At last a few minutes to myself

That's Boxing Day over with and now a few days of R&R to get myself and the house straight and hopefully find time for a little crafting.

First of all I need to upload the photos of some of the cards and projects made in December.

There was a memory book made for Janet when she retired at the end of November. I asked work friends present and past to provide recipes with a connection to Janet and I made them into a book with photos of the people who donated the recipes. Really pleased with the way it turned out.

There was a birthday card for Homa made with My Craft Studo Deco Ladies CD.

There was a birthday card for Helen whilst she was away on a Nile cruise.

And a bit of fun for my boss Jonathan from a Joanna Sheen CD.  A line drawing coloured in with Promarkers.

Had fun making all my Christmas cards.  Most were made with an Anna Griffin kit from QVC and also made some with the My Craft Studio Christmas Deco CD. I didnt get round to many rubber stamped ones and wasnt happy with any of the Christmas Tilda cards I started.  I wish I had more time for making a few more presents - my favourite ones were the decorated Elizabeth Shaw mints (thanks to Helen at 'It's all fiddle fart')and the cookie jar which I gave to my lovely sister Gina.

In all the Christmas chaos I also made a memory book for my old friend Ameer who finally had enough of the new ConvaTec.

Made a quick pit stop at Hobby Craft today and picked up some bargains so tomorrow I will get started on a few Birthday cards for 2011. I am determined not to be making cards at the last minute next year. (Mind you I say that every year!)

PAM'S CARD

The last couple of cards I sent I forgot to photograph so I haven't posted for a while. I have been busy with Christmas cards and have started making some presents as well. Goodness  knows if they will get finished in time.  The dining room is in uproar and I am seriously considering setting up a craft room upstairs in what was Kat's room.

Tomorrow is the birthday of my lovely friend Pam who is another year old but still looks the same as when I first met her over 20 years ago. Some people have all the luck.  I did a Tilda card for her a while ago and hung on to it so for once there wasn't a last minute rush.

DECO LADY

Here is the card I made for Sheila using the Christmas deco ladies CD from My Craft Studio.  I did some decoupage and added gem embelishments.

ILONA'S CARDS

When I saw my friend Ilona a while back I was telling her how touched I was that my Mum had save all my cards. To my surprise Ilona said she had done the same and brought them to show me. Thought a would take a few photos and post them as it brought back nice memories to see them again especially the one in the style of Sonia Turner who was such an inspiration when I first got into card making seriously. Went to some fabulous workshops at her farm in Dorking. She is part of Joanna Sheen's design team now.  Incidentally the second image is from a JS CD.

OPULENT

Opulent is the latest addition to my CD collection from My Craft Studio. Actually I have had it for a while and havent used it.  I wanted to make a quick but pretty card for my friend Nancy and I fell in love with this Art Nouveau image. This one stands a good chance of getting to Nancy on time for her birthday on 21st as it was hand carried to the US by my boss.  The Mary Stewart punches work well.  (Note to self to check out whether the Mary Stewart Show is available on Sky- I thought I saw it on the planner!)

PAUL'S BIRTHDAY

I always make a card for Paul and I wonder each year if he thinks I am mad..... this year I featured Boris the adorable red squirrel we photographed whilst we were on holiday in St Petersburg.  Such a shame there are very few left in the UK.   Happy Birthday Paulie....

TWO MORE TILDA CARDS

Still enjoying making the Tilda cards and am spending far too long on them.  First of all here is one I made for my friend Barbara in our US HQs. She's been having a rough time recently and hope she had a great birthday - her first one since her boys have been away at College.

The next Tilda card was for my penfriend of over 45 years (hard to believe we started writing when I was 9 years old). Thought this 12x12 scapbook paper made a good base card for the image.  Needless to say both cards are photographed badly as the colours are not very true and probably neither of them got to their destinations on time!  My bad......

Long time no post

It's catch up time. There was a mad scramble to finish off and post various cards before our holiday. Here's the cards I made for Anne Bailey.  Really love the Indian Tilda and am looking forward to doing more of these

And here is the one I did for Joan from the Debbie Moore CD I recently got.

And a oriental decoupage creation for my sister-in-law Jaci (I think). I wish I had posted these before my holiday as I cant remember which cards I sent to which person as there was such a flurry of activity!

CONGRATULATIONS IAIN

These are the cards that I love making and sending the most... the ones  that celebrate good news. Congratulations to nephew Iain who is going to university in Liverpool to study Sports Technology. Used my Craft Studio Professional and some images from Google.

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Linda

ANOTHER JAPANESE TILDA

Another Japanese Tilda- this time for my work colleague Eva in Denmark.  This one unfortunately didnt arrive on time!

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Linda

JAPANESE TILDA

I love all the new Magnolia Bon Voyage images. Especially love the Japanese and Chinese ones as I have always liked oriental images and the I can use my oriental inspired CDs for backgrounds etc.  A happy marriage of crafting styles. Still need to perfect the Promarker technique but its fun practising!

Here's the one I gave to Anne when we met up last week for a fab day out in Brighton. For once the card arrived before the birthday.

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Linda

CARD OF THE WEEK

Today Eva in Denmark is marrying her partner Ole and I made this cute Tilda and Edwin card for the department to send. Really enjoyed making this one- was planning it for ages and used K& Co papers and the Glitter Girl's midget gems to finish it off.  It's a card within a card as the ribbon holds the smaller card closed and inside there is a favourite poem of mine 'The Art of Marriage'.

When I was blog hopping last night I realised that this fits the bill for several challenges this week so I will link this page to the following challenge blogs:

Creative Inspirations Recipe: 5 flowers, 3 papers, one ribbon
Simon Says Song title: Going to the Chapel
Cute Card Thursday: Whateva

IT'S BEEN A BUSY WEEK

Last minute as usual.  I have started something with the humorous cards for our friends so the pressure is on. Came up with this one for Lee's birthday on Monday using a photo taken at a recent BBQ with the 'gang'.

Today was Aaron's birthday so I came up with this Meerkat card- simples. Used Promarkers to colour in a line drawing from a Joanna Sheen CD.

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Linda

BALLERINA TILDA

Loved doing this Ballerina Tilda which Kat gave to Louise for her birthday last Friday. Pity the photo doesn't do it justice.

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Linda

More catch up

Just remembered another card sent in July which didn't make it to the blog. Here is another Tilda cutie which I sent to Sue H for her birthday.  Not so many cards for August so I am going to get on with some quilting!

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Linda

DONCASTER REPORT

Really enjoyed my trip to Doncaster with Mum to go to the Summer Crafting Show. All the Create and Craft TV celebs were there and I even saw and spoke to one of my favourite bloggers Jacqui (Cat's Whiskers), although I didnt realise at the time it was her- she was on the LOTV stand demonstrating. Bought some lovely stuff and attended a Glitter Girls workshop. (To be honest I was disappointed with them as they spent the whole time on their mobiles but the goodie bag made up for it).

Here is the card I made at the workshop which I added a bit of extra bling to and gave to Janet Clift for her birthday.

That reminds me that since I last posted I made another card for Janet - to celebrate hers and Jeff's 40th wedding anniversary.

  

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Linda

PLAYING CATCH UP

It's been a  busy few weeks and I haven't had time to post although I have made a few cards.


First of all a card for my US friend Helen for her birthday.

I used the same My Craft Studio Deco Ladies image for a card for Adrienne's 50th birthday on 26th July but used the original colours.  I was going to do something cheeky but wasn't sure if she wanted her 50th being publicised so I opted for a Maya Angelou quote. Adrienne has a little gallery of my cards over the years which I am very proud of.

To make up the trio of cards for US friends here is the one I did for my lovely colleague Ilona for her birthday on 28th. She always saves my cards so it is a pleasure to make them for her.

More later


Linda

GOODBYES IN BIRKEROD

Just got back from a trip to the company's Danish office in Birkerod on the outskirts of Copenhagen.  Made this card for Maria who is leaving the company next week.  Think Tilda looks quite sad. I will miss Maria as she was an excellent Project Manager.

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Linda

A MOTHER'S WORK IS NEVER DONE

My kids have always set me crafting challenges which usually involves me staying up late with a short deadline. Just before he was setting off for the Download festival Jonny asked me to make him and his friend a fancy dress outfit and thats how I got roped into making 't shirts for men with moustaches',  Amazing what you can do with some bondaweb, red bias binding and 2 sheets of printable cotton fabric (which I had been saving for a quilt project)

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Linda

STEVEN'S BIRTHDAY

It's always difficult to make a card for a young man. Over the years I have done sporty and music ones for my two lovely nephews. This summer Steven is working at alot of different Festivals including Glastonbury hence the music card for his birthday tomorrow.

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Linda

MAGNOLIA CHALLENGE

It is with some trepidation that I post this card - it is the first one I have made specially to enter into a challenge. I have been looking at the cards other people make for weeks and at last I have got the hang of the Promarkers and feel I can enter this.

 Update - sent this to Eli for her birthday in September.

LATE AGAIN

I made a card for my friend Marilyn in the US weeks ago.  I really enjoyed making it - when I picture her it is wearing pink so the card just had to be pink.  My first try at an easel card.  Well I made it in plenty of time but didnt get it posted until yesterday so it's probably not going to arrive in time (sorry Marilyn).

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Linda

CARDS FOR MY MUM

Just come back from a lovely weekend in Yorkshire visiting my Mum.  When I showed her the blogsite she asked me if I wanted to photograph some of the cards I had sent her over the years. I was really touched when she produced a large shoe box where she had kept all my cards.  Here are a few using different techniques:

  My favourite is this one which I made for her 80th birthday shortly after I had been to Venice.

 

More soon

Linda