with the way it went together.

Thanks for looking!!!

Paula. x

Cardmaker of the year 2010 entries - Cosmo Cricket

This is my Cosmo cricket entry - I used a 6x6 garden variety paperstack as I really loved the strawberry paper in it which is why I thought of the strawberry jam jar and "you're so sweet" sentiment! I was going to make another card for this category as I bought some other papers too but I ran out of time. I used the little white flowers as they looked similar to the flowers on the strawberry paper and I used the wooden ladybirds just because they are so cute. I made the jam jar by hand out of acetate, red mulberry paper and gingham fabric although I had to make another one as the first one I made was a tad too small and just didn't look right!

Thanks for looking!!!

Paula. x

Cardmaker of the year 2010 entries - Pink Petticoat

This is my entry in the Pink Petticoat which I came 1st with. I made it using a free life's lemons download which you can find here

I made this in a zig zag design card just for a change. The main thing I used extra was some yellow gingham papers just to break it up a bit. I love the little lemonade logo which I found in google images. I applied several layers of clear embossing powder, distress ink and cracked it by bending it. I then added 4 small silver brads so it looked like a vintage enamel sign (or at least that was the idea) I added several layer of glossy accents to the pips of the lemons which really made them pop! I had to make a box as it wouldn't fit in an envelope and I used the off-cuts from the card to decorate the lid.


My 2nd entry for pink petticoat was made using the Lola Bubbly set which can be found here

I used papers from a funky fairy kit (which are sadly no more) I think the papers were softly shabby and nanna's wallpaper. I cut the papers up and attched them to the card in strips so it looked like wallpaper. I made fake doors and then cut out an extra pair of doors so it looked like panelling. I used some distress ink so it looked a bit vintage chic, added a few sequins and stickles glitter glue.

Thanks for looking!!!

Paula. x

My Cardmaker of the Year 2010 entries - La Pashe category

I was and still am amazed that I won - although looking at the magazine it was very close so I only just pipped it!!! I sent in 19 entries this year entering 14 of the 15 categories and I came 1st in the Pink Petticoat and La Pashe categories and 2nd in the Cosmo cricket and Joanna Sheen Categories. Last year I sent in 9 entries as I only found out about the competition really late on as it was just before I got married so I only had about 10 days to make things. This year I had about 10 weeks to make stuff which meant I could chill out a bit. Last year I came 2nd in the crafttime creative flatbacks and 3rd in the fiskars categories so was thrilled I did better than last year!!! I will show you everything I sent in as the magazine only showed the 4 cards that were placed 1st or 2nd!!!

This is my entry for La Pashe which came 1st. It's a bit different as I made up the remember when decoupage into a boxed frame and then made a fake book to go around it. It was a case of trial and error as I didn't have a template or anything and didn't really have much idea what I was doing. I dug out some brown leather effect paper that I bought many moons ago to cover it and there you go. It took me 2 full days to make it but it was well worth it as I think it won because it stood out.

Thanks for looking!!!

Paula. x