Nordic Pines

Good morning people of the blog-o-sphere!! How windy was it for you at the beginning of the week?

To tell you the truth, people of the north east blew it all out of proportion (excuse the pun..), as we didn't have it half as bad, nay, quarter as bad as people on the south west coast. Wind speeds nai on 100mph - CRAZY!

I hope this post finds you all safe and warm!!

It's time for me to provide a little inspiration for ya using products you can pick up at My Mum's Craft Shop. Let's go..

So this girl, is the adorable Birdie Kiddo from Stampendous. The expression on her face melts my heart. I wish a Robin would come land on my hand so I could have a chat!! She's been coloured with ProMarkers and FlexMarkers and I've added a touch of Frosted Lace Stickles to the fluffy bits of her hat, coat and gloves - more for texture than glitter.

I've added the smallest cluster of three snowflakes from the MFT Snowflake Splendor set with Summer Sky Memento ink around the image before die cutting her with a circle.

So my paper is from a new collection by Bazzill Basics - Nordic Pines. I love them. It's my first pack of Bazzill papers and I have no idea why I waited so long to buy them - they're so thick and luxurious. Gorgeous colours and designs. Yum!! I've paired them up with some pink cardstock, some pink ribbon and a button to make this card a little more 'girly'. 

For a finishing touch I die cut some snowflakes with the MFT Let it Snow dies from vellum and attached them with some dark pink gemstones from The Hobby House. These dies have to be amongst some of my most used! I LOVE snowflakes and they're perfect for those Christmas creations!

Don't forget to head over to the My Mum's Craft Shop blog to get daily inspiration.

You've two days left to join in with the Halloween challenge - and the new challenge will be live on 1st November! 

I'd like to enter this card into these challenges:

- Die Cuttin' Divas - Anything Goes

- Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes

- Top Tip Tuesday - Seasons

- Live Love Crafts - Think Pink

Thank you for stopping by today. xo

Gorjuss Note Book

Good morning. :)

I don't think I've shared this notebook here on my blog yet, so I thought I'd stop by and show you all today. While I'm waiting for my Sunday dinner to be cooked - by the kitchen fairies! ;)

I bought a bunch of kraft covered notebooks with the idea to decorate them all pretty for my customers. The two I've made so far went down a treat. I'll be back tomorrow to share another more Christmas-y one. 

So I used a Gorjuss Girls decoupage set from a bigger A4 pack to decorate the front of this card. I also used the papers that came in the pack, as they matched perfectly.

I stamped 'notes' onto a little book plate style die cut which also came in the pack with some Lawn Fawn alpha stamps. 

This is quite a decent sized notebook - it measures around 8"x5". Plenty of room for scribbles.

Thanks for stopping by today. 

I'm going to have a nice relaxing Sunday making Christmas cards now that I've sorted out my CV and made a note of a bunch of numbers of Funeral Directors I want to ring on Monday.

xo

Exciting News! :)

If you follow me on FB, either on my personal profile or my page at Cartolinas from Lou Mac you will know that I have evetnually found out the results of my Foundation Embalming exam!! 

I PASSED!!

I was over the moon when my tutor rang me yesterday. I almost swore down the phone I was that excited, but I contained myself. Only just! ;) Heh.

So after finding out that fantastic news, sorting out my car insurance (which I was dreading due to the three points I picked up in June), making a note of a bunch of Funeral Directors to ring around on Monday, working on updating my CV and tryna sort out the rest of my stash I want to sell on Facebook.. I thought I'd take a little time out while I eat last nights congratularory left over pizza and type up this post. Hah.

*takes a breath*

This was one of the first Saturated Canary digis I ever bought, and I never even got to colour her up last year - so I made it my mission to get her onto one of my first Christmas cards of the season this year.

I won. :)

HAPPY POST THIS, NO? :D

So I always struggle with purple, and decided to challenge myself to use it, as I wanted to use up some of my older papers from Cosmo Cricket - Mittens? (not 100% sure of that) collection. So purple and green it was!!

I decided to try a different combo for what I had hopes to be brunette hair. I believe the colour I added to my standard combo of Cinnamon, Cocoa, Walnut and Umber was Burnt Sienna. As you can see, it turned into more of a red head colour - but I still loves it!! You can see my old combo for brunette hair on her little shoes, which.. colored like that remind me of cinnamon swirls. Mmm!!

I used a sentiment from an Amy R set alongside some mittens from a SU! set. I die cut my sentiment panel using a larger circle die and then a scalloped circle die from Papertrey ink - the perfect size.

I love creating these larger (for me) cards these days, as I can use more embellishments, a larger sentiment, colour a bigger image, show off more papers. It's great. I added a bunch of embellishments from The Ribbon Girl, Petal Lu and Wild Orchid Crafts. 

I'd like to enter this card into these challenges:
- Sister Act Card Challenge - Anything Goes #30
- Scrapping 4 Fun - Holidays or Christmas
- Aud Sentiments - Christmas Sentiments

Thank you for stopping by today and listen to me rabble on. I'll wrap it up now and get the rest of the stash I'm selling photographed and uploaded. xo

Halloween at MMCS

Good moooooorning!!

Well there isn't much of October left, is there?! It'll soon be the end of the month, and before we know it, Halloween will be upon us!

For something a little different I thought I'd create a gift bag this week for inspiration over at My Mum's Craft Shop!!

I used a bunch of My Favorite Thing goodness and really loved how this miniature project turned out.

Here's a quick and concise list of the products used:

- Scalloped Treat Box

- Washi Patterns

- Pure Innocence - Pretty Pumpkin

- Dainty Bows

Super cute, and super quick!! 

Thanks for stopping by. xo

Give me a 'P'

It's Tuesday again, and that can mean only one thing! It's time for another challenge over at Passion for ProMarkers. 

This weeks challenge has been set by our very own Julie. There is a £10.00 voucher for Dies to Die For up for grabs too. So what are you waiting for?!

Give Julie a 'P'

Yip!! We wanna see stuffs on your card that begins with a P. Literally. Anything.

Let me kick start your P brain.. HAH!! 

Polaroid, Princess, Pearls, Pink, Purple, Park Bench

I've used the gorgeous Princess Tia, she is a clear stamp available. from Some Odd Girl. I've coloured her in with pretty pastel colours, for me. I like how she turned out, but if I was to do it again I'd probably try and add more interest to her dress and practice my folds!! 

I added a die cut bench behind her, punched some little flowers and added pearls to the centre and that was about that.

My Polaroid patterned paper from My Minds Eye already had a sentiment in the top left corner, so I tried to grow my design around that!

Hope you likey. Head over to the Passion for ProMarkers blog and see if the other ladies can inpsire you P brain. I can't wait to see what you all come up with!!

Hugs. xo

Good Luck..

I made this card a while ago as part of a commission, sorta like a mini Believe card, like the one I made in this post.

I love Fancy from Saturated Canary. I always have a blast colouring up that huge hair of hers.. and if you really take the time you can make the pleats on her dress POP!

I stuck with a simple combo of red, white and grey with a pop of blue on the sentiment banner and scalloped border. I used some buttons from my stash, a little handmade envelope charm, some gorgeous ribbon from The Ribbon Girl and the prettiest paper flower from Petal Lu.

Thanks for stopping by today. xo

Bomb Site!!

Hello guys! I'm stopping in tonight with a card I created for a particular challenge, which is not something I do too often.. but recently, I seem to have accumulated a bunch of coloured images which I've completed while sitting watching T.V lately - and trying to make my brain switch off every now and again.. which unfortunately never happens.

Anywho, after a 10 hour shift at the day job today, I just couldn't be bothered to tidy my desk to take a photo.. I'm not gonna lie.

It looks like a bomb went off.. look..

You see the slight gap in the disaster just at the back of the desk there? That's where my laptop was.. which is now on my lap. Make no mistake that there was a free bit of space on there!! Hah!

So.. onto the actual card, you know, the thing you visited my blog for. Doh!! (Again, apologies for the crap photo..)

So, I spotted this new challenge over at The Ribbon Girl Blog (I cannot tell you how lovely it feels to be making a card and entering a challenge, just because I fancy it..) 

Their Lovely Lili October Challenge is Anything Goes - the only rule is, you gotta use a Lili of the Valley stamp. Simples!! 

Of course, this is James Bear in the Snow. I had to use him. Had to. Didn't I? He's adorable! He's one of the first stamps I ever bought from LOTV, and I think he still remains as one of my favourites!

I've used one of my oldest stamps, with some of my newest papers from Echo Park - Tis the Season. I added some cheesecloth behind the image - I bought this from The Ribbon Girl soooo long ago, with REALLY good intentions.. but I don't think it's in me to use this without a whole load of excess faff and time wasting! LOL!

I stamped a sentiment from Whimsy Stamps onto a grey slice of paper from the paper pack and backed it onto the decorative die cut which matches the stamps. I die cut some vellum snowflakes with an older MFT set and added them here and there to the layout. 

That's all from me tonight. I'm off to take myself to bed soon - I've got this stupid cough, and the only time it doesn't annoy me is when I'm asleep!! FRIDAY TOMORROW!! Good times.

Loves. xo

It's Free Week at MMCS

.. so I decided to take it upon myself to show you all a sneak.. of some new up and coming products to My Mum's Craft Shop!!

Kitty is absolutely spoiling us all with the new products she'll be stocking in the store, so keep your eyes peeled!! 

Today, I thought I'd show you a card using

The Greeting Farm - Anya Styles

This is one of many larger style stamps from The Greeting Farm.

So far, there are six to add to your collection

- Anya Celebrates

- Anya Strolls

- Anya Blooms

- Anya Styles

- Anya Lifts

- Anya Treats

Their larger size means they're perfect for larger cards. This card is 5.752x5.75" and she fill it's perfectly, with just enough room around the edge for sentiments and embellishments.

I've used some My Minds Eye papers, and my card has been constructed on a Kraft UK card blank.

Some Mini Doily Circle Dies from My Favorite Things as well as some Royal Leaves

and a few Wild Orchid Craft Flowers, which may or may not be getting stocked too..

I SAID NOTHING!!

That's all from me today! ;) I hope this has put a smile on your face.

Fun times ahead. xo

Friends come and go..

You all know how much I *heart* The Greeting Farm, so when I was commissioned a card specifically using this gorgeous Anya Styles from The Greeting Farm.. I jumped at the chance. What's more - NO PINK or PURPLE! What a dream!!

I stamped her using Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto Neenah Solar White cardstock and started colouring her with ProMarkers and FlexMarkers to match the last few slices of paper I had from My Minds Eye Breeze collection. 

I went to town and used up a whole heap of supplies on this card. What good are those pretty Prima flowers gonna do sitting squashed in my plastic pot? Who is gonna enjoy those polka dot brads from SU! if they're just sitting in my blue embellishment drawer?

I decided to decorate the inside of the card with a little more flair than I usually do. I inked up Anya Styles with Bamboo Leaves ink, stamped off once and stamped the second generation stamp onto the slice of card I had cut down for the person to write their message to the recipient.

Love this card. My favourite for a long while. I hope you enjoyed too. xo

..it's just the beginning..

So at the beginning of the month I whipped up this little miniature beauty..

It was a commission from a lovely girl who was a couple of years above me in school. She came to pick it up last weekend and was over the moon with it! :)

I charged her £3.00 - it was hilarious. She thought I had mis-typed and was meant to have said £30.00. What a sausage.

I used a MFT die and a spellbinder die to create a double sided little keepsake.

I personalised it with some alpha stamps from Lawn Fawn, stamped in Brilliance Graphite Black ink. LOVE that ink!! 

Thanks for stopping by today. xo

Fright Night

So I made this card a while back for the September release over at Time for Tea Designs. As soon as this image landed in my inbox I knew I neeeeeded to colour her up.

This is Frankencutie and she's available to buy over at Jo's Etsy Shop.

I've coloured her up using ProMarkers with a Zombie-ish dullness to her skin! LOL! She also had to have purple hair, as a standard. I thought* I had nailed a purple combo I like.. until I rammed my pens back into the case and forgot to write then down. Meh. Back to the drawing board.

I have stamped a sentiment from an Amy R set using Memento Dew Drop inks and added it to a black scalloped circle mat. My papers are from an older Echo Park pack from last year. 

Hmm, I added a C.C Designs fence die cut behind the image panel. I also die cut some black swirls.. aaaaaand added some orange polka dot satin ribbon from The Ribbon Girl.. some buttons.. delightful. Or, as delightful as ZOMBIES go! ;)

I'd like to enter this card into these challenges:

- City Crafter Challenge - Trick or Treat
Orange as your main colour

- Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes

- Creative Craft Challenges - Anything Goes
- Ribbon Carousel - Halloween

Thanks for stopping by today. xo

Anything but a Card at MMCS

It was nothing but utter trials and tribulations to get this project made, photos taken, uploaded and posted on here. I wish I could show you something spectacular, but instead I have a couple of CAS tags to show you.

This week we're showing you anything but a card over at MMCS!

It's always handy to have a couple tags on hand, whether they be to add to a gift, or to add to a card front for a super quick CAS card!!

Apologies for the photo. It was taken on my phone as I seem to have *misplaced* my camera, and it's taken with my living room wall paper as the backdrop, as my desk looks like a bomb has hit. I'm not gonna lie. 

So, these were made using some blank kraft tags, which you can pick up pretty much anywhere. I got mine from my trip to Hobbycraft at the weekend.

I have used a couple of My Favorite Things stamps:

- Washi Patterns

- Peaceful Wildflowers

I have added some Natural Hemp Cord to the tag holes, some washi tape to the 'male' themed tag and a little Hobby House pearl to the 'female' themed tag!

That's all from me today. I'm off to colour up some Greeting Farm *wink, wink*. xo

.. Snow is Falling..

 .. yeah uh huh. You heard right.

I know it's only October, but our lovely Eileen wants to see the..

SNOW IS FALLING

This was the perfect opportunity for my to practice some backgrounds.

I decided to use Fall Wryn from Tiddly Inks. I coloured her up in traditional Christmas red and green and threw in a little pink to mix things up. I used papers from an older collection from Basic Grey - Eskimo Kisses.

I used some deeper blue ProMarkers and FlexMarkers gradually fading into a more yellow tone closer to the horizon to create my snowy background. I then took my Blender pen and held it to the cardstock for a few seconds to push some of the colour away and create what I hope looks like little falling snowflakes. 

I have embossed a sentiment from Amy R using some goooold embossing powder, very Christmas-y. :)

That's all from me for today. Short and sweet, because I'm a bizzy bizzy bee these days! ;)

Don't forget to head over to the Passion for ProMarkers blog and check out the other ladies snowy creations. xo 

Mr & Mrs Taylor

Here's to a brand new week. I promise to try and be a better blogger. It's not like I haven't got anything to show you all.. gaahd!! I just never get the chance to type up a decent post!

That said, I will make it my mission to try and get as many posts scheduled for the next week on a Sunday night. So each day, if you happen to stop by my blog, you'll have something new and fresh to feast your eyes on. 

My Mission: To make my blog a more interesting place. GO! GO! GO! 

So a few weeks ago now, one of my close friends got married. Yip! It was such a lovely day filled with a lot of fantastic memories. A beautiful couple to spend the rest of their lives together.

Naturally, Sophie asked me to make up some cards! ;)

Her theme was ivory and royal blue, a lovely combo to work with in paper.

Her sister was one of her bridesmades.
This is the card I made for her.

The grooms brother was their Best Man.
I tried to keep this card a little more simple, and
masculine. The silver.. tweed-y ribbon-y stuff
is from The Ribbon Girl, and
I just LOVE it for wedding cards.

Another of my close friends was
her other bridesmade.
They both looked beautiful in their
royal blue dresses.
I personalised this card with her name.

These are the little flower clips I made for both sets of parents.
The die I used from MFT has come in handy for a lot
of projects like this.

Happy Monday! :) xo

My Mum's Craft Shop Do Halloween

Sorry this is late guys, I've had my head up my butt since late last week, and I'm still not 100% sorted, but onwards. It's the beginning of October. I know.

Let's just take a second to let that sink in..

That can only mean it's time for a new challenge over at My Mum's Craft Shop

HALLOWEEN/ HALLOWEEN COLOURS

Yip!! Only 29 days til Halloween, so if you're like me.. and love making Halloween cards, we best get our busy hats on and create some ghoulish goodness. I sooo wish England took Halloween more seriously.. like America. Would be awesome..

That aside, here's my project.

I used the adorable Stampendous - Scared Cat Kiddo cling stamp

I've matted my cardstock from an Echo Park collection to some orange cardstock and adhered down the layers onto a Kraft cardbase. 

I added a tonne of embellishments, including some papers flowers, buttons, polka dot ribbon and liquid pearls and Stickles. I die cut a bird, to look like a crow, from black cardstock using a Marianne Designs die.

I would like to enter this card into these challenges:

Sketch Saturday - Sketch #278

Bearly Mine Challenges - Halloween

Love Rubber Stamps - Anything Goes

Thanks for being so patient. I hope you enjoy the card!

Head over to the My Mum's Craft shop blog and check out the other girls projects, and don't forget to join in with the challenge! xo

Good Luck in France

It's time for another daily dose of inspiration from me over at My Mum's Craft Shop.

I have decided to share a card I made for a friend to give to her friend before she left to move to France. Big, huh? Exciting news. I reckon good luck is definitely needed in such a situation. 

So as you may have noticed the whole card is themed red, white and blue. I used waaay old My Minds Eye papers and then brought them bang up to date with some My Favorite Things - Sweet Roses stamps.

I added scalloped borders to either side of that delightful woodgrain patterned paper using my Tonic Edger 2 punch, which is still my most favourite thing ever!!

I've added some Ivory Hobby House pearls to the centre of the flowers, and BOOM! The job's a good-n! xx