MerryMade Crafts etc ...

Yes, it has just been released...... and you can download a copy here . There are lots of wonderful recipes, angels, cards, Christmas tins and three of my projects. :-) Yay ! The foil xmas trees, light bulb reindeers and twisted pyramid card. My daughter Melissa even has a card photo at the very end which surprised her nicely.

Can you guess that I enjoy making these cards. :-) This time I have used SU Almost Amethyst for the card and the background paper. SU Mellow Moss for the waterfall tab. The images were from a magazine giveaway last year sometime. Aren't they the prettiest pictures...wish I could grow flowers like that in my garden. The card holding waterfall tab in place I ran through the Forest Branches embossing folder.

Morning everyone, wishing you a beautiful Sunday. Not very often I do this but I managed to create a male card. I used black leather craft for the base card, a layer fo bazzill bling . Sorry not sure on the colour but a dark grey. These wonderful cricket stickers . The ball I stuck to a piece of red metallic paper and then cut out. The men I stuck straight to the bazzill and then coloured with white sakura pen. Along the bottom I added two rows of red ribbon and a tag with a Happy Birthday sticker edged with faux stitching and held on with a white clip.

Last year I won this wonderful pack at a fundraiser. I think it was set up to be for scrap booking but I have fun creating cards with these wonderful sticker images from Stampin Up. So I have used SU Perfect Plum for the base card. Added three eyelets along the bottom and layered up the sticker image. The card needed something else so I thought this was a great time to create my first crumpled flower. I saw a tutorial on a blog when blog hopping.....sorry I can't remember who it was but if it you please let me know so I can share the tutorial.

Once again I have been blog hopping and found a wonderful technique where you make Tilda pop out of a nestabilities shape. I found it here at Paper crafts by Rach . I used black leather craft card for the base card. Added a white Happy Birthday sticker to the corner. I coloured Tilda using my aqua brush and Tombow pens. I masked Tilda and stamped the Flourishes ( SU Priceless) behind Tilda using the same coloured Tombow pen, added bling to each flower. I then cut out Tilda as far as where she is sitting and then placed a plain circle nestabilities around her and cut the white circle. You have to remember to flip her legs over the nestability so it doesn't cut them off. Layered her on a scalloped edged nestabilities .

I made this card for the June sketch challenge over at Craftmad . This is one card I prefer more in real life. The photo hasn't shown up all the textures. The base card is a white textured card, then the green piece of card the dots are actually raised. I added a strip of cross grain ribbon. The cream card is bazzill bling so has texture and a shine to it. Finally got to use some of my wonderful vellum with my terrific vellum tape. Don't know why I have left it so long to buy vellum tape as it works so well. The flower I found a tutorial on a blog....sorry I can't remember where. If you think it is your blog please let me know and I will add your name. To make the flower I roughly cut out three circles....so just grabbed some paper and cut a circle out ... no lines to follow. Now the best bit...you then crunch each of these pieces up, the more crunched up the better. Then unfold and rub an ink pad around the edge and lightly across the crinkles. Add a split pin to the cen...

At the Cuttlebug Challenge Blog , they're having a Countdown to the Summer CHA '09 CELEBRATION!!!! Beginning June 29 th until July 31st, we will be having a FULL month of previews of the new folders and lots of really fun ideas from the design team!! Plus, there will be challenges and prizes where you could win some of the NEW folders not yet released to the public!! How COOL is that??? Sounds COOL to me. :-)

I love doing these cards much to the amusement of my son. He seems to be nearest to me when I have finished and has to sit and watch all the little flaps open. lol . He does think it is clever though. For this card I have used SU Riding Hood Red for the base card. A piece of beautiful paper that I received in a swap ages ago. I have used Chinese stickers (Sticker Store) on each of the flaps. The stickers are on a red textured paper. The best bit is pulling the tassel and letting each flap appear.

Hi everyone, I have finally found a way to use my bird stickers. One on the members ( WendyC ) over at Craftmad had used these stickers on a card and I really like the result. So I headed to the Stickerstore and bought myself a sheet. To create this card I used SU Kiwi Kiss as the base card and then layers of SU Good Morning Sunshine papers. The bigger birds I stuck to SU Tangerine Tango and cut them out. I then used my sakura gel pens to colour the eyes and the beaks. The punched out border was done with a Fiskars punch which now has broke. :-( The handle snapped off when I was trying to use it.

This card has a helping hand from my Mum. The lady that has the patience to cut out all these detailed flowers. :-) I used black leather craft card for the base card. Used my plain circle and scalloped edged circle nestabilities to help create the topper. My Mum has cut a petunia from a 3D Paper Tole sheet and used an embossing tool to put details in the leaves and petals. Then layered it up using silicon glue. I finished with a white Happy Birthday Sticker and a touch of bling .

Warning there are lots of photos. Sorry about the blur on each of the photos I have since cleaned my lens. I had a fun time creating this card for a friend who loves horses and was turning 50. I thought I was so clever when I had finished I even showed the dog. lol . I used the instructions for Card Inspirations here . I have since made another one which I will try and photograph today. My 13yo daughter like the looks of the card and just had to have a try. So here is her card to her Nanna for her 70 th birthday later this month. Why Angry and Sad got a mention I am not sure. :-)

Is this a good idea or what! Risa has decided to create a blog that lists all the challenge that are available on certain days. So know more searching blogs for the challenge that you need on a certain day...it is all here. Creative Challenges.

Hi everyone, hope you have a wonderful weekend planned or a relaxing one. Thought it was time for a new tear bear. This time I have used SU Pale Plum as the base card. A layer of Making Memories 'Be Inspired'. I added the strip of lace down the side to match in with the paper and topped the card off with a tear bear and a greeting .

This was the first Pyramid card I have tried. Isn't it a lovely image...... 9 layers. So be warned when you do attempt one of these you do need a fair bit of 3D foam tape or silicon glue. They are fun to do though. I added two strips of black leather craft to the background as it just needed something. The little fan is two layers. Sheet is from Blue Edge Crafts

My friend Mandy from Blue Edge Crafts sent me some wonderful Pyramid / Pyramage sheets to play with. I so much prefer these to the regular 3D paper tole or decoupage. Nice straight lines to cut. :-) This card has 7 layers....isn't it a pretty image. I used the cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder for the bottom section. A strip of ribbon across the join which I adhered with my vellum tape. This a new purchase and I think it is wonderful for sticking ribbon to cards.

Good Morning everyone....... I am back. I think the dreaded lurgy was trying to get me yesterday...bit tired and sore throat kicking in. Back on track today though. Finally had a go at stamping this bird...he is so cute. I used SU Kiwi Kiss for the base card a layer of paper from the SU Goodmorning Sunshine Pack. I stamped the bird from the SU Good Friend set. Created a circle punch flower using more of the SU papers as they are so bright and cheery. Finished off with a bit of curled up wire and a 'Just For You' sticker. Just thinking....how I came to make this card was after discovering the piece of curled up wire on my desk and I had intentions of making a circle flower. So happy I discovered the wire. :-) Have a wonderful day everyone.

I have been admiring the posts of a lady over at In and Out of Studio 3D She has been making wonderful dresses using her nestabilities . Guess what ..... the Spellbinder nestabilities I ordered arrived last week and this is the first card I have made with them. They are wonderful. I have bought the plain circle and the scalloped circle sets. They are so easy to use in the cuttlebug . Now I am saving up for the tan embossing mat so that I can emboss with these die cuts. I bought my nestabilities from here .

After visiting The Next Level blog I just had to try out their challenge for this week. The challenge was to create a card using a ribbon frame and they have a tutorial . I instantly thought my Tilda would look cute sitting on the ribbon. So I coloured Tilda using watercolour pencils and an aqua brush. Found some pink and brown ribbon to use in the frame. Finished by adding paper punched flowers as the background. So much fun...I will be using this frame again and again and again. :-)

I made this card with the intention of using leftover sticker pieces. So I used SU Really Rust for the base card added a frame of border stickers. Then punched out three large and three medium retro flowers. Two of which I used the leftover dots from the border stickers. The third flower I used left over strips of gold to line each petal. Each flower has a gold sticker flower for the centre and one thing left to do...add the greeting. 'Just For You'. All the sticker are from the Sticker Store.

I don't normally do this but I think that these fairies are so beautiful I have to share. This is from a blog I visit - Charmed Delectable Stamps - and these are new stamps that a due to be released. You can't even pre-order them yet. Tomorrow they are showing a fairy with attitude, can't wait to see that.

Morning to you. :-) I have another black and white card to share. Once again I used black leathercraft card as the base card. Topped this with white textured card. I cut the dump truck and the works out of black vinyl on my craftrobo . I added a little door handle to the truck and paper punched love hearts to the rear of the truck. Four little white paper punched hearts to each corner and again I finished with some checkered doodling. The doodling is so relaxing....

Happy Birthday to my friend Helene...her birthday is today. The last couple of times I have met up with Helene she has made a comment of how she would love to have a dog again. Her hubby though, is of a different opinion. So I thought I would create a little puppy to keep her company which also is very well house trained. So the pink puppy was created. My daughter (13yo) created this card for Helene for her birthday. She has used some stickers from the Sticker store that I hadn't got to use yet. I like what she has done with them. I like the colouring and all the paper punched leaves and flowers...also the happy smiling chalked sun. I don't know if you noticed but I have changed the background on my blog. I really like this soft green colour. If you would like something nice and new on your blog ..... definetly check out Izzie Grace Blog Backgrounds ......there are so many to choose from. I can't wait until Christmas as there were lots of wonderful designs.

I received this image ages ago in an image swap over at Craftmad . I have been itching to use it but had never thought of a good layout. So the black and white challenge I set myself was perfect. An easy card to create but I do love the effect. I used black leathercraft card for the base. The image is stamped on plain white card which I coloured with red watercolour pencil and couldn't help but add a little touch of kindy glitz. Finally, I had a go at doing the checkered doodling around the edge. I have seen this on a lot of cards and always think that it is paper they have bought but no it is is just drawn lines and black pen.

Craftmad Stitching Pattern competition ends 30th June Check out Craftmad they have a small competition happening to see everyones original stitching card patterns. Do you have any new card stitching designs or even old ones which you have either designed yourself or are free to use and give away (i.e. with the owners consent) then you can submit them into Mandy at Craftmad and there will be a free E K Success Punch & Stitch Paper Shaper for every entry used in our upcoming stitched cards journal . Start time is NOW!! END time is 30th June 2009

Not to often I create a male card as I seem to have too many flowery images. I am really happy with the end result of this card. I used black leathercraft card for my base card, a layer of textured white card. I then added the golf club picture from my sporting book. Cut the wonderful frame using black vinyl on my craftrobo . I also cut the Best Wishes using my craftrobo . Finished the card with two punched circles from white card. The top circle I ran through the 'Swiss Dots' cuttlebug embossing folder.

Last week I set myself two challenges. To make cards using my craftrobo and to create black and white cards. I have seen lots of black and white cards and they always look so amazing. This is one of the cards I created. I was quite happy with myself at the end of my card making session as my craftrobo and I got along like old buddies. :-) I have used black leathercraft card as the base card. A layer of white textured card which I have doodled around the edge with a thin black pen. The flower I cut three layers out, added a spotted split pin and kindy glitz to the centre and tips of the petals. I also cut the 'Happy Birthday' on the the robo using black vinyl so it is in sticker form when cut. There is a spot of bling on the 'i'. The butterfly is from a sticker sheet that I bought from the Sticker Store . I stuck one butterfly to the card then a second to a piece of scrap card and cut around it. Folded the wings up and stuck that butterfly to the butterfly on the...

Once again Kaye has posted a sketch challenge for us in both the card and scrapbooking sections. They look like they should be fun to do. I just read the fine print today.......there is once again a prize being offered to all entries at the end of this month. So you got to be in it to win it. You should visit Craftmad to see the winning creations for the May competition. Very lovely. Beth created a beautiful card and Ruth a bright and cheery scrap page.

Time for something different. This is the handtowel that I sewed a hanging topper to for the May sewing swap at Craftmad . I thought the teatowel was perfect when I saw it. After going through my stash of materials at home was I lucky to find for the topper the lovely pink material which matched so well. This was sent to me in a fat quarter swap that we were doing over at Craftmad last year.

Another card I made with the pack of card and stickers I won. I embossed the base card using 'Stylized Flower' embossing folder and cuttlebug. Then added the beautiful girl image and boarder sticker. Also added a touch of lace and three pearl bling.

On the weekend I rediscovered a prize I won of Stampin Up sticker images. So I had a great time creating cards. Can't show you them all at once otherwise I will have to rush and make more cards. :-) So here is the first one. The base card I won from Josianne in her Blog Candy. I then added a layer of the card that came with the pack I won... added two eyelets and tied the white organza ribbon through it. Attached the girl at the seaside sticker and then layered up the little flowers on each corner. To finish I added a touch of kindy glitz to the flowers. I really love the images in this set. Which I am pretty aren't on offer anymore.

Thought I would share some more Decoupage/3D Paper Tole that has been happening in my place. I must admit I am only into the basic paper tole with nice easy shapes to cut out and no intricate details. Mandy at Blue Edge Crafts sent me the sheets below and I passed them on to my Mother who loves decoupage and has the patience to cut out such detail. Even down to the shoelaces on the soccer boots....just amazing! Mum has then used an embossing tool and embossed different details into the flower pictures e.g. veins on leaves. Each layer is then put together with silicon glue. Mum finds that this gives more dimension as you can have a big or small amount of glue rather than the regular effect that 3D foam tape gives. I had the privilege of adding these wonderful pieces to cards the easy bit. Hope you enjoy them and if you are wanting to have a try....check Blue Edge Crafts out. Mandy has a huge range and has just listed Pyramid Paper Tole sheets which I think are more my level......

Isn't this a cute teddy! I used white gloss card for the base card. Added a layer of checkered paper with flourish watermarks. Spent a long time cutting around all the tiny pieces of the teddy bear and then layered him up using 3D foam. Ran a length of texture wool around the edge and added a couple of silver heart stickers to finish the card off.

I used a nice light green board for the base card. Then a layer of textured white care which I pinpricked all the way round and used a pen to create faux stitching. Added my yoyo flower with a lovely pink bias stem. Finished with a couple of sticker butterflies and a 'paradise' rub-on .

The base card is SU Really Rust, then a layer of white paper that I have run through cuttlebug using the 'Bloom' embossing folder. I sat and cut out all the layers of the flower which was a free giveaway in a magazine. Layered them up and added a touch of bling to the centre and a wonderful big 'Best Wishes' sticker to finish the card off. I really like how all the colours went so well together. Yes a favourite for me. :-)