In The Shed

Good morning everyone I hope you are all well . Today I'm sharing a card I made recently for a firends husbands 70th birthday He is a huge fan of his garden so I thought this very old Lili of the Valley Stamp In The Shed was just perfect.

Close Up

Card Recipe

7x7 Blank Card 

Stamp is Lili of the Valley In The Shed painted with Derwent Inktense Pencils

Papers are Lili of the Valley Country Gent Pad no longer available

Square stitched dies

Rectangle stitched dies

Fence die is Crafty Sentiments Designs

Seed Packet stamp is a very old Docrafts stamp

Kraft Card is Crafters Companion

Twine and wooden plant pot my box

Sentiment dies are Presscut and  numbers from a magazine free die

Card Candi Craftwork cards

Have a great weekend everyone Love and  hugs Carole x

Red Ferrari F50

Good morning to all my friends and  followers I hope everyone is OK and  you all enjoyed the long weekend despite the weather. Today I'm sharing a 70th birthday card I made recently  for a commission from a friend . Its a man card and the person who's birthday it is is mad on classic cars
I dug out a set of old Classic Car stamps by John Byars for Docrafts, I 've used the mini out of this set a lot and  decided this time to use the Ferrari F50 stamp and  I used the Ferrari colours for the thene of my card

The Card

The Box

The Stamp close up

Card Recipe

8x8 Blank Card

Black Mirra card Jelly Bean crafts .Red and Yellow card my box

Stamp is Docrafts Classic cars Ferrari F50 painted with Derwent Inktense Pencils

Curved corner stitched die is from eBay 

Brackets and  hinges are a Joycraft die I bought recently from Crafts U Love

Metal cogs are from Michael's in Florida

Sentiment I made on the computer 

Twine is from Brenda's Lace and  ribbon Facebook shop 

Checkered flag charm my box I might have got them from eBay

I found the Ferrari badge on Pinterest and  printed it onto photo paper

The black 8x8 box I bought at Harrogate show last year from Anna Maire Designs

A4 dots Die' sire embossing folder

Have a great week everyone Love and  hugs Carole x 

Happy 40th Birthday Martin

Good evening to you all. As I said in my earlier post today is my Son Martin's 40th birthday What happened to those 40 years just seems like yesterday when he was born..

This is the card and  box I made to give him I used a Mini car stamp from Docrafts I have had for ages but it seemed quite appropriate as his first car was a very old pale blue Mni I 'm not quite sure I got the rusty bits right.!! I know I worried myself sick when he drove to Manchester in it when he was at Manchester University..

The Box

Close Up

The Birthday Boy

Card and  Box Recipe

8x8 Blank Card

Blue Card is Ross Papercraft

Stamp is Docrafts painted with Derwent Inktense Pencils

Checked paper is Maja Design

Stitched square dies 

Banner die is La La Land

Sentiment and  letters are Tim Holtz

Square sentiment I made on the computer

Large Banner die from eBay

The dot die is MFT Die' namics

Metal cogs from Michael's in Florida

8x8 Black box from Ann /Marie designs at Harrogate show

I hope you enjoy the rest of the week. Martin is having a birthday celebration on Saturday Love and  hugs Carole x

80th Birthday

Happy Monday everyone I hope you have all had a great weekend. The card I'm sharing today is a one I made a while ago for a commission. My friend Val asked for a male 80th with a garden theme as the man loves his garden. I didn't want to post it earlier but as the birthday was yesterday I'm sharing it with you now. I bought the lovely Potting Shed stamp from Lili of the Valley which I thought was just perfect.

Close up of the Stamp

The Box

Card and  Box Recipe

7x7 Blank Card

Kraft Card is from Crafters Companion 

Papers are from a discontinued Lili of hte Valley Pad Enchantment

Stamp is The Potting Shed from Lili of The Valley painted with Derwent Inktense Pencils

Seed Packet Stamp is Docrafts 

Willow green Hessian is from Ross Papercraft Show

Red Ribbon my stash

Jute String from Whitby Crafts

Lawm Fawn Stitched Rectangle die

Slider die is Whimsy stamps I won this is a candy draw from Bev Rochester

Garden Charms are from my stash

Sentiment is Lili of the Valley Vertical Sentiments

The 80 tiles are from a local Garden Centre might be Docrafts

The Box is from Stella Crafts

The Box sentiment I made on the computer

Cork dots are from Michael's in Florida

Quite a lot of stuff on this one but I enjoyed making it its always a bit of a challenge doing the male stuff but at least I started with a theme.

Well I hope you all have a great week.I'm going to Liverpool with my Golden Girl Friends tomorrow for three days We are gong to Chester on Wednesday to meet with another of our friends who now lives in the Wirral. I've left hubby a list of possible jobs!! to keep him busy while I'm away and some nice meals in the freezer!!

Not likely to do much blogging or facebook for the next few days the gossiping and wine will get in the way..So will catch up with you all on Friday. Love and  hugs Carole x

70th Birthday Card

Good morning everyone I hope that everyone is well and  having a good week The frost and snow have gone but today we are back to that awful rain I hate winter . Never mind it does give me more time to craft so at least that's a bonus.
You will remember a couple of weeks ago we went to Spain for a week to celebrate my husbands 70th birthday so today I'm sharing the card I made to give him. He had a lovely Birthday our friends made it very special.

Card Recipe

8x8 blank card

Die'sire dots A4 embossing folder

MFT Die-namics stitched square rounded corner die

Stamp is from an old Papermania classic car set by John Byars painted in Copic and  Promarker pens

The black strip sentiments are from a Tim Holtz small talk pad I bought in Florida

The silver wooden stars are from Hobby Lobby in Florida 

Silver direction signs are from Michael's in Florida

Grey and white twine my stash

Red Candi Craftwork cards

Personal sentiment made on the computer

Arrow paper clips The Range

Silver Mirra card

Well I hope you have some nice things planned for the weekend I'm shopping today but also need to go to Hobby Craft for a cutting blade for my guillotine Ironing and crafting tomorrow as Hubby is at the football in the afternoon .Whatever you are doing enjoy and keep warm hugs Carole x

60th Birthday Card and The Golden Girls at Southport

Good afternoon everyone I hope you are all well.  I've finally got round to a post I was away last week in Liverpool and had lots of catching up when I came back.

My post today is a 60th birthday card I've made for a friend . I'm afraid its another man card I seem to have done a lot of men cards recently but will be getting back to flowers and bling very soon I need the fix !!

Card Recipe

7x7 blank card

Kraft card Crafter's Companion

Image Crafty Individuals Grace Darlings Lighthouse on Dessert Storm Neenah card and  painted with Promarkers, Copic pens and Tea Dye Distress ink

Papers are LOTV Country Gent

Jute string from Whitby Crafts

Compass stamp is from a Marianne nautical stamp set

Sentiments are LOTV Simply Sophisticated

Lighthouse was a grey button I cut the back off and painted with Distress Inks to match

Candi is Craftwork Cards tinted with Tea Dye Distress Ink

60 numbers are a painted peel off

I had a great few days in Liverpool and a really lovely day in Southport with our friend and her husband. This is the first time we have met Jeff as he's usually at work but has recently retired so came to meet us. He was brilliant given he had to spend the day with five women !!. I've also added a couple of photos of our trip they are taken the end of the pier in Southport next stop is Ireland.

This is the Golden Girls (This is what my Hubby calls us).

The Golden Girls and Jeff ( Brave Man )

I have just about got caught up with all your fab blogs so hope normal service resumes next week. Thank you to everyone who commented on my Golden Wedding post such amazing comments and so kind you are stars hugs Carole x


I'm entering this into Deep ocean Challenge Maritime The Ribbon Girl Any Image ,Sisters of Craft Anything goes and The Male Room Vcation/Beach

60

Happy Annniversary

Good morning everyone I'm normally saying its that Wednesday again but the Design Team at Crafting by Designs have a months holiday in August. However the challenges are still running and  today sees the launch of the month long Anything Goes Challenge As always some great prizes and  to still give you inspiration we have invited some Guest Designers to join us. If you pop over they have made some amazing cards.

My post today is the card I made for my husband for our Anniversary. It took me ages to decide on what to make but I finally decided as we love our pensioner days out to Whitby so much that I would use a Crafty Individuals stamp of Whitby Abbey. I've had this stamp ages but I think it is still available if you are a fan of Whitby.

Card Recipe

7x7 Blank Card

Stamp is Whitby Abbey from Crafty Individuals painted with Derwent Inktense Pencils

Blue paper was from some 12x12 sheets I was given may be Docrafts. Kraft card is Crafters Companion the blue card is Tim Holtz.

I put some of the blue card though my paper crimper to put behind the image

Hessian Ribbon is from Chatsworth Christmas Markets

Seaside theme buttons and the love wooden heart are from Whitby Crafts

Twine from my stash

Love Charm GNPE

Heart punch Dovecraft

Sentiments are LOTV  Handwritten Phrases and Greetings Postmarks

The heart sentiment was made on the computer

I hope you are all enjoying the week despite the rubbish weather here. I'm out tomorrow with the girls from the Craft Group I go to on a trip to the Craft Shops at Washington should be fun and I love the lace selection at Dainty Crafts.

I hope you find time to enter the Crating by Designs Challenge I know a lot of you enjoy entering this challenge hugs Carole x

Nautical Anchor Under The Sea

Good morning to all my lovely crafty friends its Wednesday and you've got it its another challenge over at Crafting By Designs and the theme this week is reuse/recycle.

We have one sponsor this week

  OakPond Creations   

Prize:  3 single images

For my card I decided on a stamp called Nautical Anchor Under The Sea I really enjoyed colouring this stamp and my recycle was the string around the image and reused was my circle dies, hessian and  twine.

Close up of the stamp

Card Recipe

6x6 Blank Card

Kraft card Crafters Companion

Papers from an old docrafts pad.

Stamp is Oakpond  Creations Nautical Anchor Under The Sea painted with Derwent Inktense Pencils

Spellbinder Circle dies 

String ,twine and  hessian trim my stash

Sentiment stamps are from a set I won recently on Bev Rochester's blog The silver anchor is from the same set I stamped and heat embossed it in silver and fussy cut then added to the hessian tag which is from docrafts.

Star fish charm, resin fish and buoy are from Whitby Crafts

I made the studs around the porthole with a Grey Viva Pearl Pen

I used a blue memento pad to stamp the sentiments

Retro Cars

Good morning to all my lovely friends and  followers. I hope your week is going well and  you are doing some nice things.
My post today is Retro Cars and  I've made it to launch our new challenge over at  Crafty Ribbons The theme this fortnight is Cards for the Men. I know this is not always popular but I find once I get started I quite enjoy making them. This challenge will give you the opportunity to make a male card and maybe win the great prize we always have from The Crafty Ribbons Store.

Card Recipe

7x7 Blank Card

Tan paper is from an old Docrafts pad

Kraft card is Crafter's Companion 

Turquoise card is Tim Holtz

Jumbo Ric Rac to form the border and the Retro Cars Ribbon are both from Crafty Ribbons Store

Twine from my Stash

Car charm from Whitby Crafts

Topstitch thread and sewing machine .

Metal Cogs from Michael's Florida

The Retro ribbon panels are on a strip and I cut them into panels and stitched to the card squares

Well I hope you find time to pop over and enter this challenge it runs until the 10th June so plenty time to get crafting those men cards

Enjoy the rest of your week hugs Carole x

Mini Cooper

Good morning everyone I hope you are all enjoying a great week and  looking forward to the weekend . My card today is the birthday card I made for my cousin who celebrated his 70th birthday last Sunday we had a lovely afternoon celebrating at a restaurant in York.

Card Recipe

8x8 blank card

Black and orange card

Stamps are from a Docrafts car set I've had ages painted with Promarkers and Copic pens the small mini was covered in glossy accents.

Silver embossing powder heat embossed around the edge of the image

Papers are digi papers from the internet

Black spiders web ribbon from GNPE

Cogs are from Michael's in Florida

La La land banner die 

Candi Craftwork cards

Charm and  twine from my stash

Mini cooper sentiment comes with the stamp 

Happy Birthday sentiment down the side is LOTV

My cousin is a great mini fan and his eldest son races mini's so the card went down really well.

Have a great weekend whatever you are planning and I hope we get some better weather hugs Carole x



Hello I'm home and a Football Card

Hello everyone it seems like a lifetime since I last wrote a post but it feels good. Well I'm back from my holidays now and what an amazing time we had. We did some wonderful things and it definitely was a holiday of a lifetime. We stayed in 15 hotels, did 6 flights, one helicopter flight, 2 trains, one ferry, a river jet boat, a gondola to a skyline restaurant ,a cable car, a glowworm cave, numerous small boats and loads of things I'll have forgotten already.
Well its back to reality now and  I've just started crafting again. Today I'm posting a birthday card I made for my husband for his birthday in January before we went away. Its not very exciting as its a football card themed around his favorite team Sunderland. He loved it at the time but they are playing really badly right now so he definitely needs to keep calm!!

Card Recipe

Papers and toppers from internet images
Black mirra card

Ribbon and  twine from my stash

Candi Craftwork cards

Hope you enjoy it if you like football My husband certainly does!!.

I thought I'd end the post with a couple of photos from the hundreds we took in New Zealand and the Cook Islands The first one is me on the snowline at the top of Mount Cook you can just see the helicopter in the corner I was terrified but what an amazing experience.

This second photo is from the beach of our hotel in the Cook Islands. What a fabulous place the hotel had only 30 bedrooms and is an adult only hotel. The weather as you can see was fabulous 30 degrees this is the lagoon in the coral reef and the small island across from the hotel beach.

Well as I said earlier I'm back crafting as I have design team projects to do so hopefully I'll get caught up over the next week or so . Big apologies to everyone as I'm weeks behind with comments but will get round to all your fabulous blogs as soon as I can I know you will all have been making stunning creations as always. Good to be back crafting and I hope you are all well Love and  hugs Carole x

40th Birthday Card

Hello to all my lovely friends and  followers I hope you are all doing Ok. This scheduled post is a card I made before my holiday for my Friend to give to her son who was 40 last week. He is a great snowboarder so I found this image on the internet and  printed it onto photo paper. I always enjoy making these cards as I love the research to get just what I want. I hope you all like it I know men cards are never our favorites..

The Box

Card and Box Recipe

8x8 card and Candi Craftwork cards

Kraft card Crafters Companion

Blue card and ticket sentiments Tim Holtz

Red mirra card from my stash

Hessian Ribbon from a stall at Chatsworth Christmas Market

Banner die La La land

Black peel off letters

Metal charms from Hobby Craft jewelry section

Sentiment made on my computer

Twine Docrafts.

Box Stella Crafts
Corner rounder on the brackets
SON charm dawn to Dusk Crafts Ross Papercraft show

I was really pleased when I found the shield charm in my box as it has the year 1975 on it the year her son David was born.I made the edge brackets myself. I must apologize for the box photo I really struggled to get a good image because of the mirra card, without either my reflection or my Ipad .

I hope you are having a great week what ever you have planned Hugs Carole x



Have a Happy Retirement Phil

Good morning to all my lovely friends and  followers I hope you are enjoying the weekend its been quite sunny here but lots of rain overnight My post today is a male retirement card I made just before my holidays. Its for a great guy Phil an ex colleague of my husbands who retired at the end of September. They worked together as Forensic Trainers and I spent a great two week holiday with his lovely wife Lesley in Singapore when my husband and Phil were working out there. We all had such a great time. He also loves caravanning and has a static van in Northumberland. So I decided to find an image to reflect that. I found this on Pinterest not my usual style image but I thought it was just right for him.



 

Card Recipe

6x6 card Craftwork cards

Kraft card Crafters Companion

Papers LOTV Enchantment ( I won them in one of the daily candy draws )

Image from Pinterest painted with Promarker and Copic pens

Spellbinder scalloped circles and circle dies

LOTV sentiments, Sentiment Tags and For You Round sentiments

Hessian ribbon from Hobby Lobby Florida

Twine and clock charm from my stash

Newsprint Candi Craftwork cards

Metal corner Wild orchid Crafts

 

My husband was out for lunch with Phil and his New Tricks group (all retired colleagues) last week and I know Phil loved his caravan card !!.

 

Well today I'm again catching up on ironing my washer broke last week and sadly could not be repaired so I had to wait till Friday to get the new on fitted. So did lots of catch up washing yesterday that now needs ironing. This afternoon I'm going to start on my DT projects for November. I cannot believe November is so close, this year seems to have gone by much too quickly. How I ever found time to work full  time I will never know.

 

Enjoy the rest of the weekend I hope you are doing some nice things today. Love and  Hugs Carole x

 



18th Birthday

Good morning to all my lovely followers and  friends. I'm back home from Florida and  feeling very relaxed we had a great month so laid back just love the life style and the heat. I'm now home and back to all the catching up. I'm sorry I didn't get any comments done but had to rely on wifi when I could get it so never had chance for any long spells sitting at my iPad. A special thank you to those of you who commented on all my scheduled posts they were lovely and so kind of you all. I must say I have missed my crafting not doing anything was hard but I bought some lovely craft goodies to compensate.
Now a bit about my post today. This is an 18th birthday card and box I made before my holidays for my friend Val to give to her grandson Kieran. The image is a McLaren sports car and the reason for this choice is he's just got an apprenticeship with them and  started this month what an opportunity for him he's a delightful young man.



 

 

 The Box

 

 

Card Recipe

8x8 blank card Craftwork cards

Image from the internet

Grey card and  black mirra card from my stash

Yellow card Tim Holtz

Die cut letters and  numbers

Spellbinder circles

Star shapes

Cogs from Michaels USA

                                                           Twine Live and  Love Crafts

Charm my stash

Box Stella Crafts

 

 

Its taken me a while to do this post Blogger was definitely having a Monday morning mood it was a pain trying to upload the photos .

 

I've not spoken to my friend yet since my hols so not heard if Kieran liked the card I hope he did.

 

If any of you are going to the GNPE at Harrogate tomorrow I'm going with some friends from Craft Group so if you see me please say hello.

 

I'm hoping to get round all of my followers blogs in the next few days to see what you have all been creating I know they will be wonderful and to say hello.

 

Enjoy your weekend whatever you have planned Love and Hugs Carole x

 

 



 

 

 



 

 

 

 

Xbox Junkie

Good morning to all my friends and  followers and a special welcome this morning to Irene my latest follower. Thank you so much for following my blog and  I hope you continue to visit and  enjoy my posts.
As I said earlier in the week I had been making some male birthday cards.This is more of  a card suitable for a teenager but there are some men also who love playing on the Xbox.The image is a topper from The Hobby House but it just was perfect for the person I want to send it to. Hope you enjoy it .



 

Card Recipe

6x6 blank kraft card Hobby Craft

Blue Card Tim Holtz

Papers LOTV Shabby Shack and  Bonnets and Bowties solids

Image hobby House Toppers Street Kids from Whitby Crafts

Sentiments LOTV Sentiment Tags

Xbox sentiment made on the computer

Hessian Ribbon from Hobby Lobby in Florida USA

Twine  from a gift shop in Whitby

Buttons from my stash

Spellbinder circle and  scalloped circle dies

 

 

For a male card I quite enjoyed making this one.

 

I had a great time at my friends caravan at South Shields on Wednesday/Thursday we walked all along the seafront and to the end of the pier had a nice lunch in a restaurant by the beach and Groyne then ended the day with a Minchella's ice cream tub topped with chocolate flake and  raspberry sauce. Just the best ice cream in the world. It tastes exactly the same as when I was a young child. The caravan is in a great location and  although the weather wasn't brilliant we did sit out on that lovely veranda with wine on Wednesday evening perfect.

 

Now for some exciting news Kevin one of my followers has had a candy draw running and  also achieved 1000 followers isn't that amazing.  I've won a prize so I'm a really lucky girl today

 thank you Kevin.

 

I've not got a lot planned for the weekend but am away next week for three days in Chester with my lovely girlfriends and we are meeting with another of our friends on Wednesday who now lives in the Wirral. So looking forward to that.

 

Enjoy the weekend whatever you have planned looking at the weather here right now I may just be doing some crafting.

Once again thank you all for all the lovely comments left on my Beach Huts post I was thrilled especially as it was a man card!!  Hugs Carole x

 



Austin Mini Cooper Man Card my 100th post

 Good afternoon to all my lovely friends and followers and a special welcome to my new follower on Google + Emma. I've finally gotten round to doing this post the weekend seems to have passed me by and I did do a lot of crafting but some of it was commissions that I cannot post at present. The card I'm posting today is a man card yes a man card. I made it a few weeks ago not decided on a recipient yet but have a few male birthdays coming up. The stamp is a one I've used before but it does make a good man card especially if they like cars or have ever owned an old style mini.

 

Card Recipe

8x8 Card Craftwork Cards

Papers from my stash think the checked was from a magazine

Red card and Kraft card from Ross paper craft show

Mini stamps Papermania painted with distress inks the small mini covered in glossy accents

Silver embossing powder around the image

Red mesh trim Live and  Love Crafts

La La Land Banner die

Card Candi Craftwork Cards

Charm and twine from my stash

Silver peel off letters on banner from craft shop in Whitby ages ago.

 

 

I hope that you enjoy this card as I know we all really love making men cards !!  I hope you all had a lovely weekend doing what you enjoy and so sorry for those of you back at work I used to hate the first day back after holidays awful.

 

I hope to get something else done to post later in the week . Thank you all for the lovely comments you have left on my last couple of cards it means a lot to me.  Finally just to say to Debra hope you are going along Ok and that you feeling better very soon I miss your lovely cards.

  

Enjoy the rest of the week I'm doing appeals all day tomorrow but hope to go card hunting on Friday to get the right colour for the wedding invites I am doing.

 

I've just realised as posted that this is my 100th post on my blog. Wow that's a milestone .

 

 



 

 

 

 

Beside the Seaside

Good morning to  all my lovely friends and  followers. Thank you all so much for the lovely comments you have all made on my last post they are lovely. Also today I want to welcome my latest blog follower Natalia so glad you have started to follow my blog and  I hope you enjoy my posts. I know Natalia's work its fab as she is one of my Buddies on the docrafts blog.

We just came back yesterday from a couple of days in Whitby stayed at a lovely place called The Marine on the harbour and  this is a photo I took yesterday morning from our small balcony what a view we just wished it was warmer to sit out with a glass of wine. Never mind the reason we went was for the Jazz night and we had a great evening. I'm sure this will be added to our return list for the future.

 

  

 

My card today is one I made a few weeks ago at my craft group. We had planned to do encaustic art that day but it was cancelled so we made things from the stash in the Craft Group cupboard. I selected this decoupage image and  some matching papers and  made this man card. I only realised when I got home that the image is actually St Mary's Lighthouse at Whitley Bay not far from me and a place I visited a lot as a child searching for winkles with my Dad very happy days!!

 

I think its turned out Ok as men cards go never my favourites.

 

 

 

Card Recipe

Blank 5x7 card Craft Group

Papers from my Craft Group

Grey Metallic thread DMC from Craft Group

Card from my craft bag think Ross paper craft show

Small round Sentiment LOTV calendars

Happy Birthday sentiment Pink Gem Designs

Buttons free in a magazine

Twine from my stash

Ships wheel charm Whitby Crafts

 

 

I hope you enjoy these seaside images today and that you all have a great weekend. Hopefully I will be back over the weekend with a Ruby Wedding card commission I am just finishing .