Santa Claus Post Office...

Hi Susan here...

Busy, busy, busy making Christmas cards, but I love making these and sometimes once I get started I find it hard to stop!!

The backing papers are from my stash....I cut a strip for the base and folded it into a frill then added the ribbon to it.

The ribbon is from East of India, love this really great quality ribbon.

The flowers are from Hobby Craft, the leaves have been made using a punch.

The gorgeous sentiment stamp is from Lili of the Valley set 17 Grunge Christmas Postmarks.

The image is Crafters Companions Mulberry Wood, I have used chalks to colour the image and then added stickles to the snow and glossy accents to the fairy lights.

I hope you have enjoyed looking and many thanks for your comments

Love and hugs

Susan xxx

Lexi's Creations.....Make a gift anything but a card

Hi Susan here....

Today at Lexi's Creations we are at the beginning of a new challenge....this one is slightly different than what we usually do in so far as we don't want you to make a card, we want you to make the gift instead.

The theme is...
Make a Gift - Anything but a card

Bit of a challenge I am sure for some and needs some thought, but there are lots of ways that you can do this, you can alter items like books, candles and jars, you could even make notebooks, gift boxes, gift bags etc.....

Come along to Lexi's Creations and join in the fun with us on this challenge, full details can be found on the blog along with our sponsor and lots of inspiration from my very talented design team.

Now for my creation...

I altered a candle to give to a friend for a present. 

My base card was a gorgeous textured white card from Paper Mill Direct. I used an edging die to cut out the beautiful lacy edge, this is from Sizzix and then added some woven ribbon available from Fairy Dust Crafts Store.

I used two images from the Fairy Dust Crafts Store on this gift. The sentiment 'Special Friend' and the flower image 'Baby Bugs Flower'.

I coloured the image and around the edge of the sentiment using distressing inks from Tim Holtz, the flower was cut out very closely to the image so that I could layer it onto the candle and sentiment.

This was a very simple gift but looks really effective.

Thank you for taking the time to look, and for your wonderful comments.

Love and hugs

Susan xxx

A Christmas Card ....

Hi Susan here..

I have started early this year with my Christmas cards and I am now well on the way to having a full box to choose from to give to family and friends, I will definitely be doing this again, there has been no stress and I have really enjoyed designing my cards.

We recently bought some new stamps and this one was no exception, really got me started with the inspiration flowing....

I have had the backing papers for ages and do not know the name of company all I can say is that it is from a 6x6 scrap pack.

The ribbon is East of India...love this ribbon, I know its more expensive than my usual stuff from our market but the quality is amazing I really love it.

My flowers were a new find from Hobby Crafts, the leaves I made using card and inks.

The gorgeous sentiment is from Whimsy and has been designed by Ann Vento.

This is a close up of that gorgeous new stamp from Crafters Companion from the Mulberry Wood Collection. I used chalks to gently colour the image and then added stickles to the snow and glossy accents to the little fairy lights.

This little 'inchy' tile was made using fimo and then gluing a piece of paper to it I used a scrap of backing paper that was just lying around, you then have to rub the edges with a piece of sandpaper and add ink to the edges. These are really simple to make but look so effective on your cards and scrapbook pages.

Hope you have enjoyed looking and many thanks for your comments

Love and hugs

Susan xxx

Autumn Colours at Lexi's Creations

Hi Susan here...

I hope you are all well and looking forward to the Autumn season...those beautiful colours of autumn when the countryside takes on a whole new look and even the trees get a chance to make it look like we are having a second spring.
I love the rich vibrant colours of autumn they are so warming and comforting to look at. Over at Lexi's Creations today we are starting our new challenge and the theme is

'Autumn Colours'

We want to see all those fabulous rich colours on your creations, really show us what Autumn means to you!
For full details of the challenge and our fabulous sponsor please call across to Lexi's Creations and take a look at what my design team has produced for this challenge.

Now onto my cards.....yes I have made two for this challenge, hope you like them.

My first card is using a digi image available from Fairy Dust Crafts.

Backing paper from a 12x12 book. Beautiful shiny mottled paper with autumn leaves in the design.

The flower is from Prima, the leaves I made myself using a stamp that I embossed with clear embossing powder then carefully cutting out coloured with inks and then shaped.

The tiny silver charm is from Ebay.

The beautiful woven ribbon is from East of India.

I have used the digi image Lady Bug Mushroom, designed by Lexi Lee and available from Fairy Dust Crafts Store. Coloured using chalks and edged using distressing inks.

My second card is using a digi image available from our new sponsor My Hearts Pieces

I have used some basic Kraft card cut to shape in scallops, edged with distressing inks, the checked paper is from Nitwits.

This is to show you the side view. The pearls are from our local market.

The flower is from Prima, the leaves have been made using a stamp that I embossed with clear embossing powder then cut out and coloured with distressing inks.

The sentiment is using a stamp I have had for ages and a die from Whimsey.

This is a beautiful digi image from our new sponsor My Heart Pieces and is called Bird House. Coloured using Promarkers and edged with distressing inks.

Thank you so much for taking the time to look at my creations and thank you for your wonderful comments.

Love and hugs

Susan xxx