A Commission!

Hi Guys, sorry I keep forgetting to post :(

Anyway I was asked to make cards for a 9 year old boy and an 8 year old girl - this is what I came up with.

I hope they like them!!


Love

Melissa

Christmas Started

After an amazing day at Ali Pali craft show.  I decided to give templates one last chance.  So I bought a lovely one based on a Lavinia Stamps design as I am already in love with the actual cling stamps used here.  I am quite pleased at this "bit different" Christmas card.

... See I still make cards as well! :) this was for my dearest friends birthday recently.  I have got some lovely sentiment stamps now and I am determined to use them.

Love

Melissa

Still crafting!

Hi  I know I haven't posted for months  - I keep forgetting :( anyway, I've had a go at something a bit different - what do you think of my wall hanging? since this photo I've added some lace for additional texture and scented it with Lavender oil.  It is a less messy alternative to Pot Pourri.  I've ideas buzzing around for a Christmas one!

I've been making so many cards for a craft fair coming up I've not had a chance to post them.  However here is one I made for Chris, My 15 year old son using a resist technique and distress dabbers.

AND - look who we are going to pick up on Saturday

I present Bertie

Love to everyone
Melissa

New Inks - Playtime :)

I've been playing around with my new inks and bits from last weekend and after a few "not so good ones" I think I am improving - well I am getting very inky and having fun anyway!!

 I did this "cool Britania" one with my new Tim Holtz distress markers straight to stamp.

This is using alcohol inks for the back ground and archival ink for the butterflies

This is using some of the many distress inks that Eileen made me put in my bag!! thanks Eileen xx

Finally just to prove that we are not the only ones STILL doing house improvements, look what's in my roof!

Oh well better go and clean up before anyone gets home - should be doing a bit of my "proper" work too I suppose :)

Love to you all

Melissa xxx

ALi Pali

OH what a day! I met some good friends at the Big Stamp and Scrapbooking show at Alexandra Palace yesterday and had such fun!  I saw my first view of "The Shard" as well!

I came home weighed down with Tim Holtz Distress Stains, I was only going to get a couple then Eileen talks me into getting the set! I have the most intricate butterfly die and some of the new Lilli of the Valley stamps too - I got the one with the little boy walking away from the damaged caused by a stray cricket ball - so sweet.

I also managed to get a Rugby themed stamp for Chris and his mates which was a result - Football (or Poofball as it is called in this house) is easy but Rugby less so.  I added to my "Crafyt Individuals" collection, although I ended up buying a whole A4 set of stamps purely because I liked just one of them.

The scrapbook I put on earlier was received well and I easily spent my earnings.  It does seem so wrong to be paid for something that you had such fun doing - it kept me quiet for hours, made me routle around bits of my stash that have not seen the light of day for a while as well as introduce me in to a new way of crafting.  Sometimes we all need a push to try something different and a I am so pleased I did - I even went on more of the scrapbook stands than usual.

As always I met friends and also some very lovely people up there.  It made up for the nightmare journey - I'm so glad I only use the trains/tubes twice a year.  Nick is now resigned to this bi-annual assault on our bank account and takes it in good grace - aren't I a luck girl!

So watch this space.

I hope everyone is keeping well and happy

lots of Love

Melissa

First time scrapbooker

I was asked to make a 60th wedding anniversary card - BRILLAINT I thought - until the lady in question said that she wanted it to incorporate all aspects of their time together i.e RAF, him in the mines, times at the seaside, their love of music the opera and ballet.  OOO ECK thinks me, the only way I can do that is a scrapbook/card, and I've never really scrapbooked before.  Here is the result!

Time in the RAF

Teaching and time in India

 Mining, music, Guilbert & sulllivan, Travel, Italy, books and the seaside - all with diamonds running through

Betty and the Piglet

Not a crafty post but a cutsey one! Yesterday we were looking at getting a new (ish) car for Matthew and whilst  Nick was taking it for a test drive, Betty and I had a wander and found these most beautiful piglets. SO beautiful that Betty had to give one a kiss!

Lots of love and best wishes to you

Melissa

A little steampunk

Hi,

The renovations are going well in the house, we've been busy knocking down walls - you've never seen so much dust in your life :)

Anyway, I've had time for a little crafting.  Unfortunately I didn't manage to photograph Dad's card which was a shame because I quite liked it, maybe I'll ask him to do it for me.

Here is my latest creation ..

The photograph does not really show the background on the brown, I stamped script colour on colour and also put some little gold highlights on the balloon.

I hope you are all keeping well and happy and enjoying the sunshine

Love

Melissa xx

Wicked Stepmother's Birthday card

... Well she is not wicked - far from it, but when you have a Stepmother it seems only right to tease sometimes :)

So here is her card - I did enjoy colouring the little girl she took a while but it was fun!

I hope everyone is ok.  Number 1 son went for an interview on Monday so we are all on tenter hooks waiting to hear what happens.  Number 2 son is being the same scallywag he usually is, good sense of humour an answer for everything and a pile of muddy rugby kit.

We are still pulling our house around but downstairs this time so I can get some sort of order back to my craft room (I hope!)

Love to you all xxx

Gee's Birthday Card

Hi!!

My friend Gee and I are off to a fancy dress ball in Oostende in a couple of weeks time and the theme is Can Can.  We have made our dresses starting from corsets and so I thought that this birthday card for her was perfect :)

I'm not sure it shows, but I brushed mica powder over the top to make it look silky.  I hope she likes it

Love  Melissa xx

Valentine for my hubby

What a lovely reason to make a card! now I have to rush the blog as he's just walked in from work and obviously this is for tomorrow - so here it is - me and a lot of embossing powder, oh and a lovely sentiment stamp.  I thought I'd  add it to the PanPastel challenge  too.   ooooo got to go

A Rush of enthusiasm!

Hi all

Recently I've seen some of the challenges that are out there in blog land, and I thought what a great way to get some inspiration as I'm feeling a bit on the flat side.  So here is one that I am going to enter into the Lili's Little Fairies Challenge

but I liked the layout so much I did another one but this doesn't count

My final card was for the PanPastels Challenge 4

I love the way the pastels allow you to get such softness into a card

Christmas has come early?!

A brilliant idea by Sandra that if we all make one Christmas card a month then we'll be well ahead of the game by the time the big day arrives :)

Here is my first of 2012 - I thought I could do with a bit of serenity

xxxxx

2 of anything

Hi

I saw the challenge to make "2 of anything" on the PanPastels site - so I thought I'd do 2 dancing mermaids all coloured in pastels :)

Pan Pastels

Hi

Finally got my craft room back - I think that that is all the upstairs work done on the house now, so no more using it for storage!!


Eileen has been raving about Pan Pastels and having seen the most beautiful results, I thought I'd have a go myself as the colours were just stunning - right up my street - so here they are, my first attempts, I am fascinated at how you can mix the colours and get such subtle shading from one into another ...

You rub them on like chalks and although it has not come out on the pics, you can mix ordinary shimmer chalks with them as well to turn them from a matt to a subtle sheen.

I hope everyone is well, and I can highly recommend giving these a go.