2013 Favourites

.. so I tried to limit myself to 10 cards.. it didn't happen. This post has been a long while in the process, and I know that you may not want to read all of my waffle - if not, just have a flick through some of my projects, and if you do - grab a mug of your favourite liquid and join me.. I'll meet you at the end. 

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I realise that as the years go on (this will have been my 3rd Christmas since I started crafting in early December of 2010) - I make more and more cards each year. Whether it be commissions, personal cards, or orders placed by my friends, the number of creations seems to increase each year.

.. and that is no bad thing. It just means this post on the 31st December each year will be that bit longer. Maybe 2014 will see me a little more decisive and choose less for better reasons.

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Let's start.

My Favourite Cards of 2013

#1 - I think this is the first example I have of the ambition to create a 'scene' on my card. I teamed up Some Odd Girl - Renew goodness with some PaperCraft Junkie commissioned pieces and her castle! I also love the colours I used on this card - the mustard yellow dress looks lovely with the aqua flags and torrents.  

#2 - This was the last card I made for my Grandma before she passed away in hospital earlier in the year. She left it on her windowsill the entire time she was in there! :) It was a 'feel better' / 'happy Mother's day' card combined. I love this image from Saturated Canary, all of that hair is a treat to colour, and I used up some of my older My Mind's Eye paper - love that woodgrain.

This card now lives on my mirror in the living room as a happy memory. Loved the bones of that woman.

#3 - This was the first time I ever coloured up a Redonkadoodles image, and I loved it. I added a lot of detail to the area of the shoe with some little flower stamps. The Rendonkadoodles designs are so clean and a dream to colour! :) Highly recommend them. I also picked this card as it's so blingy, girly and in your face. Not my style at all, but I really pushed the boat out and gave the lady what she asked, gold glitter tape and all! :)

#4 - I LOVE creating designs like this. The base of them is just clean and graphic, then I go crazy with embellishments and fonts. I used some Bling card from Bazzill as well as a bunch of WOC goodness, Lawn Fawn alpha stamps, Thickers, The Ribbon Girl ribbon, lace and mesh.. aaaaaaaand a whole load of love. Such a clean colour combo and that diamond embossing will never get old! 

#5 - This Some Odd Girl clear stamp Fairy Magic REALLY spoke to me when I received it in the post from the lovely Kristy. I created this card when I was part of the SOG DT - and I just knew I had to colour her up with blue hair! I went C-RAZY with embellishments on this card, I think it took me over two days to lay it all out in a way I was happy. 

#6 - Where to start? Not 100% sure why I picked this as a favourite - all I know it.. I LOVED making it. I think this may well be one of the first times, if not thee first time I used a huge flower on a card. I'm not certain on the type of flower that large white one is, but it's definitely from WOC and I love it!! This Saturated Canary image is a treat - I LOVE her big hair and that gorgeous bow. The papers from Teresa Collins are too pretty - I gotta use them more next year - if I haven't sickened myself with reds after Christmas.

#7 - This was possibly the first time I posted a card on my blog with a background I had attempted with my ProMarkers. I used to use a sponge and stencil to create a clouded background, but I made a promise to myself to push my colouring a little further this year, and with this, I think I succeeded. It's a given that those clouds are looking a little - flat - it can't be helped. I was doing what I could with the experience given. None. Hah!! 

#8 - Another first on my blog.. I think this card was the first I posted where I showed my attempt at no lines colouring. This card was for my friends little girl who turned 1 earlier in the year. I love the princesses from TGF for little girls cards. :) I used papers from My Minds Eye (love) and I die cut my very own doily using an Xcut die. 

#9 - The layout of this card made me wanna die. If I didn't make OOAK cards, I think I'd just go along with this one every single time. Same die cuts, same flowers, same postage edges - everything. Given, it took me a fair few hours to lay it out how I liked, but I loved it. This card was so well received that the girl who ordered it from me asked for another similar design using different colours for another friend.

#10 - Decoupage? We'll go with that. Said I'd never really be into it. I'm into it!! This was a birthday card for one of my friends and she really loved it. I think designs like this are super impressive. I do love that little squirrel, too. 

#11 - This was another attempt at no lines colouring using an older Sugar Nellie stamp. I created this card for my nieces 18th birthday. I also created my own background with some hills and a beautiful sunset which can just be seen behind the heaps of embellishments.

#12 - Another background, this one was influenced by my boyfriend. He suggested some mountains in the background, so I ran with it. Really love how it turned out - it suits this little dragon from Tiddly Inks perfectly!! I also thought I'd best throw in a male card too. It's not that I don't enjoy making them, I really do like making male cards - it's just that the opportunity never really calls all that much!!

#13 - I've really fallen back in love with Tiddly Inks over the past few weeks - this card is no exception. I crammed so much into this card, yet made sure the image still spoke volumes. I adapted my clouded background a little to include a little more white into the design. I simply outlined the shape of my clouds with my colours for sky - simples. Ahhh, lovely, girly, detailed card.

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I hope I've provided sufficient links where I thought links were necessary, if there is anything you have questions about feel free to email me at loumac03@gmail.com and I'll be happy to help you out. I realise that this post has gone on for an eternity, so I'ma wrap it up around about NOW..

I gotta be honest, I only have a few observations from this year:

-My fear of 6x6" cards has been eradicated. Hallelujah. 

- I'm not as scared of pink as I used to be.

- Embellishment overload? ..and what? I do love my buttons and ribbons and liquid pearls especially.

- Matting and layering is my thing - I never thought it would be.

- I feel myself (eventually) gradually moving away from faux stitching.

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Hopefully.. I will continue to learn and grow throughout the next year. None of those things listed above are necessarily bad things, and I will continue to create in a way which makes me happy - above all else. Of course, that's what we craft for in the first place, right?

Thank you for sticking with me to the end. If you have any New Years celebrations planned this year - ENJOY!! .. and I'll see you all in 2014! xo

Girly, Whirly Birthday

It's a week til Christmas Eve!!

ONE WEEK!!

Judging by the speed this year has gone, this next week will go by like.. *zOoOoooooom!!*

Another non Christmas-y creation to share with you all this morning. 

This was part of a commission for my boss at work. 

Knowing this was for a little girl, I went all out with embellishments. I think I have finally conquered my fear of using pink on my creations. Infact, I think I now quite like it! Hah! Who'd have thought?!

I used Anna Belle - Birthday Wishes from Tiddly Inks.

I've coloured her up with ProMarkers to match my papers from My Minds Eye Kate and Co. Cambridge Court. I tried out some pleats and a new yellow colour combo on her little party dress. I tried to go with an ombre layered cake too, pretty happy with how it turned out.

If you remember, a few weeks ago I said that I'd be trying to making more of an effort with my backgrounds on coloured images, to take my crafting that little bit further and to make my cards look even more finished. I gotta say, it's going okay. :)

I added some simple cloud outlines and coloured the tops of them with my faded blue. I then added a heap of grass around her feet. 

As for embellishments, hah.. where to begin? 

A big organza ribbon (from The Ribbon Girl) with a little American Crafts ribbon adhered over the knot.

Some Wild Orchid Crafts 10mm roses, a MFT circle doily, a kraft doily (which is almost completely covered, but you can see a little bit poking out on the right hand side of the image), a little crochet trim (again, from The Ribbon Girl), an embossed vellum fence die cut aaaaaaaaaaaaaand of course, some liquid pearls. So pretty.

I really need to start entering my cards into some challenges, I'm getting pretty useless at this. Perhaps I can make that another new years resolution?! LOL!!

Thanks so much for stopping by today! :) xo

Wild Birthday

It's Saturday, again. Already.

How many sleeps now?! Like.. 10?! 

Seeeerious.

As another little break from the Christmas-ness that has taken my blog by storm these past couple weeks, I thought I'd share a birthday card I created for a little boy who celebrated his 3rd birthday earlier on in the month.

This is the adorable dragon from the Hello Pet set from Tiddly Inks.

Couldn't you just eat him?!

I gotta give full credit to my boyfriend for the two tone wings and horns we've got going on here. He always comes up with fantastic suggestions, as he sees things totally differently from me. I should hire him! LOL!!

I've coloured this cutie up using ProMarkers and FlexMarkers and I pushed the boat out on the background too.. and added some mountains - also the boyfriends idea. I wanted to include a little sun, but he put his foot down. *Next time ;) when he's not watching me colour*

I kept the rest of the card pretty simple. I used some older papers from an Authentique pack, some thickers and Jillibean alpha stickers, a Some Odd Girl sentiment, a SU! brad and a sprinkling of Gold and Peacock Liquid Pearls.

Thanks for stopping by today! :) xo

Christmas Notes

So, Christmas time. The run up to Christmas. All that.

IT'S NEARLY HERE!! I hope you've got your Christmas shopping sorted.. or mostly sorted.

I know I sure haven't. *cough* - I always run late! Hah!!

So, if you're like me.. you gotta get yourself a lotta lists written out, right?!

This notebook would be perfect!!

I used the adorable Cocoa Wishes Wryn from Tiddly Inks and coloured her up using my ProMarkers.

I used some older papers from a Authentique paper pack, some Thickers and some glittery snowflakes stickers which I've hoarded for forever.. not anymore. :)

Hope you likey! xo

Fab Friday at Tiddly Inks

I made this card up a while ago as part of a commission for a lovely lady. It was her son's third birthday, and she wanted a mixture of trains and dinosaurs! The Conductor from Tiddly Inks was perfect!! I coloured him up in a red, orange, blue and grey combo to match my papers from My Minds Eye and the slice of dinosaur digi paper I bought from Etsy.

Head over to the Tiddly Inks challenge blog to see what the other ladies have got to inspire ya! ;)

SMASH* on Saturday

Guess who's back - back again. ;)

The title gives it away. If you stopped by yesterday, you'll know that I've got a little SMASH* page with my purrdy cat to share with ya!! So here it is..

Just a heap load of randomness. I literally have no idea where half the stuff has come from, I just pulled red and green stuff from my little SMASH* tote, because  those were the colours I was feeling at the time. Perhaps that little Christmas fairy was niggling at the very back of my brain. Someone, please tell me I'm not alone in the 'running late with Christmas' creations. Please. LOL!

I do know that that button flower set up is from Sassafras. Only reason I know that.. is because I've been hoarding it like mad.. like since I even took up crafting a couple years ago. I don't think they make them any more! :( 

Thickers.. and.. Dear Lizzie alpha stickers make up the title. I think. 

I'm not gonna waffle at you any more! :) Thanks for stopping by. Over and Out. xo

Isabelle Grace

Morning. Thank you so much for stopping by - I have something a little different to share with you all today. In the form of.. a mini album.

I made this for my friend who is actually due today. So could everybody please cross their fingers real tight please? :) 

Little baby's name is gonna be.. ISABELLE GRACE TAYLOR - pretty beautiful, huh?

I made this album from a naked Bazzill.. album.. jazzed up with some papers from First Edition - Bird Song. Alongside some doodled, some twill stripe ribbon, some punches and a little bit of bling.

I ain't gonna chat all the way through this post - so just sit back and scroll. I'd love to hear what you think of it :)

Thank you for stopping by today! I've one more long day at work today then off the whooooleee weekend. I cannot WAIT! :) Gonna be all sleepy, and snug and most importantly CRAFTY!! I'm gonna make sure I sit on my ass as much as possible as it feels like my knees are gonna start bending the other way I've been standing for that many hours straight this week!! It'll all be worth it though, in a couple more days (more like eight) I'll be able to get the phone of my dreams once my contract is up!! Yeeehaa. Over and OUT.

 

Good Hair Day

After the positive reaction I received last night about my SMASH* page for the SOG Fun Day Challenge which you can see HERE.. I thought I'd share another of my pages with you all. :)

Thank you for all of your kind comments! Each and everyone is truly appreciated. My boyfriend was watching me schedule a couplea posts last night and said.. "Lou, I really don't know how you can be bothered" I was like.. what do you mean? He meant the amount of stuff I type up, the editing I carry out on my photos before I upload them, all of the links I include in my posts and stuff.. Wanna know why I can be bothered?! Because I love to hear the feedback from you guys!! Makes it all worth while! :)

So here we have a SMASH* page in my Green Eco book about GOOD HAIR DAYS! ;) Oh yeah. I know some of you girls will feel my pain. I usually only have good hair days when I have absolutely no where to go! Typical huh. On this very rare occasion I actually had somewhere to go AND I was having a good hair day. A result of overly positive thinking, I reckon! LOL.

The base of my page is on top of a slice of 6x6 Basic Grey Basics White paper. Helps to keep my journalling straight. I've used stamps and punches from SU! to decorate the page in blues and greens. I've added my own journalling and a few alpha stickers and stuff. I've recycled a little glassine bag that I get my twine in from The Ribbon Girl and used it as a pocket. I've added a Tim Holtz ticket, and a stamped image of Abbey from TGF which I neeeed colour colour. As I love her hair! :) I've also stamped the same image onto a little kraft tag from Papermania. I've threaded some green and blue bakers twine through the tag and attached using a Doodlebug brad. I've created a pocket on front of my pocket using a Starburst wrapper. It happened to be lying on my desk when I was making this page and thought it went with the whole colour scheme perfectly.

What else? Hmm.. a Sassafras button flower which I've been hoarding for ever. A Basic Grey brad with a little birdie on.. love. A green stick pin.. some Prima gems and pearls.. some liquid pearls.. Stickles.. an Echo Park banner sticker.. ohh and some washi tape. :) Lovely. All smashed in there! LOL.

That about wraps it up. It's all I've got for ya today. That cough I woke up with on Wesnesday, has, unsurprisingly, turned into a full blown cold. You don't even wanna know where I spend the majortity of my time last night! LMAO!! I don't do being ill very well at all. I'm like a dying duck!! 

So me thinks, as I'm actually on time with this.. I'll join in with the one and only Kellie Winnells SMASH*ing Sunday! :) I totally missed out on the 24 Hour SMASH* action over on FB this weekend. I'm useless. I know. :/ Maybe next time, huh?

Over and Out.

Soothe Away The Day

Couldn't quite remember whether I had posted this card or not - so forgive me if you have a slight feeling of deja vu!! Thought I'd get another couple of posts scheduled while I had the ball rolling and the internet on. KWIM?! HA!

I used some long lost stickers from a long lost line from Basic Grey - I can't for the life of me remember the name. Alongside that I created a little sentiment on Word and die cut it using a labels eighteen nestie. Some thickers (which I am SICK of - luckily I still had two enns and an aahh to make this card, but other than that I'd be lucky if I could make another word out of the 8 or so sets I have left..) to create 'nan' - love that font!! Some added crochet lace, seam binding and bakers twine from The Ribbon Girl and some WOC flowers and pearl brads to finish the card off. A lot going on down the bottom of the card, but I kinda like the way it turned out. Oh, and some.. kraft coloured?! (the exact colour name escapes me..) swiss dot bazzill that I've been hoarding. Yumm!! :)

Enjoy your Saturday. xo

Floating Feathers

Not sure whether any of you remember the card I made for Sentimental Sundays a few weeks back for the "Sympathy" challenge. Well.. the lovely Amy Burrell seen the blog post on my news feed over at Facebook and requested a birthday card based on a similar design. She said "It may sound like a silly request because it's based on a sympathy card" - Hell, girl!! I can turn my hand to just about anything! :)

Of course, I only make OOAK cards - and Amy knows this, she just liked the colours and design. She wanted a 60th Birthday card for her MiL.. so here is what I come up with.

I used the two same yummy papers from Bo Bunny Gabrielle collection for the base of this card as I did for the sympathy card. I matted the two pieces onto some dark brown cardstock from Papercuts and wrapped some gorgeous silky crush ribbon from The Ribbon Girl around the join. I then adhered the whole lot to my Kraft cardbase which I switched around and had the fold at the top for a change! :) Looks more elegant me thinks.

I've used a combo of die cuts and alpha stickers to create the sentiment. Obviously with the card lacking an image the sentiment had to take centre stage. I cut the 60 using my slice, the 'th' is from Kaisercraft mini alpha set, the 'Happy Birthday' has been pieced together using some Jenni Bowlin alpha stickers and the 'Mam' are chipboard thickers. :) I created a circle using a nestie and some more gorgeous papers from the same collection and backed it using a lacey circle die cut from more of the dark brown cardstock. Yum! :)

Of course I had to get a feather in there somewhere - 60 is a special birthday, okay? - does it not match the papers fabulously?! I also placed a few Papermania pearl brads and Prima pearls! :) Looovely. Of COURSE all edges have been distressed and doodled.

I start work at 1 o'clock today. 4 hours on Till 1. I can't wait. Not. HAHA. At least it's four hours of sitting on my ass instead of running around after people. :) I would take my slippers - if I had any ;) Have a good day whatever you're doing! :)