Spring is in the air!

Hi friends!

Made another tent card - think I might be slightly addicted!  Once you’ve made one and figured out what goes where, they really aren’t too difficult.

This time I used a piece of light green card stock for the base and some papers from Echo Park’s Celebrate Spring paper pack by Lori Whitlock.  The scene in the window is also made from stickers from the same pack.  I just stuck them onto some scraps of white card and fussy cut them out.  The little birdhouse is so cute!  I added the gathered ribbon top and bottom as a finishing touch to disguise the fact that I cut the paper slightly too short! 😀 If you want to have a go at making one I used this tutorial on Splitcoaststamper.com

I thought a ‘Welcome to the Neighbourhood’ sentiment would be perfect for this card and so used one of the sentiments from Taylored Expression’s Simple Strips .  These are a such a time saver - you stamp a whole bunch of sentiments together and then the matching die cuts them all out in one go - genius!  I stamp a bunch at a time and have them in a little pot on my desk ready to use whenever I need one.  This one was also heat embossed with gold tinsel embossing powder.

Thanks for stopping by - hope to see you again!

Bev x

No Prob-llama!

Hey Crafty Friends!

Just stopping by today to share a card that I made from a tutorial over on Splitcoaststampers.com

I have never made this type of card before - called a 'tent' card for obvious reasons!  I thought it was a really clever design with an effective 3D look but one that also folds up flat to fit in an envelope.  Cool huh?!

Things are heating up in Arizona this week with temperatures here in Scottsdale set to reach 112°F by Friday 😲 so think this influenced the theme I chose for my card today 😂  I used a piece of sand colored card to make the base and then some cool papers from a DCWV paper pad that I have had for ages and never really used (continuing my goal of using up those neglected supplies!) for the front and inside.  I then stamped and die cut the llama and cacti using the Birthday Fiesta set from Stamping' Up and mounted them on some offcuts of the same sand cardstock shaped to look like sand dunes to make a desert scene.

I loved making it so much, I am now off to make another one! 😀

Thanks for stopping by and take care 'till next time ,,,


Bev x

Pinwheel Fiesta!

Managed to throw Mr Crafty Cow out of the craft room today (he thinks it's his office bless him #delusional) so that I could get in there to play! 😁

I have been challenging myself to try and create things using items that I have had in my stash for one year or more ... or even better, those things that have I have not had out of their boxes since we moved to the US - over 5 years ago now!

Today, I made a card using a sketch from a book I had completely forgotten I had 😲  Needless to say I then spent the next hour flicking through the pages, oohing and aaahing over all the lovely projects and wondering why I had not picked up this book sooner (too much stuff is the answer)!

I settled upon this particular sketch from the book on which to base my card and was immediately inspired by the circle design.

Last week whilst ferreting around in my supplies for ideas I came across a pile of paper rosettes that I had made eons ago from a Craftwork Cards paper pad and then never really knew what to do with.   I used two of them as the focal point on a 5"x7" plain white card base and added some punched circles from coordinating patterned paper, then finished it off with a stamped sentiment in a bright pink ink.

Really like the result, however, no idea how I would ever post this to anyone!  Think I might be making a card box next ... 🙄

Congrats Grad!

Well, what a strange time it has been of late!  I hope you are all staying safe and well and finding ways to keep yourselves occupied during this time of uncertainty.   Right now,  looking after our mental health is just as important as looking after our physical health and whilst we are all under various stages of lockdown/stay at home orders, what better way than to lose yourself in a few hours of crafting!

This afternoon, I disappeared into the Crafty Cowshed to make a card for our son, who will be graduating from High School this coming week - albeit via a 'Drive In' ceremony!  I had made him a card a week or so ago, but wasn't really that enamored with it, and whilst looking for inspiration over my morning coffee came across this super cute digi stamp from KLM Designs and knew I had to use it!

As I am hopeless at fussy cutting, I uploaded the digi into the Cricut Design Space app as a Print then Cut image, resized it to fit a 5.5" square card, sent it to my printer and then had my Cricut Maker cut it out for me ... much easier!  I used Promarker alcohol ink markers to color it in and mounted it on a stenciled background, using a cloud template from Simon Says Stamp and some distress ink, on which I had previously printed my sentiment.  The 2020 image also came from the Cricut Design Space library.  I added a mat in gold mirror card and mounted to a white 5.5" square card.

Of course, like most 18 year old boys, he will probably give it the cursory once over,  mutter a quick "thanks" and never give it a second glance! 😆

Hope you have a go at something crafty this week - it really is a great anxiety buster!

Stay safe friends!

Bev x

Gamer Boy!

It’s our youngest’s birthday tomorrow and so this week I began the dreaded search for inspiration for a male themed card!  Why are they so hard?!  Anyway, happened upon this digi image from Mo’s Digital Pencil which was just perfect for him.  I colored the image with Promarker alcohol markers and matted on some tech themed patterned papers that i have had in my stash for ever. 

Hope he likes it ... although if previous form is anything to go by he will give it a cursory glance, say “oh thanks” and that will be that!  😂. Boys!

Happy Easter!

Hello friends,

Today I am sharing a few cards I made this week using some cute Miss Kate Cuttable images available on Cricut Design Space and some of the gorgeous Easter papers from two sets I picked up a few weeks ago - Easter Wishes by Lori Whitlock & Happy Easter from Echo Park.

I used the print and cut feature in Design Space to print the cute images and then popped them up on some foam tape on the card bases.  I made a selection of center step cards and regular A2 size and think they turned out super cute!

A Chocolate Explosion!

Hi Crafty Friends!

Here in Arizona, Spring has arrived at last after one of the wettest February's on record!  Having said that, today is rather dull and grey, but this past week has been beautiful and the desert flowers are finally beginning to peek their heads above the ground for their brief but colorful visit.  Hope Spring has arrived where you are!

This week was The Teen's birthday - can't believe he is 17!  Thinking of birthday cake ideas for teenage boys is always a challenge, especially as they become 'too cool for school' and so I thought I would share what I eventually came up with in case it's a struggle for you too!  I made a similar cake for him a few years ago which went down well, so I just changed it up a bit.

This Chocolate Explosion Cake is so quick and easy anyone can do it and yet it looks so impressive!

Start off with your favorite chocolate cake - approx 8" diameter.  You can either make your own or if time if short, you can totally cheat and buy a ready made one like I did :). If you are going to make your own you will also need to cover the finished cake in frosting so that all those yummy chocolate bars have something to stick to (I just bought a chocolate fudge cake from my local grocery store - job done!)

Then, using a little chocolate frosting (again, you can use ready made - I used Betty Crocker Milk Chocolate Frosting) just stick everything on! That's it!  Everyone will think you're a cake maker extraordinaire, when really it just took a few minutes.  My kind of cake!

You will need 10-12 large size 4 finger KitKats, I used 10 (well, actually I think it was 9.5 because I ate 2 fingers, LOL).   Carefully break each of them into 2 finger chunks and spread a little frosting onto the back of each one and stick to the sides of your cake.  Then, using an assortment of the recipient's favorite chocolate bars and candy, just arrange as you like on the top using more frosting as your 'glue'.  You need some tall candy bars for the back of the cake - I used Oreo bars, Twix and Lindt chocolate bars, then I added Rolos around the edge of the back half (I bought two individual packets but if you want to to go all around the cake you will need more).  I filled in all the gaps with Maltesers (found these at Target) and M&Ms and finally added the candles.  I don’t think it took more than 40 minutes from start to finish!

Hope this helps to solve your birthday cake dilemma next time you need one.  No chocolate lover could fail to be impressed!